poll

Morning Poll: More Traffic Safety Enforcement?

By ARLnow.com

New decals on police cars remind drivers, pedestrians and cyclists to be Predictable, Alert, Lawful, or PAL (photo via Arlington County)

(Updated at 1:40 p.m.) This week, the Arlington County Police Department is holding its annual Spring Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety Awareness campaign.

This morning and for part of the day Thursday, police will be conducting targeted, high-visibility traffic safety enforcement and public education in Clarendon and Crystal City.

https://twitter.com/ArlingtonVaPD/status/724949089247477760

But is that enough to truly improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists in Arlington? In just the past week alone, two young people have been struck and seriously injured — while crossing in marked crosswalks along the pedestrian-heavy Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.

In both instances, nearby residents complained that drivers were chronically ignoring crossing pedestrians, driving too fast and driving while distracted — and that police enforcement is virtually non-existent.

Those two incidents aside, local drivers will tell you that pedestrians in Arlington make a habit of darting out into the road mid-block and crossing against traffic lights, often oblivious to oncoming traffic.

So what should be done about this, to improve safety for all? Should the Arlington County Police Department issue more tickets to drivers and pedestrians in an effort to curb serious accidents and bad behavior on both sides?

(Note: this poll and discussion concerns drivers and pedestrians only. Say what you want about cyclists — and the drivers who sometimes cut them off — but the most pressing issue here is about what to do specifically about pedestrian and vehicle conflicts.)

Morning Poll: Lee Highway Changes?

By ARLnow.com

Image from the draft Lee Highway Visioning Plan (via Arlington County)Today is the final day for online comments on the current draft of the Lee Highway Community Vision.

The draft plan envisions a tree-lined Lee Highway that’s more pedestrian- and bike-friendly, with mid-rise development concentrated in “mixed-use activity nodes.”

The rationale behind the plan, and the community process that helped inform it, is to set an aspirational vision for future development and transportation improvements along the Lee Highway corridor. The community can thus have more of a voice than if it were to just let piecemeal development take place along the corridor without a unified plan.

So, what do you think of the plan?

Morning Poll: Do You Agree With the Metro Shutdown?

By ARLnow.com

Damaged power cable in a Metro tunnel (via WMATA)In an unprecedented step, WMATA General Manager Paul Wiedefeld shut down the entire Metrorail system on a weekday for emergency inspections.

Those inspections found more than two dozen damaged power cables along the tracks, the kind which caused a deadly fire and smoke incident in a tunnel outside of the L’Enfant Metro station last year.

With the damaged cables repaired, Metrorail service resumed this morning. Do you think the disruption to hundreds of thousands of people’s daily commutes was worth it?

Morning Poll: Should Students Take March 1 Off?

By ARLnow.com

"Photo ID required" voting signIn the eyes of some, Arlington Public Schools students have already had enough days off school this year. Still, there are some murmurs that Arlington should follow the lead of other school systems and give students an off day on March 1 — the Super Tuesday primary election in Virginia.

Fairfax, Prince William and Stafford counties have all decided to close schools on March 1 while voters go to the polls in the contentious presidential primary.

Arlington has no such plans.

“March 1 is still a school day for students,” said APS spokesman Frank Bellavia.

Those who support students getting the day off typically say that the flood of voters could disrupt the normal school day and could pose security concerns. Those who want school to go on as usual say the election could be a backdrop for a hands-on civics lesson.

What do you think?

Morning Poll: Grade Arlington’s Snow Removal Effort

By ARLnow.com

Snow plow on Jan. 24, 2016The blizzard of 2016 is long gone, but reminders of it are still piled high on the side of local roads and parking lots.

Life has largely returned to normal — students went back to school today for the first time since Wednesday, Jan. 20 — though there are scattered reports of continued mail delivery issues.

It was a Herculean task to clear two feet of snow from local roads. Though major arteries were plowed and made passable pretty quickly, as usually happens with large snow storms in Arlington the residential streets remained snow-covered and treacherous for days, prompting complaints.

Overall, how would you grade Arlington’s snow removal effort?

Morning Poll: Snow My God, Are We Snowtally Doomed?

By Tim Regan

Plowing snow in Pentagon City

The latest forecast suggests a “crippling” blizzard is headed for the region, with snowfall totals in the double digits and strong winds possible. And before we go any further, let us remind you that you asked for this just one week ago.

With any winter storm comes a lot of excitement and plenty of panic. How have you prepared thus far? Snowblower gassed up? Are your shovels sharpened? Did you buy the bread, eggs and milk?

It also comes with a healthy dose of skepticism. After all, how many times have we woken up to a light dusting when we were promised snowmageddon?

So, we want to hear from you: Are we snowtally doomed? Or does the hullabaloo surrounding the latest forecast make you want to tell people, “snow way, Jose.”

File photo

Morning Poll: Do You Support Sen. Ebbin’s Marijuana Decriminalization Bill?

By ARLnow.com

MarijuanaState Sen. Adam Ebbin (D) has again proposed a bill to decriminalize marijuana for personal use in Virginia.

Ebbin, who has won the endorsement of the pro-pot group NORML, proposed a similar bill last year, but it failed in the conservative Virginia General Assembly.

The bill, SB 104, would reduce marijuana possession to a civil offense punishable only by fines, like a traffic ticket, rather than jail time. It would also reduce the criminal penalties for marijuana distribution and possession with the intent to distribute.

Would you like to see marijuana decriminalized in Virginia?

Morning Poll: Where Will You Be Ringing in the New Year?

By ARLnow.com

New Year's Eve in Times Square (photo by Dave Hunt)New Year’s Eve is only two days away, so presumably you’ve already made plans.

Where are those plans taking you? Many, no doubt, will stay in Arlington — either at home or at a bar, although Virginia ABC laws preventing establishments from offering an open bar puts a damper on the kind of parties one can attend at bars and clubs.

Many will also likely head into the District to take advantage of the myriad NYE parties, although transportation back is always a challenge. Wait for Metro, try to get one of the few available cabs, pay Uber’s top surge price, or designate a driver and try to find parking — the decision isn’t always ideal.

Others may be headed out of town, or headed to other suburban D.C. locales. Which one describes your plans?

Morning Poll: Driving More Thanks to Lower Gas Prices?

By ARLnow.com

Gas prices at the BP station at the corner of Four Mile Run Drive and Walter Reed DriveGas prices around Arlington are dropping as the price of crude oil continues to fall.

The price of a gallon of regular gasoline at the BP station, pictured here, has dropped to $1.91 from $1.97 just last month.

It’s tied for second-lowest price in the county, according to GasBuddy.com, with only Arlington Auto Service on Columbia Pike cheaper, at $1.83 per gallon.

With gas prices continuing to drop to levels reminiscent of the 1990s and, more recently, depths of the recession, do you find yourself driving more?

Morning Poll: Holiday Spirit in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Holiday light display in the Leeway Overlee neighborhoodChristmas is just over a week away and despite the warm weather, now is the time to really get into the holiday spirit.

Holiday parties are in full swing, holiday cards from friends and loved ones are arriving by the truckload and a potentially record-breaking holiday travel period is upon us.

How are your fellow Arlington residents doing, in terms of embodying the holiday spirit of patience, generosity, positivity and concern for one’s fellow man?

Rank the holiday spirit in Arlington on a scale of 1-5, with five being the most full of holiday cheer.

Morning Poll: Changing Opinions About Arlington’s Streetcar Cancellation?

By ARLnow.com

Rendering of a streetcar in Pentagon CityJust over a year ago, the Arlington County Board voted to scuttle the county’s controversial streetcar project.

The next day we conducted a poll, asking whether the County Board made the right decision. About 62 percent of 3,280 respondents said yes, while 38 percent said no.

Over the weekend, the Washington Post published an article entitled “How D.C. spent $200 million over a decade on a streetcar you still can’t ride.” The article details a decade-plus-long string of delays, questionable decisions and cost overruns.

Also published over the weekend on YouTube: “The D.C. Streetcar Song,” a re-dubbed clip from the classic Simpsons monorail episode.

Meanwhile, Columbia Pike — for which the streetcar was to provide an enhanced transit experience — continues to be clogged by traffic and long lines of buses at rush hour. The Pike is continuing to develop, albeit slowly.

Given the continued bad news about the crash-prone and long-delayed D.C. streetcar — or a year of reflection on the current state of traffic and development on Columbia Pike — we’re wondering whether any Arlington residents have changed their minds.

A year later, do you agree with the decision to cancel Arlington’s streetcar project?

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