Dept. of Environmental Services

Advocates renew call for safer conditions on S. Carlin Springs Road after teen on bike struck

By Jo DeVoe
A utility pole blocks a narrow sidewalk, bordering four lanes of traffic on S. Carlin Springs Road (via Google Maps)

After a driver collided with a child on a bicycle on S. Carlin Springs Road this week, neighbors and advocates are calling for street safety upgrades.

For its part, Arlington County says it has already been working on safety measures for the area, which has narrow sidewalks, little or no pedestrian buffer and a history of crashes. Upcoming steps include reducing speeds near the schools in the area: Kenmore Middle School and Carlin Springs Elementary.

“We are looking into the details from police regarding the crash and will identify next steps based on the report,” Dept. of Environmental Services spokeswoman Katie O’Brien said.

And Arlington County Board member Matt de Ferranti has recently gotten involved, too. He tells ARLnow he has walked the area with advocates and will be meeting with staff next week.

“First and foremost, I understand that the young man is okay and the safety of our kids and our residents is highest on my mind,” de Ferranti said. “Second, the accident raises important and urgent questions about safety in that whole corridor… We need to do better to address them.”

How the crash happened

Just before 7 p.m. on Monday, a driver traveling south on S. Carlin Springs Road proceeded through a green light and struck a juvenile riding a bicycle in the crosswalk, Arlington County Police Department spokeswoman Ashley Savage said.

The driver remained on scene. The child, who did not require a trip to the hospital for treatment, was tended to on scene by medics, Savage said. No citations were issued.

While ACPD does not provide identifying information, she did say the child involved was older than first reported on social media.

A history of unsafe sidewalks 

Community advocate Janeth Valenzuela tells ARLnow that she passed by the crash around 6:45 p.m. and saw emergency responders. She says she’s been working on safety along S. Carlin Springs Road for many years now, and has suggested everything from building a bridge for kids crossing the road to erecting a fence to prevent kids from getting pushed into the street.

“I’ve been proposing a lot of things, but they don’t take it into consideration,” she said. “The solution is hard.”

S. Carlin Springs Road is an important walking route for Kenmore students, but she and other residents say the pedestrian amenities are poor. Sidewalks are narrow and not well maintained and often do not have any landscaping separating pedestrians from traffic.

Narrow sidewalks provide no separation between pedestrians and drivers on S. Carlin Springs Road (via Google Maps)

And people have been telling the county the same thing for nearly a decade, according to a 2014 report by the APS Multimodal Transportation and Student Safety Committee and Advisory Committee on Transportation Choices meeting minutes from 2017.

During one ACTC meeting in 2017, a father said moms with strollers pass kids playfully shoving each other on the sidewalk as cars whiz right next to them. In the winter, if the sidewalks aren’t plowed, kids walk in the road, he added.

(more…)

E-CARE is back this weekend, providing residents a place to drop off hazardous materials

By Matt Blitz
E-CARE event in 2021 at Yorktown High School (photo courtesy of Arlington County)

The Arlington Environmental Collection and Recycling Event (E-CARE) is back this weekend, providing residents the chance to get rid of unwanted paint, pesticides, and printer ink lying around the house.

The biannual E-CARE’s fall rendition is set to take place this Saturday (Oct. 8) at Wakefield High School from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Arlington residents will be able to drop off for safe disposal a host of household hazardous materials, outdated electronics (including old-school cathode ray televisions), and items containing mercury.

However, small metal items and bikes will not be accepted this time around in order to “streamline traffic flow.”

Below is the list of accepted items:

  • Automotive fluids
  • Batteries
  • Car care products
  • Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs)
  • Corrosives (acids/caustics)
  • Fire extinguishers
  • Flammable solvents
  • Fluorescent tubes
  • Fuels/petroleum products
  • Household cleaners
  • Lawn and garden chemicals
  • Mercury
  • Paint products (25-can limit)
  • Photographic chemicals
  • Poisons (pesticides)
  • Printer ink/toner cartridges
  • Propane gas cylinders (small hand-held or larger)
  • Swimming pool chemicals

Electronics like computers, printers, keyboards, scanners, copiers, cellphones, and televisions can also be dropped off, though those can also be picked up curbside with an online request.

Old-school tube televisions and computer monitors containing a cathode ray will be accepted but come with a $15 or $20 fee.

Items containing mercury like thermostats, thermometers, and barometers will be collected as well.

Things that will not be accepted include:

  • Asbestos
  • Explosives and ammunition
  • Freon
  • Medical wastes
  • Prescription medications
  • Radioactive materials
  • Smoke detectors

This will be the first time this event is being held at Wakefield. The county is asking residents to enter via S. Columbus Street at George Mason Drive and drive around the school to the E-CARE site on S. Dinwiddie Street.

The county provided a few other tips including reminding locals that the event is only open to county residents so bring identification or a utility bill and pack cars in reverse order of drop off with electronics going in first and hazardous materials after.

The last E-CARE was held in April at Yorktown High School. At the two events in 2021, a combined 170,000 pounds of household hazardous materials were collected.

‘If it grows, it goes’ in the organics bin, officials remind residents

By Jo DeVoe
Leaf cleanup in Arlington (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Cool fall mornings mean leaf collection season is near.

And Arlington’s Department of Environmental Services is reminding homeowners collecting their leaves and cleaning out their gardens to use only paper yard waste bags.

“Plastic ones can’t be composted and won’t be collected. If you have a landscaper, make sure they know,” spokesman Peter Golkin said. “The issue with yard waste in plastic bags is the most glaring problem for organics.”

Leaves bagged in paper can be composted along with other yard waste and food scraps, and turned into compost residents can use in their gardens.

Since September 2021, Arlington County has collected residents’ food scraps mixed in with their yard waste. Participation hovers around 40-45% of homes, and the county says participating residents diverted 27% of their food waste from the incinerator in April 2022, up from 21% in January 2022 and 15% in October 2021.

“As with any new program, there is a learning curve. Arlington is one of the first localities to collect food scraps at the curb,” Golkin said. “Food scraps collection is just over a year old but we hear from new users and even won a 2022 Achievement Award from the Virginia Association of Counties.”

He reported that there is demand for learning more about the organics collection process.

“We had a big turnout for the Rock-n-Recycle Solid Waste Bureau open house this month and got to share loads of information and compostable bags for food scraps, particularly with young families,” he said. “Same for the County Fair. More educational opportunities to come.”

The department will soon distribute a cart hanger with a rundown of what can, and can’t, be put in the cart.

Golkin has two rules of thumb: “If it grows, it goes” and “When in doubt, leave it out.”

So go ahead and put hairs from the hairbrush or fingernail clippings in the food scrap collection bin. Other bathroom trash, like used tissues, however, cannot be composted.

While a variety of products are advertised as “compostable,” residents should take care when disposing them, Golkin says.

“Products that are 100% bamboo are compostable but if you can’t tell, best to put an item in the trash,” he said. “Read disposal instructions carefully. If there are no disposal instructions, that’s probably a sign to use the garbage can.”

For example, the handles of bamboo toothbrushes are compostable but the nylon bristles are not. Meanwhile, plastic-looking compostable cups or flatware must be Biodegradable Products Institute or Compost Manufacturing Alliance certified compostable.

“Apple cores, banana peels, chicken bones and even greasy pizza boxes are easier,” Golkin said. “Toss them in the green cart.”

The free food scrap bin Arlington County provided to residents starting September 2021 (file photo)

Since the initiative launched, he said, more than 100 cubic yards of finished compost has returned to Arlington for residents to pick up — similar to the county’s free mulch program. More will be available “in the next few weeks,” with details forthcoming on DES’s social media account.

The county’s curbside pickup is not an option for apartment dwellers, but officials encourage residents to discuss food scrap collection with their apartment or condo management.

For now, they can drop off their food scraps at the Trades Center in Shirlington, at local farmers markets and at the MOM’s Organic Market near Courthouse.

Based on current waste stream data, staff and a public advisory committee are working on a new, state-mandated Solid Waste Management Plan for the county, to be released in 2024, he said.

Explore the world of recycling at Arlington’s Rock-n-Recycle event this weekend

By Matt Blitz
1/3

Get ready to “explore the world of recycling” next weekend at the family-friendly Rock-n-Recycle event in Shirlington.

The open house, put on by Arlington’s Department of Environmental Services (DES), is set for Saturday, Sept. 17 and will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m at the county’s Trade Center on S. Taylor Street.

The event will feature big trucks and machinery, many with “wrestler-like names such as the Rock Crusher, the Tub Grinder and the Food Composter” per DES spokesperson Peter Golkin.

Plus, there will be three dozen hands-on learning stations, take-home art activities, an ice cream truck, and “mountains of mulch.”

“The purpose of this very family friendly open house by the Solid Waste Bureau is to provide a behind-the-scenes look at the world of recycling, composting, trash-to-energy, inert materials collection and other key environmental services provided by Arlington County,” Golkin told ARLnow.

No RSVP is required and the event is rain or shine. This will be the third time the county has put on the event, having done it previously in 2019 and 2021. DES expects at least “several hundred people” to attend.

The hope is that the open house “leaves a big, fun and lasting impression on kids and their adults too” while encouraging them to recycle, compost, and a better understanding of DES’s services.

From the county’s event listing: “See the big work machines (The Rock Crusher! The Tub Grinder!) up close, sit in the driver’s seat and meet the experts who keep Arlington clean and sustainable.”

The killer of dozens of fish in Four Mile Run? Pool water, investigators say.

By ARLnow.com
Four Mile Run near Shirlington (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

We now know the likely culprit that killed nearly 100 fish in Four Mile Run last week: pool water.

“Investigators say flawed seasonal pool care involving chlorine and overflow led to last week’s fish kill in Four Mile Run,” Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services spokesman Peter Golkin tells ARLnow. “Recent rains have now cleared the stream. Reminder: No filters on our storm drains. Please be careful.”

Golkin said overflow from the pool at a “multi-family property swimming pool” — in other words, an apartment or condo complex — “got into the storm drain” and made its way to the stream, between S. Walter Reed Drive and S. Taylor Street.

Pool water, it turns out, is deadly.

“Swimming pool and spa water can have devastating effects on the health of our streams if not disposed of properly,” the county’s website says. “The chlorine, bromine, algaecides, cleaning chemicals and low oxygen levels can kill fish and other aquatic life in streams.”

“Only freshwater that is dechlorinated, pH neutral, chemical-free and clean may be slowly discharged into the storm drain system,” says the website. Otherwise, pool water must go into the sewer system.

Golkin noted that the county’s rules around swimming pool drainage are “especially timely as this is prime season for closing out pools for the year.”

It is illegal to drain untreated pool water directly or indirectly into storm drains, though it’s not clear whether anyone will face any fines or other consequences in this case.

“It was not a malicious act,” Golkin said. “It was a multi-family property swimming pool. The owners and their service people have been very cooperative with the investigation and in making follow-up improvements so such an incident isn’t repeated.”

Another pool-related drainage issue that comes up around this time each year: pool drainage that flows into neighboring properties, flooding yards, killing grass and sparking neighborhood disputes. The county considers such disputes to be out of its regulatory control.

More from the county website:

Chapter 26-7 makes it unlawful for any person to discharge directly or indirectly into the storm sewer system or state waters, any substance likely, in the opinion of the County Manager, to have an adverse effect on the storm sewer system or state waters. Failure to comply with code requirements may result in enforcement action, including the issuance of civil penalties as outlined in Chapter 26-10 of the Arlington County Code. Enforcement action may also be taken by state and federal authorities in the event of a fish kill. Please share this information with pool service companies. You may be held responsible for the results of their actions.

If pool or spa water is to be released over-land, the release should be:

  • At least 10 feet from the property line
  • Monitored and controlled to prevent flooding or erosion of neighboring properties

Conflicts between neighbors that arise due to the release of pool or spa water are considered civil in nature. The Property Drainage webpage contains further information about residential drainage concerns and the potential conflicts that can arise.

For more information on swimming pools and how to properly manage pool water discharge, call 703-228-4488.

Solar panels are rising in Arlington thanks to a county program and federal incentives

By Matt Blitz
Solar panels dot an Arlington home (photo courtesy of Arlington County Department of Environmental Services)

A county program has led to a large increase in solar panels being installed on homes over the last year.

The Arlington 2022 Solar and EV Charger Co-op is a seven-year-old partnership between the county and the non-profit Solar United Neighbors to purchase solar systems in bulk. The co-op, in turn, sells the systems to the customers at about a 20% discount, the program coordinator and a planner with the Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy (AIRE) Helen Reinecke-Wilt explained to ARLnow.

The annual deadline to become a member is today (Aug. 31).

While the co-op is open to residents in Arlington, the City of Falls Church, and other surrounding Virginia localities, Arlingtonians comprise the majority of the membership.

And, since 2021, that has led to a substantial increase in solar panel systems being installed on Arlington homes.

Last year, 90 solar systems were installed in the county through the co-op. Add 17 from other localities, that’s 107 in total. That nearly doubled previous years’ numbers, Reinecke-Wilt said.

Last year’s record-breaking number will likely be exceeded in 2022 as well, the data suggests.

Reinecke-Wilt believes the reason for the uptick is that locals are looking to become more environmentally friendly as the county continues to tout its plan to be carbon neutral by 2050.

“I think it’s just a bigger awareness about climate action and the need to take action with more people thinking that they should be involved,” she said.

Locals are also recognizing the potential future savings due to being less dependent on the electrical grid. It’s estimated that households with solar panels save $600 to $1,100 a year on electrical costs, per the table on the co-op’s website.

While there are solar power systems being installed outside of the co-op, most installations in Arlington are through the co-op, we’re told. There are about 620 solar home systems in Arlington with 388 installed through the co-op, per data provided to ARLnow by the county’s Department of Environmental Services.

With nearly 120,000 residences in the county, that remains a small percentage. But the hope is that number will continue to increase due to the program’s growing popularity and the 30% tax credit now available thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act being signed earlier this month.

“The bump from 26% to 30% is [a big deal]. We are seeing a lot more members sign up in the past month and, certainly, I think it’s a reaction to that increase,” Reinecke-Wilt said.

There are reasons why most Arlington homes haven’t gone solar, including upfront costs — sometimes as much as $16,000 even with the tax credits. A roof’s lifespan is also a factor, with most vendors advising homeowners not to install solar panels on a roof older than seven years.

There’s also the still-vibrant (if slowly thinning) Arlington tree canopy, which shades many homes and can prevent sunshine from poking through to generate power. But that’s a good thing, Reinecke-Wilt said, since “it’s always better to have shade than solar because it provides natural cooling and helps the planet in other ways.”

Some residents also may not like the aesthetics of solar panels or hold the misguided belief that they bring down the value of the home.

But the sun seems to be rising on solar panels in Arlington.

At least by the metric of how many have signed up for the co-op, Arlington is outpacing nearly every other neighboring locality including those in D.C. and Maryland in terms of interest, Reinecke-Wilt said. She fully expects that more houses in Arlington will opt to go solar, prompted by the need to help with the climate crisis, federal incentives, and neighbor envy.

“I think it’s just getting to the point where people are starting to really notice it on a lot of homes and are asking their neighbors, ‘Why did you go solar? How did you do?'” said Reinecke-Wilt. “I think it will just continue to grow.”

County Board to consider fee for using county’s electric vehicle charging stations

By Mavis Chan
Private electric vehicle charger in a Clarendon parking lot in 2017 (file photo)

(Updated at 9:15 a.m. on 6/16/22) A new ordinance would mean no more free rides for users of county-owned electric vehicle charging stations.

A proposed interim fee of 14.52 cents per kilowatt-hour would reimburse the Arlington County for the cost of providing charging services, according to a report to the County Board, which will be taking up the item at its meeting this weekend. The new fee would go into effect on Monday, July 18, Department of Environmental Services spokesman Peter Golkin said.

Currently, there are seven available charging stations owned by the county, providing a total of 11 charging spaces for the public, at the Arlington Mill Community Center and the Long Bridge Aquatics Center.

If the proposal passes, the interim fee is set to remain in place while the county plans for expanding governmental electric vehicle charging stations.

Arlington’s Department of Environmental Services is hiring a consultant to come up with a “future recommendation on a permanent EV rate structure and charging model,” the board report says. The interim fee is set to serve as a pilot for the future plan.

The county has put signs up at the two charging stations it operates to inform users that the stations will no longer be free beginning in July, according to the report.

Although the proposed fee is higher than the current fee in neighboring Loudoun County, which charges per session, it is lower than other commercial stations. Those commercial stations charge between 22 cents per kilowatt-hour and 79 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to the board report.

Many charging stations operated by EVgo, the largest electric vehicle fast charging company in the U.S., charges around 36 cents per kWh.

The County Board is expected to vote this Saturday (June 18) to advertise the proposed change, before final approval at its Saturday, July 16, meeting.

Arlington says it’s having trouble collecting trash due to labor shortage, hot weather

By Matt Blitz
Bagged brush and organics in the green bin, ahead of collection day (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Arlington County is having more trash trouble.

Late last week, an email was sent to residents acknowledging that it’s been a “something of a challenge” in recent weeks for curbside pick-up of trash, recycling, and green organics. The note goes on to say that the job market, driver shortages, supply chain issues, and the “early record heat” are the main culprits.

“We’re now seeing a rising number of collection routes not being completed until the next day, particularly for green organics carts that are often the last serviced due to routing based on processing facility locations,” reads the email.

Like many jurisdictions, Arlington uses a contractor for trash pick-up. That contractor is American Disposal Services.

Peter Golkin, Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services (DES) spokesperson, tells ARLnow the problem started in April, coinciding with the annual increase in green-cart organics being put curbside for pick-up — as well as the start of warmer temperatures.

He couldn’t estimate when the issues might be resolved and says the issue is “largely beyond the control of Arlington County.” Golkin notes that such challenges are also being endured by other localities in the region. American Disposal Services is continuously looking to hire more employees, but it continues to be hard, he says.

“It’s hard to give an estimated time for improved conditions… The County’s contractor has raised wages several times in the past 18 months and pays well above the County mandated living wage of $17/hour,” Golkin wrote in an email. “It’s simply difficult right now — at any wage — to find people willing to work 10-hour days doing demanding physical labor outdoors in the region’s heat conditions.”

Overall, county crews service about 6,500 households a day that put out an average of three carts, said the email sent to residents. Meaning, there are about 20,000 carts that are in need of pick-up on a daily basis, which does not include bulk items or bags of yard debris and other organics.

“It’s demanding, exhausting work easily complicated by quickly arising factors like storms and equipment failures,” it reads.

The recent hot weather is also complicating the situation. More than $3,000 worth of sports drinks have been downed by crews recently, the county said, and supply chain issues are making it hard to find replacement parts when a truck breaks down.

“Until global supply chain issues begin to ease, we anticipate vehicle breakdowns will continue to hamper collection routes,” Golkin said.

Arlington has had other recent trash problems. Last month, residents complained of overflowing public trash bins in Pentagon City and Crystal City. That issue was mostly the result of increased seasonal tourism, the county said while pledging to fix the problem.

As for what residents can do to ease the trash collection backlog, the county is asking those impacted to remain patient, report missed trash service, be considerate about the number of items left curbside, and to remember that those working “aren’t in it for the glamor.”

The email also notes that Waste and Recycling Workers Week starts June 17.

“The people on the trucks can always use a friendly wave or even a note of thanks taped to a cart. They perform an absolutely essential service that is so easy to take for granted,” Golkin said. “Perhaps not anymore.”

Hundreds of apartment residents left without AC, water over long weekend

By Brandi Bottalico
1/2

Residents of an apartment complex off Columbia Pike were without water and air conditioning over Memorial Day weekend — and are still waiting on the AC to return.

The air conditioning and hot water stopped functioning on Friday at Dominion Towers Apartments, at 1201 S. Courthouse Road. On Sunday evening, water to the building was shut off completely, residents told ARLnow.

“The main water shut-off valve that is controlled by Arlington County has broken, which is why there’s no water to the building,” an email sent from owner Capital Investment Advisors to residents on Sunday read. “In order to resolve this issue, we will need Arlington County and a plumber. Considering it’s a holiday weekend, Maintenance is doing everything they can to contact emergency personnel to assist.”

Arlington’s Department of Environmental Services said management’s description of the issue was not exactly what happened, however.

The broken valve was inside the building’s boiler room and was not owned by the county, DES spokesman Peter Golkin said, but after the valve failed and the complex was unable to find a replacement during the holiday weekend the county offered one it had.

“The Water, Sewer, Streets Bureau actually had a replacement in its inventory and offered it up as a courtesy with the building agreeing to reimburse for a new valve,” Golkin told ARLnow. “The Bureau shut off the main to the building on Sunday to allow for the repair and restored that service from the public main yesterday.”

Running water was restored Monday evening but hot water and air conditioning were still not functioning as of Tuesday afternoon. An email from management said the AC has not been restored due to low water pressure.

“County staff was only involved in going above and beyond to help the residents of the apartment building get their water service back as soon as possible during a long, hot holiday weekend,” Golkin noted.

In an email to ARLnow on Monday, one resident said the property manager “has not been on site all weekend and there has been no timetable for when water and a/c will be restored.”

Another resident told us that management has told its tenants that it hopes to restore both the air conditioning and the hot water by the end of the day today.

To add a bit of extra drama to the situation, the fire department was called to the building earlier this afternoon for a report of a fire, though in the end they only found burnt food on a stove in an eighth floor apartment.

Dominion Towers previously made headlines in May 2018 after the air conditioning malfunctioned and left residents sweltering during a several day stretch of particularly hot weather.

Meanwhile, another large Arlington residential building suffered a multi-day utility outage last week.

Hundreds of residents in The Brittany condominium complex at 4500 S. Four Mile Run Drive found themselves in a similar situation heading into the weekend, without running water for 2+ days last week. For them, it was resolved by Friday afternoon.

(more…)

Overflowing trash cans are causing a mess, but the county is looking to clean up

By Matt Blitz
An privately-owned overflowing trash can in Pentagon City. (photo courtesy of Rebecca/@rdc20132)

Overflowing trash cans are becoming a more common sight in Pentagon City and Crystal City, but the county is pledging to clean up the mess.

In recent days, several local residents posted photos on social media of neighborhood trash cans and recycling bins filled beyond the brim with soda cans, food wrappers, pizza boxes, coffee cups, and doggie bags. The problem, as noted, seemed to happen more on weekends.

https://twitter.com/rdc20132/status/1525557363557777410

County officials tell ARLnow that increased seasonal tourism and more weekend events are to blame, as both in the region are ramping back up after 2+ years of pandemic-related drop-offs.

“We are seeing a definite increase in use of public trash cans in parts of Arlington like Pentagon City, frequented by a lot of folks from out-of-town,” Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services (DES) spokesperson Peter Golkin tells ARLnow. “After the first two years of the pandemic, there’s a noticeable rise in tourism and this is the traditional high point for any year thanks to school trips. When a group pulls up, it’s natural to want to get rid of junk like food wrappers and soda cans, especially on big buses that drivers have to keep clean.”

Golkin says that there are more workers back in offices as well, grabbing lunch and coffee while disposing of the remains in public trash cans. Plus, the increasing number of events both in Arlington and in D.C. has resulted in more “water bottles and wrappers naturally [making] their way beyond the event site.”

There’s also the notion of not wanting to walk the extra block to find a less-filled trash can.

“The messy problem comes when a trash or recycling can is full and the urge is to just keep piling rather than look for something with room maybe a block or two down the street,” he says.

To help solve the issue, Golkin says that DES is shifting schedules to include specific weekend checks at trouble trash spots in addition to the regular weekday rounds. However, “tight staffing” does not make it “easy to re-allocate limited resources like staff time.”

Despite requests from some residents, there’s no current plan to add more trash and recycling receptacles to those areas most impacted.

“The Solid Waste Bureau will see if the increased servicing takes care of the issue or if additional steps are necessary,” Golkin notes.

Not all of the trash cans in those neighborhoods are serviced by the county, however.

DES monitors and manages four pairs of trash and recycling receptacles on each side of S. Hayes Street near the Pentagon City mall. But there are also a number of trash cans in the area that belong to privately-owned buildings and are required to be serviced by those property owners.

Additionally, another county department — the Department of Parks and Recreation — handles the waste around Virginia Highlands Park, which is up a few blocks from the mall on S. Hayes Street.

As County Board chair Katie Cristol noted on Twitter, residents can request service or report problems with trash or any other street issue 24/7 through the county’s “Report A Problem” portal. More broadly, the county is currently updating its nearly-two-decade-old solid waste management plan and is asking for public input.

Golkin is optimistic that shifting more service to the weekends will help alleviate the trash problem in Pentagon City and Crystal City. But he does have a simple request.

“If a receptacle is already full, try to hold on [to trash] until there’s a nearby can with room.”

JUST IN: West Glebe Road bridge to completely close in two weeks

By ARLnow.com
1/4

(Updated at 12:35 p.m.) The West Glebe Road bridge over Four Mile Run will be completely closed to vehicles in two weeks, and will remain closed for nearly a year.

The circa-1956 bridge, which connects Arlington and Alexandria near the I-395/S. Glebe Road interchange, has been deemed “structurally deficient” since 2018. A $10 million project to replace its deck and beams was approved by the Arlington County Board last April and was slated to start this year, but in the meantime engineers have found “continued degradation of the bridge beams.”

As a result, the bridge is closing to drivers on Monday, May 9, the county announced today. That’s after southbound bridge traffic was detoured for the same reason in March.

New detours will be put into place that will divert vehicular traffic either over the Mount Vernon Avenue bridge to the east or Shirlington Circle to the west. Both of those bridges, coincidentally, are also aging and set for repairs over the next couple of years; the former received funding from the recent federal infrastructure bill.

The county expects two vehicle lanes on the West Glebe Road bridge to reopen in early 2023, while it’s still under construction. Work is expected to start shortly after the May closure and last until the summer of 2023.

Pedestrians and cyclists will still be able to use the bridge for a few more months. A temporary pedestrian path across Four Mile Run is expected to open in July. Four Mile Run Trail users, meanwhile, will re-routed to a parallel path, as the portion of trail under the bridge will be closed.

More from a county press release, below.

Because of continued degradation of the bridge beams, engineers will close the West Glebe Road Bridge to all motor vehicle traffic beginning on Monday, May 9, 2022, for construction of a planned replacement superstructure (road deck and beams). Two motor vehicle lanes on the renovated bridge are expected to reopen in early 2023 along with one of two widened sidewalks.

The current structure connecting Arlington and Alexandria over Four Mile Run was built in 1956. Elements have experienced noted deterioration in recent years.

In 2018, a 5-ton weight restriction was placed on all user vehicles. In March 2022, all southbound traffic was detoured away from the bridge amid signs of continued structural beam degradation.

Allowing continued motor vehicle traffic with the additional stress of construction has now been ruled out. Pedestrians and bicyclists will be able to use the bridge through June, after which they will be directed to a temporary crossing, independent of the superstructure, to be built along the bridge, expected to open in July.

The Mount Vernon Avenue Bridge further east over Four Mile Run will continue to handle vehicular traffic detouring from the West Glebe bridge.

The bridge’s original piers are stable and will be used to support the new superstructure, reducing project costs, construction time, and impact on the watershed.

The project is set for completion by summer 2023.

Arlington County and the City of Alexandria continue continue to coordinate closely on the bridge replacement project. Crews will mobilize for the job later this month.

View More Stories