construction

Pedestrian Improvements Underway on Shirlington Road

By ARLnow.com

Work is underway on a series of pedestrian improvements on Shirlington Road.

The sidewalk in front of the Weenie Beenie, between Four Mile Run Drive and 27th Street S., is being expanded from 5.5 feet to 12 feet. In addition, the traffic signal at Shirlington Road and Four Mile Run Drive is being upgraded, LED street lights are being added and other aspects of the streetscape are being improved.

The improvements are intended to make bike and foot travel safer in an area of high pedestrian and vehicle traffic.  The sidewalk serves pedestrians heading between Nauck and Shirlington, as well as cyclists and joggers heading between the W&OD Trail and the two sections of the Four Mile Run Trail.

“We’re trying to greatly upgrade that pedestrian/bicycle connectivity,” said Arlington County Director of Transportation Dennis Leach. He added that the upgrades were made necessary, among other reasons, due to the narrowness of the preexisting sidewalk.

“We’ve had some real concerns,” Leach said. “The existing condition is poor.”

In addition to safety enhancements, the $196,000 project will also improve the landscaping along Shirlington Road, upgrade the bus stop at the intersection with Four Mile Run Drive, and bolster the handling of storm water to prevent runoff into Four Mile Run.

Leach said the project is the “first phase” of a larger pedestrian improvement initiative that will see the widening of the Shirlington Road bridge over Four Mile Run. Widening the bridge and the corresponding sidewalk will allow more than one cyclist to cross at a time on the busy stretch. The Four Mile Run Trail alone, Leach said, handled 1,300 people per day during the month of May.

Solar Panel Installation at Arlington Central Library

By ARLnow.com

Workers were busy installing 250 solar panels on the roof of Arlington Central Library today.

The 60 kilowatt solar photovoltaic system will save the library $14,000 in peak electricity costs every year and will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 100,000 pounds annually, officials say.

“As part of Fresh AIRE (Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions), the new solar photovoltaic system will contribute to Arlington’s goal to reduce the County government greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent by 2012,” the county said in a press release. “Central Library is an ideal facility for a solar photovoltaic system, due to its large, flat roof that can easily collect sunlight, coupled with previous AIRE energy efficiency improvements.”

The project was funded entirely by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Energy. The system will take about two months to install, weather-permitting.


Lane Closures in Place for Glebe Road Bridge Work

By ARLnow.com

Drivers heading across the Glebe Road/Route 50 bridge are now encountering lane closures and heavier traffic during the day.

The bridge that carries Glebe Road traffic over Route 50 is being replaced over the next 15 months. Initially, we had been told that “any lane closures or shifts… will occur between 9:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.” and that there would be “no major construction impacts… during the day.”

The lane closures, construction activity and traffic backups we saw on either side of the bridge today seem to dispute those initial statements.

Update at 11:50 a.m. — We’re hearing on Twitter that VDOT told attendees at a public meeting that the work underway now — removing the medians leading to the bridge — would possibly take place during the day.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Striking ART Drivers Fired — The Examiner’s Liz Essley reports that the Arlington Transit bus drivers who went on strike yesterday have been fired by Forsythe Transportation, the contractor that operates ART buses. The paper also reports that the labor dispute came to a head when Forsythe fired the head of the bus drivers union last week. ART buses are operating on a reduced frequency schedule today, with all routes in service except the 61B route. [Washington Examiner, Arlington Transit]

Airport Uniforms Found in Ballston — Three pairs of airport employee uniforms and a Washington Reagan Airport safety vest have been found in the bushes outside Carpool restaurant in Ballston (4000 Fairfax Drive). The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and Arlington police are investigating how the uniforms wound up there. [WJLA]

Arlington Mill Construction Contract Awarded — Construction on the new Arlington Mill Community Center is scheduled to begin in August, after the County Board awarded a $27.6 million construction contract for the project over the weekend. “Redeveloping the old Arlington Mill Community Center site into a mixed-used facility with a new community center, gymnasium, retail space and a parking garage is part of the County’s efforts to foster a vibrant, walkable urban village along Columbia Pike,” the county said in a press release. [Arlington County]

Goodbye, Hollywood Video — A shuttered Hollywood Video store and a small office building along Wilson Boulevard are set for demolition this month. The buildings are being razed to make way for a 191-unit apartment complex, which will include a parking garage and ground-level retail space. [Washington Business Journal]

Slow Progress on Courthouse Plaza Brick Work

By ARLnow.com

Work on the brick pavers at Courthouse Plaza appears to be behind schedule.

We’re told by a source that the project will most likely not be completed this month, the anticipated completion date that TBD.com reported in February. No official word yet on how much longer the project might take. Multiple calls seeking information from the owner of Courthouse Plaza, Vornado Charles E. Smith, have gone unreturned over the past week.

Courthouse Plaza is the home of restaurants, small shops, a movie theater, a hotel, county government’s main office building and a Courthouse Metro entrance. The project has resulted in a gauntlet of fences around the plaza, and the displacement of some outdoor seating, but access to businesses and Metro has been maintained.

Currently, workers are using pools of water to test the sealant used underneath the brick pavers. The pavers themselves — which, we’re told, only arrived recently after a significant delay — are stacked near the county government building, awaiting installation.

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Groundbreaking for New Wakefield High School

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 4:15 p.m.) School officials, County Board members and other local dignitaries donned helmets and shovels to help break ground on the new, $118 million Wakefield High School today.

Over the next 2-3 years workers will build a 380,000 square foot school to replace the existing, 60-year-old building. The new Wakefield will feature 50 classrooms, state-of-the-art science labs, a 625 seat auditorium, a media center, two new athletic fields, two gyms, two pools, a diving well and a geothermal heating and cooling plant.

“It’s a very significant investment that’s going to be a great asset to the county,” said County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman. “Obviously, investing in the kids is the most important aspect of it, but it’s also something that’s going to provide services to Arlingtonians who don’t even have children in the school system. It’s a commuinity center, as all schools are. It will be a great symbol for the county.”

Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Patrick Murphy said the new Wakefield is a testament to the hard work of school employees, supporters and students, past and present.

“There has been a lot of energy and focus, and a lot of community involvement,” Murphy said. “I think it sends a really strong message about the belief in public education”

The new building is expected to be ready for occupancy by July 2013, with final project completion by the spring of 2014.

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Progress on 2201 North Pershing Drive Project

By ARLnow.com

What was once the Lee Center strip mall is now a big, dusty hole in the ground.

Construction is well underway on what is known as the 2201 North Pershing Drive project. When work wraps up in mid-to-late 2012, the $75 million project at Route 50 and Pershing Drive will consist of 188 rental apartments and nearly 33,500 square feet of ground-level retail space.

For now, motorists on Pershing Drive have to put up with regular lane closures, slow-moving construction equipment and flagmen directing traffic.

Still Awaiting Construction at Trader Joe’s Site

By ARLnow.com

A liquor license application notice is taped to the window, but that’s just about the only sign of progress at the future Trader Joe’s on N. Highland Street in Clarendon.

Interior construction of the hotly-anticipated grocery store has yet to begin. In November a Trader Joe’s rep told the County Board that they hoped to have the store open by “mid-2011.” Now, that seems highly unlikely.

Reached for comment yesterday, all Trader Joe’s spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki could tell ARLnow.com is that the store is on track to open by the end of the year. She said the company never actually promised an earlier opening.

A closer look at construction permit applications reveals that the company only started applying for its permits last month. As of this writing, the building permit is still listed as ‘rejected’ due to numerous discrepancies. County inspectors have also rejected the store’s fire prevention, mechanical and plumbing plans.

We’ve reached out to an Arlington building official but have yet to hear back.

Worker Struck By Construction Material on I-66

By ARLnow.com

Update at 2:35 p.m. — The worker has been transported to the hospital and the scene is being cleared.

A worker was reportedly struck in the head by a piece of construction material near the Patrick Henry Drive overpass on I-66.

Arlington County firefighters are working to secure the worker and get him or her to an ambulance. One lane of westbound I-66 is blocked by the emergency response.

Bromptons at Cherrydale Nears Completion

By Katie Pyzyk

The long, strange trip for the project dubbed the Bromptons at Cherrydale may soon be coming to an end. The building at 3800 Lee Highway has been nearly seven years in the making, but condos there could go on sale before the start of summer.

Originally, all of the 22 condo units were under contract in 2004. But progress stalled in 2006, when the county issued a stop-work order due to the building being structurally unsound. The developer, Ed Peete Company was given the opportunity to remedy the issues or demolish the structure. After some waffling, Ed Peete chose demolition, but the deadline for that came and went in July 2008.

While this was being hashed out, the building sat vacant for years. A flurry of lawsuits followed, including those against contractors and engineers hired by Ed Peete. Ultimately the developer decided to keep the structure and reinforce it as part of a settlement reached in 2009.

Now, passing by the site provides a view of work crews buzzing in and out of the building and signs advertising the first floor retail space. Gone are the flapping sheets of plastic and insulation on the façade, the torn-up sidewalk has been replaced, and balconies have been affixed to the front of the units.

Project Manager Neil Winsten with R15, formerly the Ed Peete Company, says many improvements have been made to comply with the county’s requests of fixing issues such as stressed beams and walls. He says steel beams and support slabs have been added for reinforcement. With the new additions, Winsten believes this should be “one of the strongest buildings around.”

Winsten says he hopes the building will be finished by the end of May. The 22 condos are set to go on sale immediately after completion. Winsten says they will start looking for tenants to fill the first floor retail space around the same time.

As far as working with the county for all these years, Winsten says it has “gone pretty smoothly once we put the new plan into effect.”

Neighbors have been grumbling for years about the Bromptons project being an eyesore and dragging down property values. In response to their frustration, Winsten says, “We’re just about done so thanks for bearing with us. We haven’t wanted it to take this long either.”

County Issues 2010 Development Stats

By ARLnow.com

Despite continued economic weakness across the country, development and construction in Arlington continued at a relatively strong pace last year, a newly-released report reveals.

In 2010, developers began construction on more than 600,000 square feet of retail and office space, while construction wrapped up construction on another 600,000 square feet of space. Construction started on 477 multifamily (apartment and condo) units, while 1,438 units were completed.

A majority – 68 percent – of on-going commercial construction last year took place in Ballston. A similar majority of the multifamily construction – 67 percent – took place on Columbia Pike.

For more information, see the 2010 Development Trends report from Arlington County’s Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development.

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