Traffic lights are coming to the intersection of Washington Boulevard and N. Garfield Street in Clarendon.
The lights and illuminated crosswalk signs have been installed at the intersection, but have black plastic covering them as the county prepares to turn the signals on. Several pedestrian safety improvements were recently made at the intersection, but it’s still difficult for drivers on Garfield Street to see oncoming traffic on Washington Boulevard.
The slip lane from Arlington Ridge Road to Meade Street — the primary focus of a neighborhood fight over a pedestrian safety improvement project — is no more.
The lane has now been demolished by construction contractors, who are in the process of building a wider sidewalk, additional green space and circular driveways for two houses. Daytime traffic on Arlington Ridge Road has been reduced to one lane near the construction zone, with flaggers directing cars on either side. The sidewalk along the east side of Arlington Ridge Road near the construction has been closed.
In addition to the work in progress — eliminating the Meade Street slip lane and making the intersection a purely 90 degree turn — the $200,000 county project has already turned the bus pull-off lane south of 23rd Street into an expanded sidewalk and has squared up the intersection of Arlington Ridge and Oakcrest Road by extending the permanent curbing to where a temporary curb had been installed.
Save Our Streets, a group that formed to oppose the construction, says the money could have been better spent.
“We all watch with a sense of disbelief. Why would the County waste this much money for fixing a non-issue with Meade Street intersection which has no reported accidents?” the group said on its blog. “We need this money for our schools, our poor, our libraries, our roads… not on projects that go way beyond what people want.”
A fully-loaded dump truck came to a grinding halt at the intersection of N. Glebe Road and Randolph Street this morning after its left front wheel detached from the axle.
Nobody was hurt, but the accident did block Randolph Street for at least a half hour, as a heavy wrecker truck was brought in to move the disabled dump truck. A large gash was visible in the pavement, showing where the truck started grinding into the street after the wheel fell off.
The incident happened as the truck was turning from northbound Glebe onto Randolph, across from the Harris Teeter and the Ballston mall parking garage.
Arlington County is planning improvements designed to make three N. Glebe Road intersections safer for pedestrians. The improvements are expected to be implemented by the end of next year.
The intersections — Glebe and Carlin Springs Road, Glebe and Wilson Boulevard, and Glebe and Fairfax Drive — involve long crosswalks across numerous lanes of fast-moving traffic, as well as the occasional slip lane. The improvements are intended to make crossing the intersections safer by reducing crosswalk distances and “conflict points.”
At Glebe and Fairfax, crews will “regularize intersection geometry” — i.e. convert “suburban” slip lanes into “urban” 90-degree turns controlled by the stop light. Crews will also widen the mid-intersection pedestrian refuge.
At Glebe and Wilson, the plan is to eliminate and square up the existing slip lane at the southwest corner of the intersection, as well as to widen the median refuge, reduce crosswalk distances and to install a speed table on the northwest slip lane.
At Glebe and Carlin Springs, intersection corners will be rebuilt, median refuges will be enhanced, higher-visibility crosswalks will be installed and the driveway to and from the Ballston parking garage will be modified for safety.
The changes are being paid for primarily with federal funds, according to Arlington County Director of Transportation Dennis Leach. Even though Glebe Road is a state route, Virginia is not chipping in for the changes.
“They view this as an Arlington-requested betterment,” Leach said.
Leach expects bids for the project to come in this fall, with construction to start in the spring and to wrap up by the end of next year.
Chain Bridge will close for repairs on three different weekends over the next month.
The bridge will close on 8:00 p.m. on Friday and will reopen at 5:00 a.m. on Monday, starting this weekend, according to DDOT.
The three weekends when closures are planned are Aug. 19-21, Sept. 9-11 and Sept. 16-18.
The annual America’s 9/11 Foundation Memorial Ride will be rolling into Arlington on Friday, and several road closures are planned to accommodate the large number of motorcyclists expected to participate.
According to an email from Arlington Alerts, police are planning on shutting down eastbound I-66 from the Beltway to Route 110, from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. on Friday.
“The [police] escort is being provided to ensure the safety of all motorists along the path of travel,” the email said. “It is recommended that anyone who travels along this route take alternate routes to their destination during this period. It is anticipated I-66 will be reopened by 4:00 pm at the beltway to minimize the impact on rush hour traffic.”
The bikers’ ultimate destination is the Double Tree Hotel at 300 Army Navy Drive in Pentagon City. From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., ride organizers are planning on holding a street fair-type event on Army Navy Drive, complete with barbeque and beer from street vendors, a gun raffle and a performance by country music artist Aaron Tippin.
According to the Arlington Alerts email, Army Navy Drive will be closed from S. 12th Street to S. Fern Street from 9:30 a.m. to midnight. Traffic will be rerouted around the closure, according to county spokeswoman Mary Curtius. Still, drivers should still expect significant traffic issues around the evening rush hour in Pentagon City if the Army Navy Drive/Eads Street intersection, which leads to an I-395 on-ramp, is blocked.
At 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, the ride will move to the Pentagon’s North Parking lot for a ceremony commemorating the upcoming 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. At 7:00 a.m., the ride will depart the Pentagon and head out across the 14th Street Bridge, en route to New York City.
The ride, which could featuring as many as 3,000 motorcyclists, helps to fund scholarships for the children of 9/11 first responders.
Photo via Facebook
No, you weren’t imagining things on your commute that morning. Those were, in fact, two horses grazing near the off-ramp from northbound I-395 to Glebe Road.
It’s unclear why exactly the horses were there — some sort of accident or mechanical mishap involving the tow vehicle, perhaps — but those tending to the horses apparently decided that they needed to munch on some grass while waiting to continue on with their journey.
Finally, around 10:00 this morning, the horses loaded back into the trailer, following the arrival of an SUV. Minutes later, the SUV towed the trailer away and everything was back to normal.
Photo (right) courtesy Matt Coyne
Update at 7:35 a.m. on 8/9/11 — Clarendon Boulevard has reopened, but neighborhood streets in the area of the collapse remain closed.
Update at 5:55 p.m. — Clarendon Boulevard and 16th Street will both remained closed between N. Pierce Street and N. Oak Street through the morning rush, the county said this afternoon.
Update at 1:10 p.m. — The processes of shoring up the collapsed retaining wall could take up to 48 hours, according Arlington County Inspection Services Division Chief Shahriar Amiri. While some road closures will remain, Amiri said that Clarendon Boulevard may reopen as soon as tomorrow’s morning rush hour. “We are working hard at it,” he said.
The road closures related to last night’s construction site collapse are expected to remain in place through tonight’s evening rush hour. Heavy traffic is expected as a result.
Arlington’s Office of Emergency Management issued the following alert just after 10:30 this morning.
It is anticipated that both lanes of eastbound Clarendon Blvd (N. Pierce St. to Oak St.) will remain closed through the evening rush hour, related to the construction site collapse.
On northbound Rte 110, the Rosslyn exit (via Wilson Blvd) has also been closed to relieve congestion. Motorists are encouraged to continue onto westbound I-66 to the Lee Hwy exit.
Lee Hwy (Rte. 29) and Arlington Blvd (Rte. 50) are the suggested routes for getting to and around Rosslyn. Those with plans in Rosslyn should expect major traffic delays. Transit, pedestrian & bicycle routing will also be affected.
(Update at 10:30 a.m.) A bicyclist was struck by a van near the Key Bridge in Rosslyn this morning.
The accident happened on Lynn Street, near the intersection with Lee Highway. Two lanes of Lynn Street were blocked as medics treated the bicyclist and as police took photos of the accident scene.
The bicyclist was taken to George Washington University Hospital with unspecified injuries. So far there’s no indication that those injuries are life-threatening.
Some South Arlington residents are trying to fight the county on an upcoming construction project.
The county has been planning to redesign parts of Arlington Ridge Road from 23rd Street to South Meade Street. Some of the improvements include work on curbs, gutters, sidewalks and bike lanes. The county cites pedestrian safety as the reason for the revamping.
Some neighbors launched a campaign called “Save Our Streets” to oppose the approximately $200,000 project. Group members say they’re upset because of wasteful spending, the county isn’t listening to them and there’s a lack of transparency.
The group hopes to encourage other residents to write letters to the county requesting a suspension of the project, which has a construction start date set for August 8. They want more time to give resident input and have it incorporated into the design.
County Manager Barbara Donnellan sent a memo to board members last month saying citizens’ concerns had been evaluated and the plan was adjusted accordingly. The memo concluded that “this project is ready and will move forward with construction.”
The start date was set for August 8 in order to avoid disrupting school children who walk in the area. Once work gets underway, the project is scheduled to take about four weeks.
(Updated at 11:10 a.m.) A vehicle has flipped on its roof after a three-car accident at the intersection of Lee Highway and N. George Mason Drive.
No serious injuries were reported.
Northbound George Mason Drive was shut down while crews worked to clean up the wreck.
