Long Bridge

Long Bridge Park aquatics center pool to close early until summer for needed repairs

By Daniel Egitto
Olympic-regulation diving boards at the Long Bridge Park Aquatics & Fitness Center (staff photo)

(Updated at 11:15 a.m.) The 50-meter pool at the Long Bridge Aquatics & Fitness Center will have shorter hours for several months for needed repairs.

The pool area will close at 8 p.m., about two hours early, on weekdays starting next Monday, Jan. 29 to replace leaky pipes and water-damaged ceiling tiles caused by a corroded sprinkler hose, the Arlington County Dept. Parks and Recreation said in a press release. Weekend hours will not be affected.

The faulty sprinkler and the damage it caused were discovered by the contracting company given the $60 million contract to design and build the facility in 2017, Coakley Williams Construction, the county says. Coakley Williams will handle all the maintenance work and pay for the repair costs.

After attending to the 50-meter pool, repairs to the leisure pool will begin in early April. Its temporary operating hours will be available at a later date.

All repairs should be complete by this summer, the county said.

Some classes held at the pool have shifted their schedules because of the repairs. Affected participants will receive emails with more details.

It’s not the first time infrastructure issues have troubled the $70.7 million recreation complex. Delays in installing electrical power caused a $1.2 million increase in construction costs for the facility, which opened in 2021. An electrical emergency then caused the center to close briefly last April.

More information from the press release is below.

Repair Schedule

The repair schedule will begin with the 50-meter pool area on January 29. For the duration of the 50-meter pool repairs, it will be closed to the public by 8 p.m.— two hours early on weekdays, and the current closing time on weekends. Crews will work at night from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. to allow for a maximum number of operating hours. Through the duration of each phase, the work area will be sectioned off to allow programming to take place in other parts of the pool. During the daytime, scaffolding equipment will remain in the areas being addressed to allow for quick transition to maintenance work once the pool is closed. The leisure pool will operate as normal until repairs begin in early April. Details of this schedule will be shared at a later date. All repairs to both pools are estimated to be complete by summer, 2024.

As repair work begins at 8 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays, the fitness rooms will also continue to operate on a normal schedule.

Adjusted Programming and Operating Hours

Most Winter ENJOY and 55+ classes will continue this season. To accommodate as many programs as possible, some classes have been shifted to either a different time or pool area. Class cancellations have been limited and are only being instituted for those that cannot be moved. Participants who have signed up for Winter ENJOY and 55+ programs at LBAFC will receive direct emails that detail adjustments to their program and refund options if they choose to use them. Program adjustments for these classes will not begin until the first day of repair work on January 29.

All LBAFC membership and passholders, as well as daily passholders, may use open sections of the pool during the adjusted operating hours. To see when lanes are open for drop-in use, please refer to the pool hours and lane schedules page. The schedule is updated with the week’s programming schedule every Sunday.

We look forward to a speedy and efficient repair process and want to make sure you stay in the know! To get the latest information, sign up for updates at the bottom of the Long Bridge Aquatics & Fitness Center webpage.

Problematic I-395 interchange ramps close for good as part of major VDOT project

By Jo DeVoe
1/4

A nearly $20 million project to make Boundary Channel Drive and the I-395 interchange near Crystal City and the Pentagon safer has resulted in significant traffic pattern changes.

Last week, the Virginia Dept. of Transportation permanently closed two ramps: the southbound I-395 ramp to eastbound Boundary Channel Drive and the eastbound Boundary Channel Drive ramp to southbound I-395.

The closures will allow VDOT to reconfigure the ramps between I-395, Boundary Channel Drive and Long Bridge Drive.

The traffic pattern changes are the next step in a multi-year project to upgrade this area for drivers and make pedestrian and cycling improvements nearby. After two years of design work, construction began in September 2022 and will continue through early 2024.

“The project aims to improve safety and operations on that stretch of southbound 395,” Mike Murphy, a spokesman for VDOT, told ARLnow. “One such way is closing those two ramps in order to eliminate and mitigate some of the weaving areas, or spots where you have vehicles trying to get on southbound 395 mixing with vehicles trying to get off.”

The ramp closures will require drivers to do the following:

  • Southbound I-395 drivers must now use Exit 10A to access both westbound and eastbound Boundary Channel Drive via the western roundabout.
  • Eastbound Boundary Channel Drive drivers must now use the western roundabout to access southbound I-395 via the same loop ramp used by westbound Boundary Channel Drive drivers to access southbound I-395.

Ahead of the closure, public safety watchdog Dave Statter posted to social media a highlight video of the notorious section of highway.

Here, reckless drivers could be seen backing up, crossing multiple lanes of highway traffic and pulling other stunts to circumvent bollards and access the left-hand ramp to Route 1.

The video included several memorable moments over the last two years, including when an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile and a Metro bus both tried the maneuver.

Statter and his videos got a shout out from VDOT as part of the closure announcement.

Statter also observed that the Boundary Channel Drive onramp, set to close at 5 a.m. on Friday, made it through one more rush hour.

“Did the governor give a short reprieve on the death sentence for the Boundary Channel ramp to I-395S?” he said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Besides @VaDOTNOVA crews, this bus and contractor’s van appear to be the last vehicles on the ramp just before 8:45 a.m.”

Murphy confirmed that the ramp from southbound I-395 to eastbound Boundary Channel Drive — the one with the green overhead sign saying “Exit 9 to Clark St” — closed around 4:30 a.m. on Friday. The ramp from eastbound Boundary Channel Drive to southbound I-395 closed around 8:45 a.m. Friday.

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Long Bridge Aquatic Center pool hours limited due to lifeguard shortage

By James Jarvis
Long Bridge Aquatic Center’s 25-yard lanes, which can be turned into a 50-meter pool (staff photo)

Starting tomorrow, Long Bridge Aquatic Center will limit its pool hours due to a lifeguard shortage.

On Monday, Arlington County announced that, beginning Thursday, the 50-meter competition pool would operate on a “revised schedule” on Thursdays and Fridays due to a “national lifeguard shortage.”

“We are aiming to minimize the impact as much as possible by closing the competition pool on Thursdays from 12-4:30 p.m. and Fridays from 4:30-10 p.m. through the months of October and November,” Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) spokesperson Jerusalem Solomon told ARLnow.

There are no planned activities during these adjusted hours and the leisure pool will be open for lap swimming, she added.

Below is the new schedule for the pool provided by the county.

Thursdays:

  • The competition pool will be closed from 12-4:30 p.m., followed by regularly scheduled closures for aquatic programming from 4-5:45 p.m. The pool will reopen at 5:45 p.m.
  • The leisure pool will be open for “family play time” and lap swimming from 12:30-3:30 p.m.

Fridays:

  • The competition pool will be closed from 4:30-10 p.m.
  • The leisure pool will be closed for classes between 4:30-10 p.m.

The shortage is partially because many students who lifeguard during the summer have returned to school, Solomon said.

She also acknowledged the county has had trouble finding applicants who meet the “necessary requirements” for the job.

“Lifeguards must successfully complete a lifeguard certification. In the past, DPR has required that all applicants already be certified, but DPR now offer certification courses free of cost to new hires in an effort to widen our applicant pool,” Solomon said.

For the aquatic center to be fully operational, Solomon says there needs to be ten lifeguards on duty at all times. To meet that standard, she noted the county would need to hire between five and 10 permanent part-time and temporary lifeguards.

DPR currently has an online job listing for “multiple permanent part-time and temporary Lifeguards” at the aquatics center, which opened in 2021.

The lifeguards would “work shifts as primary guards in the facility and monitor two bodies of water, including a 50-meter pool and a leisure pool with a water slide and other play features,” the job listing says. The listed hourly pay is $17.00-$23.44.

County seeks feedback on proposed Long Bridge Drive trail facilitating Crystal City-D.C. commutes

By Jo DeVoe
1/2

Arlington County is in the early stages of designing a multi-use trail facility along Long Bridge Drive.

Now through mid-October, the county is gathering input on how people currently use this corridor, which will inform designs set for public review next spring.

The trail would connect a bike network through Crystal City to the future Long Bridge Rail Project: a planned $2.3 billion bridge over the Potomac River set to double rail capacity and provide an adjacent bike and pedestrian bridge between Crystal City and the Southwest Waterfront area of D.C.

This trail, expected to cost $7.8 million, will be a better connection to the entrance of the proposed bridge, behind the Long Bridge Aquatic Center, than the existing bike lanes along Long Bridge Drive and Long Bridge Park Esplanade, according to the county.

“Preliminary planning work has identified a need for a minimum 12′-wide multi-use trail between the new bridge and Crystal City, as this route is expected to become a major multimodal commuter route between Arlington and D.C.,” per the project webpage.

“Without this project, most commuters will likely attempt to navigate the Long Bridge Park Esplanade and walking trail, which is not intended for use as a commuter cycling route,” the site continues.

Proposed Long Bridge Drive trail (via Arlington County)

The proposed trail will link to a half-mile shared-use path on Boundary Channel Drive, being built by the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, connecting the Mount Vernon Trail to the Pentagon and Long Bridge Park.

Headed toward Crystal City, the trail will connect with a planned multi-use trail at 12th Street S. and forthcoming cycle track along Army Navy Drive.

When complete, Long Bridge Drive trail will help meet demand for more active transportation connections amid current and expected growth in Crystal City and Pentagon City, the county says. These areas are seeing significant redevelopment — largely residential — in part spurred by Amazon’s second headquarters.

“A direct link from Long Bridge Park to the Mt. Vernon Trail will dramatically improve multi-modal connections both for the immediate vicinity and for links between the regional activity centers of Crystal City, Pentagon City, [the] Pentagon, Potomac Yard and the regional trail network,” it says.

The county has set aside $7.8 million in local funds designated for infrastructure improvements in Crystal City. The project was identified for funding in the adopted 2023-32 Capital Improvement Program.

Arlington County says the trail would advance its goals to improve connections to public spaces, neighborhoods, schools and transit stations and improve safety for all road users.

“Providing a multi-use trail that fully separates people walking and biking is an essential safety tool for a corridor that provides motor vehicle access to a major interstate, especially when we anticipate a significant increase in bicycle and pedestrian traffic along the corridor in the coming years,” the county says.

County compensates Long Bridge contractor $1.2M for delays caused by Dominion

By Jo DeVoe
The Long Bridge Park Aquatics & Fitness Center (staff photo)

Arlington County is paying the contractor who built the Long Bridge Aquatics & Fitness Center an extra $1.2 million to make up for project delays.

Despite this overage, the entire project is expected to come in at least $2 million under its overall budget.

It’s a high note to end on for the controversial project, which nearly a decade ago was put on hold after bids well exceeded the original $79.2 million budget, forcing the county to downsize its original plans.

The Arlington County Board approved the $1.2 million payment to the contractor on Saturday.

A report explaining the payment blames Dominion Energy for the delays. Dominion which was supposed to provide permanent power to the new facility by the fall of 2020, but final electrical power was not complete until July 2021.

“This delay hampered completion of critical elements” of the project, the said. “While the County generously granted additional time to the Contractor, the Contractor incurred additional costs due to the significant extension of the contract completion period and the extended general condition costs for the Contractor’s on-site construction staff.”

If the facility had gotten power on time, the county says, the $70.7 million project would have been completed months earlier and within the $5.3 million contingency budget originally approved.

Instead, the overages cost $1.8 million, wiping out the $602,000 that remained in contingencies, thus requiring the extra appropriation.

The Arlington County Board awarded a $60 million contract to design and build the facility to Coakley & Williams Construction, Inc. in November 2017. The contractor and county staff began working with Dominion Energy before construction started to ensure that electrical power could be supplied to the site when needed.

“Permanent electrical power could have been supplied to the site as early as Spring 2019 had work gone according to plan,” the report says. “Dominion received construction permits for electrical work within the right-of-way of Long Bridge Drive in Fall 2020. Work was not begun, and the permit expired. Another permit was issued to Dominion, and this also expired due to inactivity.”

By March 2021, the facility and park had permanent power, but a transformer had to be replaced in July. The facility opened on Aug. 23, 2021 and was closed for emergency electrical repairs in April.

Proposed bicycle-pedestrian bridge over Potomac receives $20 million in federal funding

By Jo DeVoe
1/6

A proposed bridge for bicyclists and pedestrians between Crystal City and the Southwest Waterfront area of D.C. has received $20 million in federal funding to move forward.

When complete, the 16-foot-wide shared-use path will connect Long Bridge Park and East and West Potomac parks via the Mount Vernon Trail.

On the Virginia side, the bridge will be located behind the Long Bridge Park Aquatics & Fitness Center (333 Long Bridge Drive), which opened last year. It will eventually provide a connection to the expanded and relocated Virginia Railway Express (VRE) station set to open in 2024.

Several local elected officials, including D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Arlington County Board Vice-Chair Christian Dorsey and Alexandria Vice-Mayor Amy Jackson, gathered this morning (Friday) at the aquatics center to hold an oversized $20 million check and celebrate the project, which could be completed by 2030.

“This is going to be a major gateway for Arlington that allows residents and visitors who walk, bike or roll to come to this beautiful facility and the environs around Long Bridge Park, but then be able to move on to Crystal City and National Landing and points beyond via the Mount Vernon Trail and the robust bicycle infrastructure that we are developing that will go all the way through to the City of Alexandria,” Dorsey said. “This helps meet Arlington and our region’s goals of moving more people with less automobile traffic. ”

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) secured the funding from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program, which was included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which Warner co-wrote.

“I am thrilled to announce this new funding for the Long Bridge Pedestrian Crossing project. This $20 million investment was made possible by the bipartisan infrastructure law I was proud to help write and will help the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VRPA) complete a new span across the Potomac dedicated to cyclists and pedestrians,” Warner said in a statement. “This project is a key component of the broader effort to fix a major rail chokepoint and expand commuter and passenger service over the Potomac River.”

The shared-use bridge serves as environmental mitigation for the Long Bridge Project to add a two-track rail bridge next to the existing two-track 117-year-old Long Bridge, owned by the freight railroad company CSX Transportation. Once completed, the expanded railway is projected to bring an annual $6 billion in benefits to the region by 2040, according to a press release.

“We would never even be in the running [for funding for this project] if it weren’t for the infrastructure bill,” Warner told reporters after the event. “That’s got $58 billion additional dollars for passenger rail. We intend to make sure the District and Virginia get its share and it’s our hope the passenger rail bridge would open before the end of the decade.”

The goal of the $2 billion Long Bridge Project, discussions for which began in 2010, is to alleviate rail congestion on the existing Long Bridge. Annually, up to 1.3 million Amtrak passengers and 4.5 million VRE commuters traverse the bridge, in addition to CSX freight trains, according to a project website.

Officials say that the aging bridge is heavily utilized and frequently experiences bottlenecks, and — as if to prove their point — a freight train and an Amtrak train sped by within five minutes of each other during the media event.

Meanwhile, pedestrians and cyclists looking to cross the Potomac at this point have to navigate crossings shared with vehicles and maneuver a 10-foot-wide shared-use path on the 14th Street Bridge.

The lead agency on the project will be the VPRA, which the Virginia General Assembly created in 2020 to “promote, sustain and expand the availability of passenger and commuter rail service in the Commonwealth,” said VPRA Executive Director DJ Stadtler.

While elected officials heralded the new pathway over the Potomac, pedestrians and bicyclists in attendance told ARLnow that the 16-foot bridge is still too narrow to accommodate cyclists and pedestrians alike.

Stadtler told ARLnow that VPRA’s initial 10% complete designs proposed a 14-foot bridge, but in response to feedback, is widening it to 16 feet for the 30% complete designs. The agency has “considered all options” and has determined the current proposal is an appropriate width, he added.

There will be opportunities for the public to weigh in next spring.

During the event, Dorsey joked about the bridge width.

“What did you say, a 20-foot bridge?” he said, to cheers from cyclists in attendance.

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Construction starting next week on upgraded I-395 and Boundary Channel Drive interchange

By Matt Blitz
Changes coming to Boundary Channel Drive and I-395 interchange (image via VDOT)

Construction is starting next week to make Boundary Channel Drive and the I-395 interchange near Crystal City and the Pentagon safer.

The impact on locals should be “minimal,” Virginia Department of Transportation spokesperson Mike Murphy told ARLnow. While there could be lane closures, access to surrounding facilities will be kept open.

“Some day and overnight lane closures may be scheduled along I-395, Boundary Channel Drive, and Long Bridge Drive in the project area,” Murphy said. “Access to I-395 via Boundary Channel Drive, as well as access to Pentagon facilities and the Long Bridge Aquatics & Fitness Center will be maintained during construction.”

The long-planned $20 million project is set to reduce traffic lanes on Boundary Channel Drive to make room for paths and sidewalks, install roundabouts, reconfigure ramps, and add crosswalks.

The purpose of the renovations is to simplify traffic patterns and to make it safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.

“We’ve long sought these improvements,” then-County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti said at a Board meeting last year when voting to approve the project. “They will reconfigure the interchange that you see to make it work a lot better and safer for everyone.”

The VDOT-led project is expected to be completed about a year from now, in fall 2023.

Crews will begin with work on Boundary Channel Drive, where both directions will be reduced to one lane to allow for the construction of the new roundabouts, utility work, and pedestrian improvements.

Those improvements include a path along the south side of Boundary Channel Drive, complete with crosswalks, landscaping, and street lighting.

The new shared-use path, varying in width between ten and twelve feet, will start at the Long Bridge Aquatic Center parking lot entrance. It will then follow Long Bridge Drive northbound before connecting with westbound Boundary Channel Drive, per Murphy. The half-mile-long path will pass under I-395 and turn north at the soon-to-be-built western Boundary Channel Drive interchange roundabout.

The new path will ultimately connect with the existing one that parallels the southbound George Washington Memorial Parkway ramp to I-395 southbound.

This project has been in the works since at least 2014 and is estimated to cost $19.6 million. It’s being paid for by a combination of state, federal, regional, and county money.

Locally-focused antique and collectibles market is coming to Long Bridge Park next month

By Matt Blitz
Forever Grateful Market (photo courtesy of Anthony Allen)

A new locally-focused antique and collectibles market is coming to Long Bridge Park next month.

Forever Grateful Market is set to take place on Saturday, September 3 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. outside of the now-year-old Long Bridge aquatic center in Crystal City. This will be the second time the market has been held there, with the first one taking place earlier in August.

Vendors confirmed include those selling art, automobilia, handcrafted items, sports cards, Hollywood memorabilia, and antique toys. More are likely to be added since vendors have until Sept. 2 to sign up.

Forever Grateful Market flyer (image via Forever Grateful Market)

The event’s organizers are local. Co-founder Anthony Allen is from Arlington, having grown up in Arlington Heights and attended Wakefield High School as well as Marymount University. In fact, Allen was part of the Wakefield High School basketball team that went to the state tournament in 2005.

He says he and the other co-founder, Tiffanie Cross, are both collectors themselves, with Allen collecting sports memorabilia. They saw a need for a market in Arlington that was “family-friendly and inclusive” for vendors and shoppers alike.

At the first market back on Aug. 13, Allen said, around 1,500 to 2,000 people attended and about 25 vendors were selling items.

“It was a huge turnout. We weren’t sure if that location [would attract] that many people,” said Allen. “But what we found out… was that we got a lot of people who were in traffic going to D.C. […] and saw a whole line of white tents.”

Allen expects that this month’s market will be even bigger with more attendees and vendors. This time around, Allen and Cross are hosting a back-to-school giveaway and a backpack collection drive, with the hopes of attendees donating 1,000 backpacks to elementary and middle schools in Arlington.

The two co-founders say they have come to an agreement with the county to host the Forever Grateful Market outside of the aquatic center on a regular basis going forward. There are currently four more markets scheduled for 2022 including October 1, either October 29 or 30, November 19, and December 17.

The ultimate goal is to open a “Forever Grateful Emporium,” said Allen, a dedicated brick-and-mortar space, potentially in Arlington, where they can host a market every day. They are already taking vendor applications for it.

For the moment, Allen is happy that the county is providing space in an easily-accessible location for the antique and collectible market, providing vendors and shoppers alike a place to sell and find unique items.

“We want to make sure that no one really feels left out. You can either join us as an attendee or join us as a vendor,” he said. “Either way, we’re going to make space for you.”

Emergency electrical repairs shut down Long Bridge Aquatic Center

By Jo DeVoe
A view of the Long Bridge Park Aquatics & Fitness Center (courtesy of Susan Kalish/Parks Department)

The Long Bridge Aquatics and Fitness Center closed early yesterday (Thursday) due to an electrical emergency.

“At approximately noon on Thursday, the incoming voltage to the building began spiking beyond what was safe for our equipment,” Arlington Department of Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Susan Kalish tells ARLnow.

DPR closed the facility so that power could be shut down, and Dominion Energy responded yesterday afternoon to make repairs.

“The spiking stopped and contractors replaced or repaired damaged equipment,” she said. “We are happy to report the community could dive in once again by 8 a.m.”

Typically, the center opens at 5 a.m. on Friday for early risers to get in their morning swims and dives.

Members were notified of the closure “due to emergency maintenance” in an email time-stamped at 12:55 p.m., according to a copy shared with ARLnow.

This is the first reported emergency repair resulting in the temporary closure of the Long Bridge Aquatics and Fitness Center since it opened in August of last year.

The facility will next be closed on Sunday, April 17 for Easter Sunday.

Debut of Long Bridge aquatics center makes waves among county swim classes

By Jo DeVoe
The 25-yard lanes, which can be turned into a 50-meter pool, in the Long Bridge Park Aquatics & Fitness Center (staff photo)

This year saw major changes to how Arlington County and Arlington Public Schools run community swim classes, to the surprise of some locals.

In July, Arlington Public Schools launched the APS Aquatics School for students and residents, while the county opened the Long Bridge Aquatics & Fitness Center in August.

APS’s new program prompted the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation to relocate most of its classes from local public high schools to the new facility near Crystal City. Since September, Long Bridge has been home to all county classes — save youth swim team practices — which officials say centralizes the county’s program and serves more people.

“Arlington County has long known the community demand for aquatics programs far exceeded the pool capacity in Arlington Public Schools,” said parks department spokeswoman Susan Kalish. “Opening a long-awaited community treasure is hard enough, opening it amidst a pandemic has been amazing. We are happy as to how the Long Bridge Aquatics & Fitness Center has been received. And with the opening, there are now more opportunities than ever.”

Until this fall, DPR scheduled all classes, competitive swim team training and public swim time in the pools at Wakefield, Washington-Liberty and Yorktown high schools. With Long Bridge and the new school program up and running, APS and DPR are hammering out a new policy for sharing facilities. In the meantime, folks are still learning about and adjusting to the changes, per social media and emails to ARLnow.

“This is huge,” one tipster tells us. “The neighborhood school pools are one of the silent gems of Arlington… I don’t think anyone thought the aquatic center would take neighborhood pool classes.”

The school system started its swim class program on July 14 to recover more of the costs to maintain the pools and offer affordable classes, APS spokesman Frank Bellavia said.

Initially, Kalish says the school system asked DPR to move all programs to Long Bridge, including practice for the youngest members of Arlington Aquatic Club — the county-run competitive swim program that helped train Olympic medalist Torri Huske.

“It became apparent that youth swim teams are more successful when their training base is close to home,” she said. “This school year, per [a School Board policy], APS is allowing five practice groups to train about 15 hours a week at Wakefield and W-L pools.”

DPR decides which groups to schedule at the high school pools and pays APS to use them, Bellavia said.

Today, APS offers drowning prevention and learn-to-swim classes for babies, toddlers, children and adults, and fitness classes for adults and seniors.

Classes are staffed and filling up, Bellavia says, despite difficulties recruiting lifeguards and swimming instructors — another impact of nationwide workforce shortages.

“[The] APS Aquatics School implementation plan is on schedule and both the Summer and Fall term have been fully staffed and the courses, especially PreK School and Swim School, have been fully subscribed with a few experiencing small waitlist,” Bellavia said.

Classes generally fill up within the first week of registration, which opens 30 days before the session starts, he added.

“We have a new teacher who is very good,” said one Facebook user of her experience in W-L’s water aerobics class. “I get a true workout.”

Likewise, Kalish says the Long Bridge aquatics programs are “very popular.”

(more…)

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Va. ‘Seals Deal’ for Rail Expansion — “Virginia finalized agreements Tuesday with CSX, Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express as part of the state’s $3.7 billion passenger rail expansion program that seeks to relieve a rail bottleneck and get more commuters onto trains. The signing of agreements advances a pledge Gov. Ralph Northam (D) made in December 2019 to significantly grow passenger rail service this decade by building a new rail bridge over the Potomac River, adding new track in the Washington-Richmond corridor and buying hundreds of miles of passenger right of way from CSX.” [Washington Post, Twitter]

Affordable Housing CEO Retiring — “Longtime CEO of the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing Nina Janopaul will retire June 30, 2021, after a remarkable 14-year career at the helm of the organization, leading APAH through a period of transition and rapid expansion. The APAH Board has appointed Executive Vice President Carmen Romero to lead APAH into its ambitious next phase of growth and service.” [Press Release, Twitter]

New Restaurant Fighting for Funding — “Andrew Darneille had a sense of deja vu when he clicked on the link from his certified public accountant. It led him to a page that said, in essence, that the Restaurant Revitalization Fund would not be the lifeline he had hoped for. Based on the fund’s grant calculations buried in the larger $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, his Smokecraft Modern Barbecue in Arlington, Va., would not get a cent in federal relief during a pandemic that has left many restaurateurs hanging by a thread.” [Washington Post]

No GOP County Board Candidates Yet — “The Arlington County Republican Committee remains on the hunt for a candidate or candidates to challenge for the one County Board seat on the November ballot. ‘We have had people reach out to us,’ party chairman Andrew Loposser said on March 24, though none has yet stepped forward publicly.” [Sun Gazette]

Green Valley Church Helping with Vaccinations — “At Macedonia Baptist Church in Arlington, the sanctuary has sat empty since the start of the coronavirus pandemic… So when Harcum was recently approached about a new vaccine equity partnership with Arlington County and Neighborhood Health, he said he was happy to offer up space inside the church.” [WJLA]

Photo courtesy James Mahony

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