construction

Temporary Traffic Signal Installed on Columbia Pike

By ARLnow.com

A set of temporary traffic signals has been installed at the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. Arlington Mill Drive.

The intersection, which sits between two existing sets of traffic lights at Four Mile Run Drive and at S. Dinwiddie Street, is adjacent to the under-construction Arlington Mill Community Center and a future 122-unit affordable housing complex.

On its web site, Arlington County says the new traffic signals — which haven’t been switched on yet — are necessary because of construction. Don’t expect the lights to stay on for long, though. Arlington Mill Drive is expected to be closed during the latter stages of the community center’s construction.

“Once the traffic signal is activated, the 9th Street connection on the north side of the [Arlington Mill construction] site will be closed to upgrade water and stormwater infrastructure and install curb and gutter,” the county said. “Access to Columbia Pike will be maintained for Park Glen residents via S. Arlington Mill Drive. At this time, additional stormwater drainage facilities will also be installed just west of the site along S. Dinwiddie Street.”

“When 9th Street is reopened in two to three months, S. Arlington Mill Drive will be closed to all traffic – except for construction vehicles – for the duration of the project,” the county added. “All Park Glen traffic will be directed to Columbia Pike through the new 9th Street connector and S. Dinwiddie Street.”

Penrose Square to Get $2 Million Public Park

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 12:40 p.m.) The small grassy field in front of the new Penrose Square apartments on Columbia Pike will likely be transformed into a considerably less grassy, $2 million public plaza over the next year.

Over the weekend, the Arlington County Board will vote on whether to approve a construction contract and a public art contract for a “Penrose Square Public Plaza” at 2503 Columbia Pike. The 17,360 square foot plaza will be a central focus of the revitalized Columbia Pike “town center,” and will serve “as a meeting and gathering spot in the Corridor’s new urban fabric.”

The construction contract, worth some $1.6 million, will create “a tree-covered terrace with movable tables and chairs; an inner plaza with a water feature… an inscription of historical significance of the site; and a grass mound area shaded with trees for informal seating.” The water feature will be made sustainable “by collecting, treating and then reusing water from the fountain again to minimize daily water consumption.”

Yearly operating costs for the plaza are estimated at just above $100,000 per year, including $68,290 for grounds maintenance, $20,000 for fountain maintenance and $13,000 for utilities like water and electricity.

The plaza will also feature a public art installation. Dubbed “Echo,” the installation by artist Richard Deutsch will consist of two large granite slabs, each with a parabola carved out of one side. The slabs will be arranged so that someone at the end of one parabola will be able to clearly hear someone speaking at the other parabola, 30 feet away.

“The artwork is inspired by the significant role that Arlington’s Three Sisters Radio Towers, formerly located on the nearby Navy Annex property, played in the development of the nation’s trans-Atlantic communication capabilities,” the County Board report says. The sole-source contract to create the installation is worth $425,000.

Echo is expected to be installed in the spring of 2012. Construction on the plaza is expected to wrap up in the fall of 2012. A second construction phase — which will eventually extend the plaza into what is now the adjacent CVS parking lot — is also in the works.

Changes Along Washington Blvd in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

Clarendon residents have taken note of two big, recent changes along Washington Boulevard.

About a week ago, a set of new traffic signals at the intersection of Washington Boulevard and N. Garfield Street were switched on. The traffic lights are helping to bring some order to what was previously a somewhat tricky intersection for Garfield Street traffic.

One block away, meanwhile, the Garfield Park at Clarendon Village luxury apartment complex has rapidly taken shape. A wooden outline of the 5-6 story, 149-unit building has sprung up where, just two months ago, there was nothing but a one-story foundation.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Construction to Begin on Rosslyn Office Project — The long-stalled Central Place office project may finally be moving forward. Developer JBG says construction on a new 390-foot office tower, adjacent to the Rosslyn Metro station, will likely begin in the second quarter of 2012. The project will be competing with the nearby 1812 N. Moore Street project for the title of tallest skyscraper in the D.C. area. [Washington Post]

Taxi Fee Increase in the Works — The Arlington County Board is expected to advertise public hearings for a possible increase in two fees charged by taxi cabs. County staff is recommending the initial base taxi fare (the “drop fee”) be raised from $2.75 to $3.00, while also recommending the extra-passenger charge be hiked from $1.00 to $1.50. All fees charged by Arlington-based taxis are set by the county. [Sun Gazette]

Is Arlington Blocking I-66 Widening? — Why isn’t VDOT rushing to widen additional sections of I-66 inside the Beltway? Bob Chase, of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance blames obstructionism from Arlington. But County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman says a lack of money is behind the lack of action — and that Arlington “by itself doesn’t have the power to get in the way of more lanes.” [Washington Examiner]

H-B Woodlawn, a.k.a. Hippie High — H-B Woodlawn Secondary School — the educational experiment once known as ‘Hippie High’ — turned 40 this year. According to the Post: “Hippie High enters middle age far more conventional than it once was, with many of its students loading up on AP courses and obsessing about their SAT scores and grade-point averages just like their peers at ordinary high schools.” [Washington Post]

New Remy Music Video — Arlington Rap Guy Remy Munasifi has released a new, politically-charged music video. The video takes on the recent Occupy Wall Street protests. [Clarendon Culture]

Construction Underway at Lime Fresh Mexican Grill

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 4:10 p.m.) We’re less than two months away from the opening of Lime Fresh Mexican Grill (2900 Wilson Boulevard) in Clarendon.

The restaurant is currently under construction and, according to a recent job posting on Craigslist, it’s expected to open at some point in November. Located on Fillmore Street near the intersection with Wilson Boulevard, Lime Fresh is expected to have interior seating for 56 people, according to building permits. It’s unclear if it will have a sidewalk seating area, though one has been “proposed.”

It was first reported in July that Lime Fresh had signed a lease for the former Comfort One Shoes space in Clarendon. The rapidly-expanding chain got its start in 2004 as a trendy casual eatery on Miami’s South Beach, before signing a deal with Ruby Tuesday, Inc. last year that has seen it expand to other parts of Florida and the south. Now, the chain has its sights set on the east coast, with the Clarendon location as its first D.C.-area restaurant.

“At Lime Fresh Mexican Grill®, our guests don’t take their Mexican food lightly, and neither do we,” the restaurant said in the job posting. “We have high standards for quality fresh-Mexican food… we turn up the music, the heat and the quality of service…. we play hard and work even harder.”

The Lime Fresh menu includes standard Mexican fare like chips and guacamole, quesadillas, tacos, fajitas, burritos, salads and various types of salsas. The Clarendon location is applying for a liquor license so it can serve margaritas, sangrias, wine and beer.

Lime Fresh will face some competition in Clarendon. It’s located one block from Baja Fresh (2815 Clarendon Blvd), one block from Mexicali Blues (2933 Wilson Blvd) and three blocks from the new South Beach Smoothie and Burrito Co. (3011 11th Street).

New Apartment Building Coming to Ballston

By ARLnow.com

The Goodyear tire store and service center in Ballston will likely be torn down at some point next year to make way for a new apartment building.

The current one-story building is located at 650 N. Glebe Road, across from Ballston Common Mall and one block from Harris Teeter. A developer is planning to build a new 6 story apartment building on the site, starting next year. The new building, tentatively dubbed “The Crimson on Glebe,” will include some 115 to 150 apartments, with 9,000 square feet of ground floor retail space at the corner of Glebe Road and N. Carlin Springs Road.

Arlington County’s Site Plan Review Committee is expected to discuss the building proposal in November. The developer hopes to start construction on the building next year, with construction wrapping up by mid-2013, according to the Washington Business Journal.

Meanwhile, long range planning for the American Service Center site adjacent to the 650 N. Glebe project is underway. The county’s Long Range Planning Committee is expected to conduct a meeting on the site on Tuesday, Oct. 25.

Construction Expected Soon on New Clarendon Park

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 2:50 p.m.) What is now a muddy, run-down dog park in Clarendon will soon be transformed into an attractive, modern park serving both people and pets.

James Hunter Park (the new name for the previously unnamed “Community Canine Area” at N. Herndon and 13th Street) will feature picnic and seating areas, a demonstration garden, water feature, comfort station, kiosk, decomposed granite dog play area, grass lawn, public art and permeable paved walkways. Trees will line the park, which is located about two blocks northwest of the Clarendon Metro station.

Today, the park features a picnic bench and a couple of old plastic lawn chairs amid an open grass-and-dirt field.

Construction on the park is expected to begin in late fall/early winter and wrap up during the summer of 2012, according to project manager Scott McPartlin. That’s a couple of months behind a preliminary schedule announced last fall.

The project’s $1.85 million cost will be paid primarily with funds from a park bond approved by voters last year.

Crystal City to Get ‘Sparkling’ New Southern Entryway

By ARLnow.com

A drab piece of vacant land that serves as the decidedly unspectacular southern entryway to Crystal City will soon be getting a new look.

The 30,000 square foot, triangular lot at the intersection of Crystal Drive and Jefferson Davis Highway will be getting “a large-scale lighting and landscape enhancement that will create a truly enticing gateway experience.”

“The project adds new turf, 28 trees, and beautiful LED lighting features laid out in an interesting and attractive geometric pattern that continues up the façade of the southernmost building in Crystal City,” according to the Crystal City Business Improvement District. Nearly 50,000 drivers per day pass by the entryway. The revamped look will communicate “the excitement and vibrancy of Crystal City,” according to the BID (see illustration, below).

A groundbreaking will be held on Monday, Oct. 3. Construction is expected to wrap up by Thanksgiving.

Disclosure: Crystal City BID is an ARLnow.com advertiser.

Washington Blvd Bridge Work to Begin This Spring

By ARLnow.com

The project has been nearly 20 years in the making, but VDOT has finally nailed down rough a construction schedule for the Washington Boulevard bridge over Columbia Pike.

At a community meeting on Tuesday, VDOT project manager Christiana Briganti-Dunn said land acquisition and construction is expected to begin this spring and will be complete by Aug. 2015. The $51.5 million project is being paid for primarily with federal and state funds, although Arlington is expected to contribute about $1 million for utility relocation and upgrades.

The project will replace the crumbling Washington Boulevard bridge, which dates back to the 1940s, and replace it with a new, wider span that will be dubbed the Freedman’s Village Bridge, in honor of the enclave of freed slaves that was established nearby in 1863 and remained until the 1890s.

The new, wider bridge will allow a turn lane to be placed in between the four existing lanes of Columbia Pike. It will also allow for a 10-foot mixed-use path next to the westbound lanes, and the possible future addition of dedicated bicycle lanes. The design of the bridge was elevated by couple of inches to accommodate the planned Columbia Pike streetcar, Briganti-Dunn added.

Another planned change is the addition of two traffic lights on Columbia Pike, at the intersection with two sets of reconfigured Washington Boulevard ramps. The intersection of S. Quinn Street and Columbia Pike will be reconfigured as a one-way only entrance into the Arlington View neighborhood, and the traffic light there will be moved to the intersection of Columbia Pike and N. Queen Street, where reconfigured ramps onto and off of eastbound Washington Boulevard will converge.

(more…)

Board Approves New Barcroft Park Baseball Field

By ARLnow.com

Baseball Field #6 at Barcroft Park will be getting an extreme makeover this winter.

Last night the Arlington County Board unanimously approved a plan that will provide at least $3 million for major improvements to the ball field, paid in full by George Washington University. GWU’s baseball team has used Barcroft as its home field since 1992, and has long desired a venue more on par with other universities.

Under a new 20-year agreement, GWU will pay all upgrade costs while splitting annual maintenance costs 25/75 with Arlington County. The maintenance split reflects the agreement that GWU will have access to the field for 25 percent of available hours while the county will be able to provide public access to the field for 75 percent of available hours.

County staff estimated Arlington’s yearly share of maintenance and repair costs for the field at between $25,000 to $40,000.

“GWU’s contribution will make Field #6 the best baseball field in Arlington, while the community will have even more use of the field than it has now,” County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman said in a statement. “This is a great example of how local government can leverage public-private partnerships to bring real benefits to the community.”

A major component of the upgrade is a new artificial turf field — a first for an Arlington County baseball diamond. Other planned upgrades include new fencing, dugouts, bullpens, batting cages and stadium seating, as well as a new entry plaza, press box, concession area, and parking lot layout. Possible future changes include new restrooms, locker rooms and a new scoreboard. There are no planned changes to the field’s lighting system.

“This is a great opportunity to provide a modern facility for both GW student-athletes and the youth of northern Virginia, and we thank Arlington County for its support of this transformational project,” said GWU athletic director Patrick Nero.

GWU is hoping to upgrade the field in time for the spring baseball season. Construction is expected to begin next month, with the field reopening in March 2012.

Construction Progress at Long Bridge Park

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 4:00 p.m.) When we last visited the site of the future Long Bridge Park in March, it was still a vast expanse of dirt and construction equipment. Now, the park, on Old Jefferson Davis Highway near Crystal City, is a vast expanse of dirt, construction equipment and artificial turf.

The Sun Gazette reports today that the park is “definitely” on track to open at some point this fall, according to County Manager Barbara Donnellan.

When it does open, the $50 million $31 million first phase of the park will feature lighted multipurpose athletic fields, concession stands, picnic areas, a rain garden, a lush esplanade and a public plaza. Just don’t expect much tranquility — every few minutes the roar of planes landing at Reagan National Airport, and occasionally the whistle of trains passing by the eastern end of the park, interrupts any momentary sense of being away from the bustle of the surrounding area.

A second phase, expected to begin construction in 2013, will feature a large new aquatics, health and fitness facility (see renderings here and here). Expected sooner: a much-needed repaving, and possible renaming, of Old Jefferson Davis Highway.

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