Long Bridge Park

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Westover Farmers Market Approved — The County Board on Saturday unanimously approved a use permit for the proposed Westover Farmers Market. The market will operate on Sundays starting on May 6. [Arlington County]

Complaints About Parking Meters at New Park — The Arlington Soccer Association has raised concerns about parking meters at the recently-opened Long Bridge Park. It’s expensive for parents and referees to park their cars in the Long Bridge Park lot, Arlington County Board members were told over the weekend. Board members asked county staff to study the impacts of allowing free parking on Saturdays. [Sun Gazette]

‘Earth Day Every Day’ in Arlington — Sunday might have been the nationally-recognized environmental awareness day known as Earth Day, but to the county government “every day is Earth Day in Arlington.” In a press release, the county touted some recent environmental initiatives, including obtaining LEED Silver certification for Fire Station No. 3, reducing county government electric and natural gas use by 3 percent, and work in progress to install 153 energy-efficient LED streetlights along Columbia Pike. [Arlington County]

Flickr pool photo by Alex

Shuttle Discovery to Fly Over Arlington on Tuesday

By Katie Pyzyk

Eyes will be on the skies tomorrow, when the space shuttle Discovery flies to its new home at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport. There are actually some spots in Arlington that are being touted as great places to watch the flight.

NASA listed of some of the top places to see the shuttle in the DC metro area. Long Bridge Park and Gravelly Point in Arlington both received mentions. The Memorial Bridge, which covers ground in both Arlington and DC, is also on the list.

The shuttle is expected to pass near a number of landmarks in the area, including Reagan National Airport. Although not on the official list, some places like the Air Force Memorial and Mount Vernon Trail might also make decent viewing locations.

The shuttle will depart from the Kennedy Space Station in Florida around 7:30 a.m., and is expected to fly over Arlington between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., before landing at Dulles. The exact route and timing of the flight will be weather dependent.

Discovery will be mounted on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, which is a modified Boeing 747, during its journey. On Thursday, the shuttle is scheduled to be moved from Dulles to the Udvar-Hazy Center for permanent public display.

Discovery was retired after completing its 39th mission in March 2011. NASA’s final space shuttle mission ended with Atlantis on July 21, 2011.

The Air and Space Museum will be updating its website regularly to list the shuttle’s locations. Those who don’t have internet access can receive updates via a phone hotline. Information about receiving updates can be found on the museum’s website.

County Planning July 4 Celebration at Long Bridge Park

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County residents have a new place to watch the fireworks on the Fourth of July.

The county’s Department of Parks and Recreation announced today that it’s planning a day-long Independence Day celebration at the recently-opened Long Bridge Park near Crystal City.

“During the day the park will be programmed to do what it was created to do… hold fun sports events on the fields and creatively program the Esplanade with viewing, dining and shopping options,” parks department spokeswoman Susan Kalish said via email. “In the evening, there will be a more traditional old-time Fourth of July celebration with games for all ages, decorated bicycle parade, face painting, balloon art, and of course, amazing views of the Washington fireworks display.”

Arlington is currently seeking partnerships for the family-friendly event, including community groups and food and craft vendors.

Flickr pool photo by BrianMKA

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

WaPo Endorses Garvey — The Washington Post has endorsed Arlington School Board member Libby Garvey in the Democratic County Board caucuses being held tonight and Saturday. The Post said Garvey and Melissa Bondi “stand out” in the five-way race, but lauded Garvey as “cool, competent and a quick study” while expressing reservations about Bondi’s tax troubles. [Washington Post]

Bondi Statement on Accusations — County Board candidate Melissa Bondi has responded to new allegations against her. The accusations, largely spread by anonymous blog commenters, insinuate that Bondi illegally voted twice in recent elections — once in Virginia and once in Ohio, where she used to live. Bondi says the basis of the accusations — Ohio voting records referencing someone with her exact full name and middle initial — is a result of the fact that her mother is also named Melissa M. Bondi. [Bondi for County Board]

D.C. United Practices at Long Bridge Park — D.C. United held its first outdoor practice of training camp yesterday on the synthetic turf soccer fields at Long Bridge Park. The team practiced at the new county park, near Crystal City, due to poor turf conditions at RFK Stadium. [Washington Post]

Moran Statement on Pipeline Decision — Rep. Jim Moran (D) is reacting to the Obama administration’s decision to reject the a proposed Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline. Moran said, in a statement: “I applaud President Obama’s decision to deny the application for the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline. Our collective national interests, whether economic, environmental, or national security, would be better served by reducing our addiction to fossil fuels… Building a pipeline to tap one of the dirtiest sources of fuel and the few temporary jobs it might create are not in our nation’s best long term interests.” [Office of Rep. Jim Moran]

Donna Gets Job in Arizona — Disgraced local chef Roberto Donna is trying to turn over a new leaf in Arizona. The 50-year-old has taken a job as a chef at an Italian restaurant in Scottsdale, Ariz. The Arlington County Treasurer’s Office, which is trying to collect more than $150,000 in back restaurant taxes from Donna, has asked the Commonwealth’s Attorney to look into whether the new gig would pay enough to allow Donna to increase his court-ordered payments on the debt. [Washington Post]

County Board Candidates Strike Note of Fiscal Conservatism

By ARLnow.com

The six candidates for County Board each struck a note of fiscal conservatism at local civic association debates this week.

Even as Arlington has avoided the worst of the stagnant economy, fears about the impact of federal spending cuts on Arlington’s tax base, combined with the reality of a burgeoning school population, has ushered in a slate of candidates largely devoid of ideas for sweeping new county initiatives. Instead, candidates are talking about prioritizing spending and, perhaps, pulling back on big ticket items like the struggling Artisphere cultural center and the planned Columbia Pike streetcar and Long Bridge Park aquatics center.

Iraq veteran and West Point graduate Terron Sims was perhaps the most blunt of the five Democrats in race when it came to spending.

“We do need to prioritize,” Sims said. “We spend money as though it’s coming out of trees… Though we have the money, that doesn’t necessarily mean we have to spend the money.”

“I’m disturbed at the trolley’s cost,” Sims said of the Pike streetcar’s $250 million price tag. “As for the Artisphere, it’s a failed investment, or at least it appears to be at this time.”

Peter Fallon, an Arlington County Planning Commission, was also candid about his views on spending — particularly when it comes to the streetcar.

“Let’s face it, we need to do a much better job of deciding what we need versus what we want and what we can have,” Fallon said. “I am certainly very pro-transit… however, I am not convinced that $250 million for a five mile rail in the ground is necessarily the way to go.

“If I’m on the County Board, I’m not going to sign off on it until I’m convinced it’s the right thing to do for all of Arlington, and I have not seen that analysis yet,” Fallon added. “There are cheaper ways to enhance traffic and transit throughout Arlington County.”

School Board member Libby Garvey said that some big ticket items sound good in theory, but must be put in perspective when it comes to other needs.

“I think the streetcar sounds like a great project, I think the [proposed Long Bridge Park] aquatics center sounds like a great project, the Artisphere had really good possibilities — they all sound great,” she said. “Meanwhile, our schools are busting at the seams, our police force has not had an increase in 10 years. There are a lot of issues we are facing, and the news is we cannot do it all — or we cannot do it all right now.”

“We need a strategic plan to pick out what our priorities are and decide what we’re going to do first,” Garvey continued. “So if we put money into an aquatics center but we don’t build a school, we’re saying that the aquatics center is more important than a school. Our budget statements are value statements.”

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Reader Recounts Getting Stranded on Old JD Hwy

By ARLnow.com

Big potholes aren’t the only hazard on Old Jefferson Davis Highway, which is set for a reconstruction project in 2012.

With rain in the forecast over the next couple of days, it’s worth recounting this scene from two weeks ago. A reader — who we’ll call “Joe” — says he was driving down Old Jefferson Davis Highway, between the Pentagon and Crystal City, in the middle of a rainstorm on Dec. 7. Despite the fact that a couple of cars passed him going in the opposite direction, all of a sudden Joe found himself and his car stranded in high standing water.

“The cars had apparently turned around going the opposite direction, something I should also have done,” Joe lamented. “I entered what I thought was a muddy puddle and quickly came to realize just how dangerous it was.  The car started to choke and it was too late for me to get out.”

Joe said he called 911 and had difficulty getting the dispatcher to understand where “Old Jefferson Davis Highway” was. Eventually, an Arlington police officer showed up and was “very helpful.”

Joe added that there was a “road closed” sign on one end of the street, but not on the end he was traveling on.

“Even I’m not stupid enough to bypass a road closed sign, why was there not one on both sides?” he asked.

County officials expect to start installing a new storm water system along Old Jefferson Davis Highway as soon as February. In April the road will be renamed “Long Bridge Drive” after the adjacent Long Bridge Park.

Reconstruction of Old Jeff Davis Hwy Set for 2012

By ARLnow.com

Old Jefferson Davis Highway, which will be officially renamed “Long Bridge Drive” next year, is arguably the worst road in Arlington County.

With deep potholes, large pools of standing water, and no lane markings, the road — which connects Boundary Channel Drive and Crystal Drive/12th Street S. — is not easily traversed by anything smaller than an SUV.

That was less of a problem when the road served primarily as a short cut for adventurous I-395 commuters and Pentagon employees. Since November, however, Old Jefferson Davis Highway has been the sole road leading to the newly-opened, $31 million Long Bridge Park. That has led to some grumbles among park users.

“Old Jefferson Davis Hwy is in SERIOUS need of repaving,” one local resident said in an email to ARLnow.com. “Why would they open a brand new park, but not provide a safe road to get to it or tear down the decrepit buildings next to it?”

The good news is that relief is on the way. According to Arlington’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources (PRCR), a reconstruction project for the road will begin in early-to-mid 2012.

“The reconstruction of Old Jefferson Davis Highway should begin in earnest toward the end of February/early March pending the completion of utility relocation,” said PRCR planner Erik Beach. “The installation of a massive stormwater system will be one of the first steps in rebuilding the road. The final paving will be late summer of 2012.”

The road was originally supposed to have been reconstructed by the time Long Bridge Park opened, according to Beach, but the project was pushed by due to delays in Dominion and Verizon relocating their utility lines.

“The County cannot begin its wet utility work until the dry utilities have been relocated by the utility providers,” Beach said. “Dominion appears to have completed their work and Verizon projecting a late January completion. This places the finished road at the end of August 2012 with landscaping going in in the early fall.”

The finished road — which will by then be called Long Bridge Drive — is expected to include an improved drainage system, two bike lanes, on-street parking, median strips, sidewalks, street trees, pedestrian lighting, curbs and new pavement.

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The New Long Bridge Park is a Sight to Behold

By ARLnow.com

On Saturday, the public will be introduced to the new Long Bridge Park — just north of Crystal City — when county leaders hold an 11:00 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony.

First-time visitors will be pleasantly surprised to find that the 18-acre park is quite a sight to behold. A year and a half after construction on the park began, what was once a muddy brown field is now a welcoming green space, with picturesque views of Reagan National Airport, the Roaches Run Waterfowl Sanctuary, the Crystal City skyline and the Washington Monument.

The $31 million park features three lighted synthetic turf athletic fields, a half-mile long esplanade, a public art piece, a rain garden, a trellis and other public green space.

The esplanade runs parallel to a pair of CSX railroad tracks, used by freight trains, Amtrak passenger trains and VRE commuter trains. Lined with cherry trees, the esplanade will be utilized by walkers, joggers, cyclists and people who just want a scenic place to sit and relax.

Getting to the park will be somewhat of a challenge. Visitors coming to the Crystal City Metro station will have a bit of a hike before reaching the esplanade entrance, at the bend where Crystal Drive becomes 12th Street S. Those arriving by car will be able to use Long Bridge Drive — formerly Old Jefferson Davis Highway — to reach a modest surface parking lot. While Long Bridge Drive was recently renamed, it remains the worst public road in Arlington — with big bumps, ruts and potholes for most of the stretch between 12th Street and I-395/Boundary Channel Drive.

Find out more about the park’s first phase via Arlington County. A second phase of park construction, currently in the planning stage, will add a large new aquatics, health and fitness center, with an Olympic-sized pool and a 10-meter diving platform.

More photos, after the jump.

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Board Stays Up Late to Approve New Boeing HQ

By ARLnow.com

It was 12:50 a.m. by the time the Arlington County Board adjourned last night, having spent three hours debating a proposal for aerospace and defense giant Boeing to build a new regional headquarters complex near Crystal City.

After a lengthy back-and-forth discussion, the Board voted unanimously to approve the project, which won high marks for its economic benefits to the county but which was strongly opposed by the county’s own citizen-led transportation and planning commissions.

Opponents of the Boeing plan argued that allowing six-story, single-tenant office buildings on the 4.7 acre property — located between Crystal City and the county’s new Long Bridge Park — ran counter to Arlington’s original “smart growth” goal for a mixed-use office, residential and retail development there.

The Boeing complex, which the company will own instead of lease, won’t provide the kind of active streetscape befitting a property so close to a multi-million dollar county park and recreation center, opponents said. Instead, the property will be largely closed off to the public; buildings will be set back from the sidewalk with no ground floor retail and no public-use parking spaces (which could have been utilized during special events at the park). Transportation Commission Chair Bill Gearhart called the complex, which will have 555 underground parking spaces, “auto-oriented” as opposed to transit-oriented. The Planning Commission called the architecture of the proposed buildings “mediocre.”

“If this project is approved, the County would be setting a precedent that it is okay to shred everything in order to keep a company that is not working, living or playing well with its neighbors,” the Planning Commission wrote.

But Boeing supporters — including county staff, Arlington Economic Development, and the Crystal City Business Improvement District — argued that the hundreds of jobs and millions in annual tax revenue that will be generated by the new Boeing complex represents significant a benefit to the county that more than justifies the shift in land use goals required to approve the project.

“I think tonight presents us a unique opportunity in recruiting and retaining a major employer,” said County Manager Barbara Donnellan. “At a time of increased economic uncertainty, this level of commitment to a major employer is critical to the county’s future economic sustainability, especially in Crystal City, where the future impacts of BRAC are yet to be seen.”

In pushing for the proposal’s approval, however, even Donnellan admitted that it “was not without controversy.”

“I acknowlege that my recommending steers slightly away from some of our urban planning ideals,” she said. “But I believe we’re facing a set of extraordinary circumstances.”

Supporters made the case that the plan for mixed-use development on the proposed site — two run-down square blocks of abandoned industrial buildings and a shuttered, deteriorating hotel — was unrealistic in the near-term. Waiting years for market conditions to be right for a high-density mixed-use development, some said, could jeopardize the county’s plan to build an aquatics center as part of the second phase of the Long Bridge Park project. As part of the agreed-to Boeing proposal, financially-challenged developer Monument Realty will engage in a land swap with the county that will allow the aquatics center to be built.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Call for Entries in Arlington Design Competition — Arlington County is asking for entries for this year’s DESIGNArlington’11 design competition. ” Distinctive architectural, public art, and landscape projects completed within the past five years may be eligible,” the county says. [Arlington County]

Police Seek Missing Man — Arlington County police are asking for the public’s help in locating a missing man. Ricardo De Leon, 57, was last seen leaving Pike Pizza (4111 Columbia Pike) on Sept. 10. He’s described as a Hispanic male, approximately 5’6″ tall and 160 pounds with gray and black hair and brown eyes. [ACPD]

Old Jefferson Davis Highway Renamed — Old Jefferson Davis Highway will soon be known as “Long Bridge Drive.” The new street name will go into effect on April 1, 2012. The road connects Crystal City with the still under-construction Long Bridge Park. “Planned upgrades will transform the street into a tree-lined boulevard with sidewalks, bike lanes and transit stops in the next year, creating a welcoming gateway to Long Bridge Park,” the county said in a press release. [Arlington County]

Flickr pool photo by Clio1789

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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