construction

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Arlington Mill Goes Over Budget — The Arlington Mill Community Center on Columbia Pike has gone $600,000 over its $31.6 million budget. The County Board is expected to approve additional funding for the project at its meeting this coming Saturday. [Sun Gazette]

New Coworking Space in Clarendon — A new coworking space has opened at 3140 N. Washington Street in Clarendon, on the second floor of the Wells Fargo bank building. Link Locale will house startup companies, entrepreneurs, freelancers and teleworkers. It’s the second coworking space to open along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor this year. [Patch]

Redskins Player to Sign Autographs in Clarendon — Washington Redskins defensive end Stephen Bowen will sign autographs and take photos with fans tonight at the AT&T Store in Clarendon (3000 Wilson Blvd). The appearance will take place from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Bicyclist Survives After Dump Truck Runs Over His Head

By ARLnow.com

A man is lucky to be alive after a dump truck ran over his head in the Ballston area over the weekend.

The incident happened around 2:15 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 24. According to police, the cyclist was stopped at a temporary red light next to a construction site on Quincy Street near Wilson Boulevard, when an unoccupied dump truck started rolling south on Quincy and struck him.

The man was knocked to the ground and one of the truck’s tires ran over his head, said Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. The man was wearing a helmet at the time and the helmet likely saved his life. He was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital’s trauma center with non-life-threatening injuries, Sternbeck said.

Immediately after the incident the driver of the dump truck, who had left it running and unattended next to the construction site, ran it down and managed to stop it from rolling further, according to Sternbeck. Occupational safety officials responded to the scene, inspected the truck and found multiple safety violations, he said.

Citations were issued and the truck was “taken out of service.” No word on whether any other charges are pending.

Ribbon Cutting Scheduled for Glebe Road Bridge

By ARLnow.com

 

A ribbon cutting ceremony has been scheduled to celebrate the completion of the new Glebe Road bridge over Route 50.

The event will be held Wednesday morning near Thomas Jefferson Middle School, just to the southeast side of the 100-foot-long bridge. Among those expected to ribbon cutting are County Board Chair Mary Hynes, state Sen. Barbara Favola, Del. Patrick Hope, and officials from VDOT, which oversaw the project.

The $6 million project replaced the once crumbling bridge with a wider, more structurally-sound span. Construction began last summer and is expected to wrap up today. The project resulted in frequent lane closures on Glebe Road which often backed up traffic in the area.

The new bridge features a northbound turn lane onto Route 50, a 17-foot shared use path and 11-foot sidewalk on either side of the span, decorative green wrought-iron fencing and new LED lighting.

Meeting Tonight to Discuss Traffic Impact of New School

By ARLnow.com

Parents and residents who live around Williamsburg Middle School (3600 N. Harrison Street) will be told tonight how a new elementary school will impact traffic.

As part of its plan to reduce school overcrowding, APS is planning a new 90,000 square foot, 3-4 story, 600 seat neighborhood elementary school on the Williamsburg campus. The school is projected to cost $35 million to build and construction should last from Jan. 2014 to Summer 2015.

Toole Design Group, a transportation consultant hired by Arlington Public Schools, will present the results of a Traffic Impact Study at a community meeting scheduled from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. tonight (Thursday) at the Williamsburg Middle School auditorium. The meeting is open to the public.

The consultant is also working on parking issues related to the new school and the proposed expansion of Williamsburg Middle School itself. The changes may result in 570 additional parking spaces on the site, according to a recent community presentation.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Committee Debates Aquatics Center — Arlington’s Committee of 100 debated the merits of the planned $79 million Long Bridge Park aquatics and fitness center last night. A park bond that would help fund the center is on the Nov. 6 ballot. [Sun Gazette]

Marymount University and Diversity — WUSA 9’s Peggy Fox profiles Marymount University, which she says is one of the “most diverse regional universities” despite a “race blind” admissions process. Instead of considering race during the admissions process, the university instead actively encourages minority students to apply. The U.S. Supreme Court will soon consider a case that challenges the legality of affirmative action, which allows race and ethnicity to be considered in school admissions processes. [WUSA 9]

Construction at Hayes Park — Due to construction behind the tennis courts at Hayes Park (1516 N. Lincoln Street), the park’s parking lot will be closed from 7:00 a.m. today to about 2:00 p.m. [Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association]

Video: First Pike ‘Super Stop’ Nearing Completion

By ARLnow.com

The first of 24 planned enhanced transit stops along Columbia Pike is less than a month away from opening.

On Sept. 19, a canopy was installed at the prototype “Super Stop” near the intersection of Columbia Pike and Walter Reed Drive, in front of the Rite Aid pharmacy. When the stop is finished — it’s currently slated to open in late October — the stop will feature lighting, maps, screens with real time bus arrival information, heating and shelter for 10-15 passengers.

The Walter Reed Drive stop is one of four Super Stop locations selected for a pilot program. Other Columbia Pike Super Stops that are part of the pilot program are: Columbus Street, Dinwiddie Street and Barton Street. Together, the four stops serve more than 2,000 passengers per day, according to Arlington County.

Other future Super Stop locations include the former Navy Annex, Courthouse Road, Glebe Road, Monroe Street, George Mason Drive, Taylor Street, Buchanan Street and Greenbrier Street.

The video above, produced by Arlington County, shows the installation of the new canopy at the Walter Reed Drive stop.

Board Approves County’s Largest Private Office Building

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Board has approved a new 24-story office building in Crystal City — a building that’s being billed as a catalyst for Crystal City’s revitalization.

At 24 stories and 719,704 square feet, the building — 1900 Crystal Drive — will be second only to the Pentagon in Arlington in terms of floor space.

(Alhough 1900 Crystal Drive will be the tallest in Crystal City, the 580,000 square foot, 35-story office building currently under construction at 1812 N. Moore Street in Rosslyn is still expected to be the tallest countywide.)

The building includes 11,290 square feet of ground floor retail space, plus a five-level, 732 space parking garage and nearly 150 bicycle parking spaces. Vehicle parking will be available to the public on weekends, holidays and after 6:00 p.m. on weekdays. Some residents expressed concern about extra vehicular traffic as a result of the building, but it won approval from the county’s Transportation Commission by a vote of 9-0.

Vornado, the developer of 1900 Crystal Drive, agreed to a number of community benefits in exchange for the extra zoning density required for the project. Among the benefits:

  • $3 million contribution to the county’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund
  • $75,000 contribution to the county’s public art fund
  • $154,000 for Arlington utility fund, $20,000 for multi-space parking meters
  • Various improvements to 18th Street S.
  • $1.4 million for Arlington County Commuter Services and $65 Metro SmartTrip cards for building employees (to encourage transit commuting)
  • $2.76 million for a temporary half-acre park
  • $2.56 million for a four-pipe hydronic heating and cooling system, part of the county’s plan to encourage a district energy system for Crystal City

Though resident concerns about the building were largely assuaged, thanks to the addition of low-reflection glass and a 900 square foot community meeting room, Board member Chris Zimmerman voted against the project. (It passed 4-1.)

Zimmerman said that the community benefits associated with the project were relatively small for a building of its size, but ultimately his ‘no’ vote came down to his view that the building’s site plan does not pave a sure-fire path to the construction of a proposed, adjacent “Center Park.” Instead, the site plan just requires Vornado to work with county staff “to prepare an implementation plan for guiding the achievement of Center Park.”

(more…)

Video: Arlington Mill Community Center Construction

By ARLnow.com

The new, under-construction Arlington Mill Community Center recently celebrated its “topping out” — the moment when the last beam is placed at the top of a building.

The complex, which is expected to open in the summer of 2013, will include a community center, senior center, gymnasium, parking garage and an affordable housing development. Arlington County’s “Arlington TV” crew produced a video about the topping out ceremony, above.

Board to Vote on Nauck, Va. Highlands Parks

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Board on Saturday is expected to vote on contracts for two park projects in south Arlington.

The Board will consider a $573,000 contract to build a new “sprayground” at Virginia Highlands Park, at 1600 S. Hayes Street near Pentagon City. The park was originally scheduled to open this past Memorial Day, but the project has been beset by delays. According to the staff report, the project was finally put out for bid in May, only to have the bids from contractors all came in higher than expected.

The sprayground was redesigned in order to put it within budget. A new water re-circulation system, which should save 113,000 gallons of water per week, was put into place. The sprayground was also reduced in scale, and certain features like a steel fence and a designed rock structure were eliminated.

The Board will vote on whether to award a $521,000 contract contract with a $52,000 contingency to Southern Playground Corporation.

The other contract under consideration is for the tiny 0.6 acre Nauck Park, located at 2551 19th Street S.

Planning for playground upgrades to the park began all the way back in 2004. Construction was finally set to get underway in 2008 — following a plan to enhance amenities at the park while removing an existing restroom — when the Nauck Civic Association request that all work on the project stop, so that the park could be redesigned in a way that would keep the restroom. In order to keep the project within budget, the county scaled down other planned amenities within the park.

On Saturday, the Board is scheduled to consider a $316,000 contract — $287,000 plus a $29,000 contingency — with Avon Corporation. The contract covers renovations to the playground and the bathroom, as well as accessible entrances, an accessible picnic area, benches and bicycle racks.

Work Stoppage After Construction Worker Electrocuted

By Katie Pyzyk

Construction has stopped on the new apartment building at 2201 N. Pershing Drive in Lyon Park, following the electrocution death of a worker.

According to police, two individuals were doing work on an electrical panel inside a closet. One of the workers walked away to get more supplies, and then heard a strange noise. Upon returning, he found the victim being electrocuted. The co-worker ran to get a board or some other object to knock the victim away from the electrical panel, but by the time he returned, the worker was unconscious.

Emergency crews administered CPR at the scene, and the victim was transported to Virginia Hospital Center with critical injuries. The man, believed to be in his 20s, died shortly after. According to police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck, the department is working to find and notify the victim’s family members, who do not live in the area.

Work has been suspended at the site and police remain on scene while OSHA performs an investigation.

Although the apartment complex started leasing earlier this year, construction has been plagued with delays. The first wave of renters was expected to move in starting in July, but so far the building is not ready for inhabitants.

UPDATED: Water Main Break in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 2:45 p.m.) A major water main break has shut down a number of roads in Crystal City.

For at least an hour, water was spraying about 5 feet in the air out from buckled pavement at the intersection of 12th Street and S. Clark Street. Arlington County crews managed to shut off several valves, which reduced but did not stop the water flow for several hours. As of now, the water flow has been stopped, but not before it created a large pond in and around the intersection.

The water came from a rupture in a 12-inch water main, according to Arlington County Department of Environmental Services spokeswoman Shannon Whalen McDaniel. As a result of work to stop the water flow, several large nearby buildings — 200 and 201 12th Street S.; 1215, 1225 and 1235 S. Clark Street; and the North Tract Loft apartments — had their water supply cut.

“They’re working right now to isolate the break so that they can restore water to the buildings and any affected businesses,” said Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck earlier.  Water has since been restored to all but one of the buildings.

During the height of the water main break, workers were encouraged to move their cars from nearby underground parking garages, as a precaution due to flooding, Sternbeck said.

The water also flowed down Long Bridge Drive toward 10th Street S. and “gushed” into the Boeing construction site for several hours, officials say. Crews deployed measures to stop the water from flowing into the site and are now pumping water out from the construction pit.

In a statement, authorities said the construction site will need to be stabilized before work can continue on the large, economically significant project.

Arlington County’s Chief Building Official, Shahriar Amiri, today ordered the Boeing Co.’s Crystal City construction site, located near 10th St. S and S. Ball Street, closed in the wake of this morning’s water main break. The break in a 12-inch water main sent water gushing into the site this morning. Construction is halted while the water is pumped out and structural engineers assess the damage and take whatever measures necessary to stabilize the shoring and sheeting, Amiri said. No evaculation orders have been issued at this time for surrounding buildings. County inspectors will continue to monitor the site and work with the structural engineers.

The latest list of road closures include Long Bridge Drive from 12th Street to a private driveway being used to divert traffic from Crystal Drive, 12th Street from Army Navy Drive to 15th Street, 10th Street at Long Bridge Drive, and S. Clark Street at the intersection with 12th.

Work to dig up the street and repair the water main could take up to one or two days. The intersection is expected to remain at least partially closed until the work is complete.

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