Schools

APS poised to add Walter Reed Drive road upgrades to Career Center project

By James Jarvis
1/2

Arlington Public Schools is poised to tie planned S. Walter Reed Drive upgrades into its $180 million Arlington Career Center project.

This past Saturday, the Arlington County Board approved a memorandum of agreement permitting APS to appoint the same contractor for the Career Center’s construction to handle the road improvements — part of the county’s Neighborhood Complete Streets program — from 5th Street S. to Columbia Pike.

Next, the agreement will head to the Arlington School Board for approval in January.

The upgrades to S. Walter Reed Drive will include new trees, protected bike lanes, a traffic light at the 9th Street S. intersection and improved bus stops. The community broadly supported these enhancements following a series of public feedback sessions held from fall 2020 to spring 2021, per a county staff report.

Currently, construction of the five-story Career Center at 816 S. Walter Reed Drive, slated to start next spring, is set to overlap with the road work. County and school officials agreed to merge the two projects to avoid traffic congestion and construction snags.

“So, essentially, when you have two contractors trying to work in the same place at the same time, somebody gets delayed,” APS Director of Design and Construction Jeffrey Chambers told School Board members during their meeting last Thursday.

Under the plan, the county will foot the bill for the road work, estimated at $7 million, and reimburse APS for any extra administrative costs, the report said.

APS is not required to contribute financially to the road improvements. Still, it must inform the county of any additional expenses due to construction delays. Should the road work exceed its budget, APS must obtain county approval before proceeding.

The bulk of the road work is expected to be completed within the first year of construction, with the final paving and overlay scheduled just before the Career Center opens in August 2026, Chambers said last week.

The funding for the S. Walter Reed Drive road improvements has already been earmarked in the county’s Capital Improvement Plan.

APS is still in the process of securing a contractor for the Career Center, which will host up to 1,619 students and include a four-story parking garage.

Officials plan to present the combined bids for the Career Center construction and road improvements to the County Board in early 2024. The Board will then approve the fund transfer and any additional construction financing.

Around Town

The ’12 Days of Christmas’ gets a remake focused on Arlington land-use debates

By Jo DeVoe
1/3

It won’t ever beat “All I Want for Christmas is You” on the charts but a new Arlington-specific Christmas song is out, recorded by the group that was on the opposition side of several land-use flashpoints this year.

Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future, a neighborhood group that has advocated against everything from Missing Middle to a new planning document for Langston Blvd, dropped an alternative “12 Days of Christmas” this week.

It mocks the policy changes and projects Arlington County undertook this year — the same policies for which other local groups spent the past couple of years advocating.

The short song, brought to you by the same people who brought tombstones for the “Arlington Way” to the final Missing Middle hearing, reiterates criticism ASF raised regarding heights, environmental impacts, governance or displacement and other predicted outcomes of growth.

And the kicker? A tribute to the paused second phase of Amazon’s second headquarters in Pentagon City: PenPlace, best known for the proposed marquee glassy double-helix building.

The lyrics are below.

On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:

12 story towers,
11 displaced tenants,
10 YIMBYs leaping,
Nine acres bulldozed,
Eight vacant buildings,
Seven cars a-swimming,
Six-plex a-zoning,
Five special GLUPs.
Four homeless birds,
Three lawsuits,
Two lame ducks,
and a PenPlace that never will be.

While this take on the “12 Days of Christmas” had a sardonic edge, the proverbial 10 YIMBYs leaping do see this year as one to celebrate, kicking off with the ratification of Arlington’s Missing Middle policies.

In late 2023, YIMBYs of Northern Virginia saw the fruits of their advocacy in the passage of similar zoning ordinances in Alexandria. In between, organization members were busy responding to engagement opportunities on development projects moving through Arlington County approval processes.

“We are proud to have joined with a diverse set of community advocates to end exclusionary zoning in Arlington and Alexandria, reduce burdensome parking mandates in Fairfax County, support new market-rate and committed affordable apartment buildings, and elect forward-looking leaders across the region who prioritize making their jurisdiction a more inclusive, sustainable, and affordable place to live,” the group said in a statement.

The group invited anyone who shares its “Yes in My Backyard” values to celebrate the New Year on Jan. 14, 2024 from 5-7 p.m. at Makers Union pub in Pentagon City.

Sponsored

Listing of the Day: 2607 Washington Blvd

By ARLnow.com

Address: 2607 Washington Blvd
Neighborhood: Lyon Park
Type: 3 BR, 2 (+1 half) BA single-family detached – 1920 sq. ft.
Listed: $1,274,900

Noteworthy: Beautifully updated brick colonial in the heart of Arlington!

This charming 3-bedroom, 2.5-bath home perfectly blends classic character with thoughtful modern updates. The handsome brick exterior and flagstone retaining wall create exceptional curb appeal, enhanced by professional landscaping and private off-street parking for three cars. Inside, wood floors flow throughout both levels, complemented by fresh modern paint and abundant natural light.

The renovated kitchen showcases granite countertops, painted paneled cabinetry with brushed nickel hardware, a marble tile backsplash, pendant lighting, spacious pantry, and stainless steel appliances including a Bosch dishwasher, LG refrigerator, and five-burner gas stove. The adjoining family room features a cozy wood-burning fireplace with brick hearth and wood mantel, plus a sliding glass door leading to a large deck overlooking a fully fenced backyard with lush landscaping and a storage shed.

Upstairs, the expansive primary suite offers a deep walk-in closet, additional custom-organized closet, and a luxurious private bath with double sinks, granite counters, new lighting, and upgraded hardware. Two additional bedrooms with ceiling fans share an updated hall bath featuring a granite vanity, ceramic tile floor, and tub with tile surround.

Additional highlights include a newer Carrier gas furnace, State water heater, LG front-load washer and dryer, central vacuum system, and double-pane windows. Ideally located just blocks to Clarendon Metro and minutes to downtown D.C., the Pentagon, National Landing, and local parks and trails—this home delivers a rare combination of comfort, convenience, and timeless charm.

https://homevisit.view.property/public/vtour/display/2355883#!/public/vtour/display/2355883#!/public/vtour/display/2355883#!/public/vtour/display/2355883#!/public/vtour/display/2355883#!/

Listed by:
Rob Ferguson – RE/MAX Allegiance
[email protected]
(703) 926-6139

Opinion

Morning Poll: Have you cut the cord?

By ARLnow.com
Comcast employee works on lines in 2010 (file photo)

As we have been reporting, local public access station Arlington Independent Media is at a crossroads as it vies for funding from Arlington County and local cable providers.

Despite some internal strife, a bigger force is driving the existential questions around AIM: the ongoing loss of cable TV subscribers known as cord cutting.

Cable providers are losing some 10% of video customers every year, as consumers rely instead on some combination of broadcast TV and streaming. For some, cutting the cord is all about saving on those steep cable bills, while for others it’s simply a matter of not wanting to watch commercial-laden cable channels anymore.

Whatever the case, cord cutting will have notable impacts on everything from cable access channels to local TV news to professional sports teams — which derive significant revenue from cable channels — in the coming years.

Given that, we’re wondering how many readers have decided to cut the cord so far.

Announcement

2023 Summer Camp Registration is Now Open!

By Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington

CALLING ALL ARTISTS!

We are looking forward to a creative, fun, and safe summer at Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington! Campers will go on an artistic journey and explore the visual arts through exciting projects in 2D and 3D media while learning about new and different artistic techniques and contemporary artists working in the world today!

Go to 2023 Summer Camp Registration is Now Open! Read more
News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Westpost, formerly known at Pentagon Row, at sunset (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Confederate Memorial Removal to Proceed — “A day after halting work to remove the Confederate memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, a federal judge in Virginia on Tuesday said he would allow the removal to proceed. On Tuesday evening, Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. of the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia ruled against a request from a group called Defend Arlington that the memorial remain undisturbed.” [Washington Post]

Crash with Entrapment Last Night — “The NB lanes of N Glebe Rd are closed at the intersection of N Glebe Rd. and Military Rd. Traffic is being diverted… This is a crash with 1-2 injuries. One driver was trapped and freed by firefighters, per scanner.” [Twitter]

Ranked Choice Voting Approved — From UpVote Virginia: “Arlington County just voted unanimously to make #RankedChoiceVoting permanent for County Board primaries (the only office currently eligible for RCV)” [Twitter]

Local GOP Sets Fundraising Goal — “‘My goal for 2024 is to raise $30,000 for this committee,’ Hurtt said in a recent e-mail to supporters. Fund-raising efforts for 2023 brought in about $25,000, and ‘I don’t think raising an additional $5,000 in a presidential year is unachievable,’ he said.” [Gazette Leader]

New Reporter Joining ARLnow — From Daniel Egitto: “Today is my last day at the Vallejo Times-Herald. I am moving back to the East Coast to be closer to family – look for my work starting next month at @ARLnowDOTcom. Thank you to my readers and sources for all your support and feedback.” [Twitter]

Eulogy for Charlie Clark — “During retirement Charlie continued the work from which perhaps some here know him best, his columns on the history of our home community of Arlington. In his years as the ‘Our Man in Arlington’ columnist for the Falls Church News-Press he told stories of all sorts of connections, personal, business, social, entertainment, academic, political, religious—all of the ways that people relate to each other. He loved working with the Arlington Historical Society and his columns became several books.” [Falls Church News-Press]

TikTok Ban for Kids Proposed — “Gov. Glenn Youngkin wants to ban the popular social media app TikTok for anyone under the age of 18, as concerns mount that social media is causing a host of psychological problems in children and adolescents… John Littel, Youngkin’s secretary of Health and Human Resources, told the State Board of Health that TikTok uses ‘addictive’ and ‘aggressive’ tools to hook young viewers. Legislators will introduce multiple bills next month to address TikTok and the mechanisms used by all social media companies.” [Richmond Times-Dispatch]

It’s Wednesday — Expect a sunny day with temperatures reaching nearly 46°F and a northwest wind of 5-7 mph. The night will be mostly clear with temperatures dropping to around 31°F and a west wind of 3-6 mph. [Weather.gov]

Announcement

Summer Art Camps at Art House 7

By Art House 7

Get ready to dive into an exciting world of creativity this summer with Art House 7!

We’re thrilled to announce our amazing lineup of summer camps, specially designed for kids aged 5-7 and 8-12. With themes like Art Exploration, Fiber Arts, Arts & Crafts Around the World, Calling All Foodies, and Under the Sea, your child is sure to have a blast exploring their artistic talents. Plus, we have a variety of Just Clay camps for ages 6-8 and 9-12 that offer short, fun-filled weeks of hand building clay projects.

Go to Summer Art Camps at Art House 7 Read more
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