road construction

Closures to Begin for Washington Blvd Bridge Project

By ARLnow.com

Daytime lane closures will begin this week for the Washington Boulevard bridge project.

The three year, $51.5 million project will ultimately result in the construction of a new, wider Washington Boulevard bridge over Columbia Pike, complete with a reconfigured ramps, additional bridge clearance and a new shared use path along Columbia Pike. To help facilitate the construction, daily lane closures on Washington Boulevard will start this week.

“Drivers can expect single lane closures daily on Washington Boulevard in both directions from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.,” VDOT said in a press release. “Drivers can also expect periodic traffic shifts, the first this summer to new temporary pavement crews will construct over the next few months.”

VDOT also announced additional closures Tuesday night.

“On Tuesday, May 15, crews will close a lane in each direction from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. between I-395 and the entrance to Fort Myer,” the press release said. “Beginning at midnight, crews will also stop traffic for up to 30 minutes at a time on southbound Washington Boulevard just prior to the ramp to Columbia Pike to remove an overhead sign structure. Drivers should use an alternate route on this night if possible.”

The Washington Boulevard bridge carries more than 80,000 vehicles over Columbia Pike every day, according to VDOT.

In addition to the closures on Washington Boulevard, Columbia Pike will be completely closed up to five weekends per year to allow for bridge demolition and other work.

“These closures will begin after rush hour Friday evening and reopen by rush hour on Monday morning,” VDOT said. “Traffic will be rerouted between S. Quinn Street and S. Orme Street around the north side of the intersection. Message signs will notify motorists of these closures in advance.”

Major Closures Planned on Route 50

By ARLnow.com

VDOT crews are preparing for a number of significant road closures as a result of the ongoing Route 50/Courthouse Road interchange project.

Westbound Route 50 will be completely closed between Courthouse Road and 10th Street from 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 24 to 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 25. The closure is being put into place to allow the demolition of the bridge from 10th Street to eastbound Route 50. During the demolition process, drivers will be encouraged to avoid the closure area and use Washington Boulevard as a detour to Route 50. The 10th Street bridge itself will close starting on Thursday, March 22.

Longer-term closures are also planned starting next week.

The ramp from westbound Route 50 to N. Fairfax Drive (between Courthouse Road and 10th Street) will close starting on March 22, as will the stretch of Fairfax Drive between Scott Street and Courthouse Road that runs parallel to Route 50. Both closures will be in place “until work nears completion in fall 2013,” according to VDOT.

VDOT will put detours in place during the closures.

In place of the bridge from 10th Street to eastbound Route 50, drivers can use Washington Boulevard to North Pershing Drive back to Route 50 as a detour. Instead of the ramp from westbound Route 50 to Fairfax Drive, drivers can use 10th Street as a detour.

Maps of the detours are available from the VDOT project website.

Morning Poll: Road Maintenance an Election Year Issue?

By ARLnow.com

Will road maintenance become an election year issue in Arlington?

Last week the Sun Gazette reported that supporters of Green Party candidate for County Board Audrey Clement were trying to make the case that Arlington’s roads are crumbling — and the county’s political leaders should be held responsible for it.

County Board Chair Mary Hynes acknowledged that local roadways were “rough,” and that road maintenance had fallen behind in recent years, but said funding added several years ago should help allow Arlington to repave roads every 15 years.

How important will the state of local roads be when you go into the voting booth on March 27?

Lane Closures on Route 50 Begin Sunday

By Katie Pyzyk

Various lane closures due to work on the new Courthouse interchange could cause some additional traffic headaches starting this weekend.

The Virginia Department of Transportation will be closing up to two of three lanes in each direction of Route 50 from 10th Street to N. Rhodes Street. Those closures will take place at night, from 9:00 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., starting on Sunday and running through Thursday, February 2. Daytime closures from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. will begin on Monday and continue until Friday, February 3.

VDOT warns drivers that although late night closures don’t officially begin until 9:00 p.m., preparations for the road work could start as early as 7:00 p.m. Drivers should use extra caution in the area and be aware of construction crews.

The $39 million project to redesign the interchange at Route 50, Courthouse Road and 10th Street was launched to improve accessibility and safety in the area. Aesthetic improvements will also be added.

The project’s second phase of utility relocation is scheduled to be finished this spring. The entire project is slated to be completed in fall of 2013.

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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Big Changes Coming to Crystal Drive

By ARLnow.com

Starting next year, two one-way portions of Crystal Drive are set to be converted to two-way roads — a move that planners hope will prepare the Crystal City area for future development and a proposed transitway.

The first phase of the project will add a southbound lane to the portion of Crystal Drive between 12th Street and 15th Street, just north of the Crystal City water park. It will also convert a one-way section of S. Clark Street between 12th and 15th Streets to a two-way road. Construction on this phase of the project is expected to begin in the spring of 2012 and wrap up in winter 2012.

A second phase is expected to begin construction in fall 2012. That phase will add a southbound lane to the one-way portion of Crystal Drive between 23rd Street and 27th Street. Changes will also be make to 27th Street, which runs between the Courtyard by Marriott and the Hyatt Regency hotels.

“The Crystal Drive Two-Way Conversion project will begin to establish the street network needed to support future development and transit improvements planned by the Crystal City Sector Plan and Crystal City Multimodal Study,” Arlington County said on the project website. “The intent of the project is to improve the navigability of Crystal City by converting Crystal Drive and the surrounding street network from a one-way to a two-way directional roadway.”

In addition to converting traffic lanes, the project will also add new traffic signals, street trees, ADA-compatible intersection upgrades and a new southbound bicycle lane.

Drivers can expect lane closures during the construction project.

Group Renews Call for Widening of I-66

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 1:50 p.m.) The Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, a persistent critic of Arlington County, is renewing its call for additional lanes on I-66 inside the Beltway.

The Alliance points to the nearly-complete I-66 “spot improvement” — which added a third westbound lane between Fairfax Drive and Sycamore Street in Arlington — as evidence that the county’s stated opposition to widening I-66 is misguided.

“Drive I-66 westbound past Ballston,” the Alliance said in a recent email. “Look to your right. Behold, a new 12-foot lane! Look again. What do you see? Same sound walls. Same trees. Same houses. Same bike path. The sky didn’t fall; the earth remains on its axis.”

“What is different is that soon a major regional bottleneck will be reduced along with travel times of tens of thousands of daily morning work trips, home commutes and weekend trips of all kinds,” the email continued, calling the improvement “a baby step.”

The Alliance says that VDOT should now work to add a third lane in both directions on I-66 from Spout Run to the Dulles Toll Road. Such a move would surely draw opposition from Arlington, which tends to support transit-oriented transportation policies that discourage car use and traffic congestion. Still, the Alliance says the state should push forward despite possible “obstructionism” from Arlington.

“Our region continues to rank #1 in congestion, not for lack of regional solutions, but because localities too often oppose them and the state too often defers to localities,” the group said.

VDOT recently kicked off a study of “multimodal and corridor management solutions (operational, transit, bike, pedestrian, and highway) that can be implemented to reduce highway and transit congestion and improve overall mobility within the I-66 corridor, between I-495 and the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge.”

Columbia Pike Repair Work Expected Soon

By ARLnow.com

The bumpy and pothole-ridden stretch of Columbia Pike between George Mason Drive and Four Mile Run will be getting some much-needed repairs this fall, according to Arlington County officials.

“The excessive heat and rain this summer, combined with construction and regular bus traffic, have taken a toll on the Pike,” admitted county spokeswoman Shannon Whalen McDaniel.

“Road repairs will happen over the next few weeks as crews assess trouble spots, patch the road and make needed improvements,” she said. “There will not be full paving between George Mason Drive and Four Mile Run, however signficant patch work will be done in that area to the sub-grade level.”

Whalen McDaniel encouraged residents to report potholes or bad sections of road on the county website or via phone at 703-228-6570.

The repairs can’t come soon enough for some drivers, who have complained about the possibility of damage to their cars from the bumps and holes.

“Potholes, bumps, ridges, and giant mounds of destroyed asphalt along the sides of the road are far too common on the stretch of road,” said one tipster. “The conditions are daunting for most sedans to traverse. Perhaps the county should consider licensing the road to Land Rover as a test track for offroad performance testing.”

Further east on the Pike, meanwhile, more utility work is underway, between S. Quinn Street and S. Courthouse Road. One westbound lane has been blocked during the day as a result of the construction.

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

Board Approves Road, Sidewalk and Bus Stop Projects

By ARLnow.com

On Saturday the Arlington County Board approved a number of transportation projects designed to improve the safety, appearance and accessibility of streets, sidewalks, trails and bus stops in the county.

Arlington agreed to match $935,000 in state funds — a total of $1.87 million — for four “priority transportation projects.” The projects include:

  • Old Dominion Drive, Phase II — “Installation of curb, gutters, storm drains, sidewalks, upgraded traffic signals, street lights and bus stops on Old Dominion Drive between North Glebe Road and 38th Street North. The County and State will each provide $500,000 toward this project. Total funding is $4.37 million.”
  • Washington Boulevard Trail Phase II — “Construction of a trail parallel to Washington Boulevard from 2nd Street South to Columbia Pike. The County and State will each provide $170,000 toward this project. Total funding is $1.6 million.”
  • Five Points Intersection Improvements — “Pedestrian improvements to sidewalks and street crossings at the intersection of Old Dominion Drive, Lee Highway, Military Road, and North Quincy Street. The County and State will each provide $225,000 toward this project. Total funding is $650,000.”
  • Kirkwood Road Pedestrian Improvements — “Construction of new sidewalks along the west side of Kirkwood Road from 17th Street North to Lee Highway. Work is slated to begin in the fall of 2011.The County and State will each provide $40,000 toward this project. The total funding for this project is $280,000.”

“The transportation projects that the Board is authorizing today reflect the County’s policy of building infrastructure to support many types of travel,” County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman said in a statement over the weekend.

The Board also approved five Neighborhood Conservation projects that will improve and beautiful streets, sidewalks and medians in the Tara Leeway Heights, Leeway, Glencarlyn, Ashton Heights and Yorktown neighborhoods. The projects carry a price tag of $2.8 million.

“Through Neighborhood Conservation, residents identify the projects that will improve pedestrian safety, prevent flooding, light streets and beautify public spaces in their neighborhoods,” Zimmerman said. “It is an effective way to ensure that Arlington neighborhoods remain strong, safe and attractive.”

Finally, the Board approved a nearly $400,000 contract to upgrade “31 existing, high-priority bus stops across the County.” (The stops include Metrobus and ART bus stops.) The upgrades include new bus shelters, improved street crossings, new or upgraded sidewalks, as well as new curb ramps, benches, trash receptacles and landscaping. The project is being paid for with federal and state funds.

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