Washington Blvd

Texas Jack’s Barbecue Set to Open This Month Near Clarendon

By Heather Mongilio
1/3

A new restaurant is looking to serve classic Texas barbecue near Clarendon this month.

Texas Jack’s Barbecue is occupying the former home of Tallula and EatBar at 2761 Washington Blvd in Lyon Park, after it closed last year. There is no target date for the BBQ restaurant, but it is hoping to open later this month, said restaurant rep Lindley Thornburg.

While Texas Jack’s window signs and website say it’s “coming fall 2015,” the restaurant is still currently undergoing construction inside.

“Steve, Remzi [and] Matt are working around the clock to get our doors open soon…” the restaurant said on its Facebook page Oct. 29.

Once opened, Texas Jack’s will be able to hold 145 people inside the restaurant between its 14-seat bar, tables and 20-seat communal table, and will have 25 seats on its patio, according to a press release.

The menu will consist of classic barbecue offerings like brisket, pulled pork and beef short ribs, as well as items from Mexican and German cultures. Matt Lang, winner of Food Network’s Best in Smoke in 2011, will head up the kitchen.

“The menu for Texas Jack’s is focused on barbecue classics, while also showcasing the Mexican and German food cultures that served as early inspiration for what barbecue has become today,” the restaurant said.

The theme of classic barbecue will extend to the restaurant design, which will consist of western murals and a combination of wood and brick to give the place a “rustic yet refined” look.

“Guests will find western murals, repurposed wood and other salvaged materials combined with sleeker urban finishes to create a comfortable, relaxing vibe for dining,” the restaurant said.

Texas Jack will play homage to the original owner of the Washington Blvd property — Whitey’s. The owners kept the “EAT” sign that hung outside Whitey’s as well as the original bar.

Roberts said the new Texas Jack’s sign uses the same colors and font as the “EAT” sign and both will light up at night.

Car Crash Shuts Down George Mason Drive Intersection

By Heather Mongilio
1/4

The intersection of Washington Blvd and N. George Mason Drive was temporarily closed due to a two car accident this afternoon.

Police were on scene helping to direct traffic after shutting down the intersection at approximately 1:30 p.m. It reopened around 2:20 p.m.

There were no major injuries, according to an officer at the scene, and one of the drivers was seen walking around the scene. The other was reportedly taken to the hospital.

Lights Out Along Washington Blvd Due to Fallen Tree

By Heather Mongilio
1/6

Lights are dark along Washington Blvd in Ballston after a tree fell, pulling power lines down.

A large tree fell across N. Stuart Street, bringing power lines down and causing a power outage. N. Stuart Street is currently closed to traffic.

Power is currently out from N. Stafford Street to N. Glebe Road. Police officers are directing traffic at the intersection of N. Glebe Road and Washington Blvd.

Dominion is reporting 188 customers out of service, with an estimated restoration time between 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. Washington-Lee High School is also out of power, according to a police officer working security at the school.

Coyote Spotted Heading Toward South Arlington

By ARLnow.com
1/2

After numerous accounts of coyotes spotted in the northern half of Arlington, one has been spotted while apparently en route to South Arlington.

Eliana Kee snapped the photos above while heading westbound on Washington Blvd, just before the Fort Myer exit, around 6 p.m. Tuesday night.

“It was just sniffing around, close to a heavily trafficked road and not very hidden as you can see from the pictures, and didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get back to the cover of the undergrowth,” relayed Brian Kee.

Coyotes (or a lone coyote) have been previously spotted in Potomac Overlook Regional Park, near Lubber Run and in Cherrydale.

The closest thing to a recent coyote spotting in South Arlington happened last fall, when a dead coyote was found on Route 110 near Arlington National Cemetery. It had been struck by a car.

Coyotes are relatively rare in Arlington but experts say they don’t present a danger to humans.

“These animals learn to live next to humans and not mess with humans,” Arlington Natural Resource Manager Alonso Abugattas told ARLnow.com last year. “There have been cases, however, where feral cats and loose dogs, coyotes will occasionally eat a smaller dog, both as a competitor and as prey. Cats are considered prey as well. That’s the only way that they might affect the public.”

Gov. McAuliffe Dedicates Bridge Over Columbia Pike in Honor of Freedman’s Village

By Heather Mongilio
1/11

Gov. Terry McAuliffe has dedicated the bridge that takes Washington Blvd over Columbia Pike as Freedman’s Village Bridge, in honor of settlement for freed slaves started in Arlington during the Civil War.

McAuliffe was joined by transportation officials, Arlington County Board members and descendants of Freedman’s Village residents as he unveiled one of the two plaques on the bridge this morning.

“I am pleased to be here today, on behalf of all the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia to fully, right now, dedicate our new bridge as the Freedman’s Village Bridge,” McAuliffe said.

The new bridge recognizes the importance of Freedman’s Village, the government settlement that housed freed slaves in Arlington. The village transformed from the government settlement to a thriving neighborhood with schools, a hospital and housing for the residents until its close in 1900.

Henderson Hall, the Marine Corps installation, now sits where Freedman’s Village was built, said Craig Syphax, a descendant from Freedman’s Village residents and the president of the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington.

“This bridge is very instrumental in keeping the black history alive,” Syphax said.

Many of the descendants of Freedman’s Village residents attended the bridge unveiling in honor of their ancestors. After the village was closed down, many of the residents moved to what is now known as Nauck and High View Park (formerly Green Valley and Hall’s Hill, respectively).

“I think the black residents of South Arlington are going to embrace this structure because of its expansiveness and its name that has been chiseled onto it and because it represents freedom,” Syphax said.

The bridge is the result of teamwork between Arlington County and the Virginia Department of Transportation. Community input, meanwhile, was influential in naming the bridge, McAuliffe said.

The bridge has a two-fold purpose, said County Board Vice Chair Walter Tejada during the dedication ceremony. Beyond replacing an existing bridge that was structurally unsound, the bridge serves as a way to recognize Arlington’s history.

“This new structure is not only steady completion and reflexive of the rich history of the area but will provide excellent accommodation to pedestrians and bicyclists, and those of you who are familiar with Arlington, know we are big about pedestrian circulation and bicyclists here in Arlington,” Tejada said.

The four-lane bridge handles about 80,000 vehicles per day and is wider and taller than the previous bridge, allowing roomier sidewalks and, originally, the potential of a streetcar running underneath. According to Virginia law, bridges can only be named in memory of a deceased person or to recognize an area with historical significance.

“Today we memorialize the residents of Freedman’s village who paved the way for all future generations of African Americans with a bridge dedicated in their honor,” Syphax said.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Aerial view of the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor (photo courtesy James Mahony)

Washington Blvd Temporarily Closed — Westbound Washington Blvd is temporarily closed at N. Evergreen Street from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. today for water service installations. Traffic will be rerouted around the closure, which is several blocks from Virginia Hospital Center. [Twitter]

Arlington Bagel Shop Named Best in Va. — Brooklyn Bagel in Courthouse has the best bagel in the Commonwealth of Virginia, at least according to Tripping, an online vacation rental search engine. [Tripping]

Tough Talk for Park Supporters — At a time when Arlington’s burgeoning student population is creating a need for more and bigger schools, supporters of parks in Arlington have been opposing the creation of new schools in existing or potential future parks. County Board Chair Mary Hynes says that those who want to see more and more parkland in Arlington may be disappointed. “Their stance seems to be that we should put all our money into buying more land and use it as little as possible… [but] land is our scarcest resource.” [Falls Church News-Press]

AT&T Injected Ads on DCA Wi-Fi — AT&T has acknowledged that for a period of time, it injected popup ads onto websites visited by users of its free Wi-Fi networks at Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport. [Recode, Web Policy]

Locket Found in Ballston — Someone found a silver locket hanging from a tree in Ballston. The finder is offering to return the locket to its rightful owner. [Reddit]

Photo courtesy James Mahony

Residents, Dogs Escape from House Fire Near Clarendon

By ARLnow.com
1/22

Three people and two dogs escaped from a two-alarm house fire on the 700 block of N. Edgewood Street, near Clarendon, this evening.

The fire broke out around 7:00 p.m. in the rear of a three-story house. Residents told ARLnow.com that they rent the house and were playing video games when all of a sudden they noticed a fire in their backyard, which borders the 2700 block of Washington Blvd.

The three people inside the house grabbed the two dogs that were inside and fled for safety, they said. No injuries were reported.

Despite heavy flames and smoke, firefighters were able to largely contain the fire to the house’s back porch and first floor. Washington Blvd was closed in both directions while fire companies from Arlington and Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall battled the blaze.

The county fire marshal is investigating the cause. Residents said they didn’t hear any loud noises before seeing the fire. ARLnow.com spotted a melted electrical meter near the charred rear porch, but a fire department spokesman declined to speculate on a cause.

Washington Blvd-Route 110 Bridge Construction Begins

By Ethan Rothstein

Rendering of the future Washington Blvd bridge over Route 110Construction on the project to replace the Washington Blvd bridge over Route 110 next to the Pentagon is now underway.

The $29.5 million endeavor will replace the existing bridge — built in 1941 and now “considered structurally deficient,” according to the Virginia Department of Transportation — with a new structure that expands the shared-use path to 14-feet wide, add an 8-foot sidewalk and is longer, wider and taller than the existing bridge.

While construction has begun, traffic impacts won’t start until May.

“VDOT will maintain a minimum of two lanes in each direction on both Routes 27 and 110, other than temporary night closures to install bridge girders,” VDOT said in a press release. “Pedestrian traffic will be shifted to a temporary bridge in 2016.”

The existing Washington Blvd bridge over Route 110 (photo via VDOT)When complete, the bridge will include homages to the military, with four medallions commemorating the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. This is the second Washington Blvd bridge VDOT is replacing with a medallion-adorned new structure — just down the road, the new bridges over Columbia Pike will have medallions commemorating Arlington’s Freedman’s Village.

The new bridge was originally scheduled to start construction in 2014 and wrap up this year. VDOT has adjusted its timeline, and now expects to complete the bridge by May 2018.

Images via VDOT

Second Washington Blvd Bridge Opens Over Columbia Pike

By Ethan Rothstein
1/6

A big milestone has been reached in the construction of a new Washington Blvd overpass over Columbia Pike: Washington Blvd traffic is now using both new bridges.

The Virginia Department of Transportation changed the traffic pattern today, directing eastbound traffic onto the newly constructed bridge. Before today, eastbound and westbound traffic shared the first bridge built as part of the $48.5 million, three-year long construction project.

The bridge is expected to fully open by late this summer and be named Freedman’s Village Bridge, after the freed slave community that was founded a few miles away.

“We wanted to pay respect to the local significance of Freedman’s Village,” VDOT Project manager Christiana Briganti-Dunn told ARLnow.com today. “Four pylons will show the name and there will be medallions on the bridge replicating scenery in the village, taken from a Harper’s Weekly story from 1864.”

The remaining work to be done includes completing the box culverts to redirect Long Branch Creek, which flows underneath the interchange, ramp reconstruction, a shared-use path, a sound barrier and painting. VDOT spokeswoman Jenni McCord said they are planning a “big celebration” when the bridge opens up.

This morning, in the shadow of the bridge, VDOT hosted a kick-off event for National Work Zone Awareness Week, highlighting the dangers for motorists and construction workers in highway work zones.

“So many lives are at risk when a driver fails to follow the rules of the road in a highway work zone,” Virginia State Police Capt. James De Ford told a crowd of about 50 workers, transportation agency employees and media. “Drivers must stay alert in work zones. The consequences are too severe not to.”

Arlington Department of Environmental Services spokeswoman Jessica Baxter said that Arlington in 2014 had fewer work zone injuries than any of the previous five years. In Virginia, 15 people were killed in work zone accidents in 2014 — all of them motorists.

Mountains of Dirt Next to Rt. 50 ‘Aren’t Going Anywhere’

By Ethan Rothstein
1/4

The two large mounds of dirt at the Route 50-Washington Blvd interchange “aren’t going anywhere,” the Virginia Department of Transportation says.

Ellen Vogel, VDOT’s district landscape architect, told the Arlington Civic Federation last night at its monthly meeting that the twin mounds of dirt are too expensive to move.

The mounds are made up of construction debris covered in 4 feet of soil at the minimum. The debris is from the recently completed Route 50-Courthouse Road-10th Street N. interchange project. As for why the mounds never appeared in the plans for the interchange — and residents weren’t told the mounds were to become their new neighbors — Vogel said “nobody knew about it except for the construction folks on site.”

“They cost millions of dollars to move,” she said. VDOT tried to find a suitable location to dump the debris in Maryland but “they didn’t want it.”

With a dearth of landfills accepting that much dirt and debris in Northern Virginia, there are no viable options to transport the mounds, we’re told. It will stay where it is, next to the ramps from Washington Blvd to westbound Route 50 and from eastbound Route 50 to northbound Washington Blvd.

“I guess we have a new mountain in Arlington,” one Civic Federation member said. Many of the dozens in attendance laughed at Vogel’s honest answers about the new mountains’ origins and future. Some expressed concerned over environmental hazards, which Vogel dismissed.

“Most of it is fill dirt and concrete from the bridge,” Vogel said. “There are no toxins, it’s all inert material. It’s unsuitable for road construction, but it’s not unsuitable to plant in.”

The two mounds take up almost 100,000 square feet of surface area between them, and, starting in the spring, VDOT is committing to planting hundreds of trees on the site, including 24 red maples, 47 scarlet oaks and 52 Jefferson elms.

Vogel said there would be no such mounds around the under-construction Washington Blvd bridge over Columbia Pike, another VDOT project. Most of the major excavation work has been done, she said, so there’s no dirt to be piled.

Pike Morning Traffic Jams Likely to Persist for Six Months

By Ethan Rothstein

Traffic on Columbia Pike approaching Washington BlvdThose frustrated with their morning commute on Columbia Pike aren’t likely to see relief come until the spring.

The backups that have caused rush hour delays for drivers going eastbound on Columbia Pike in the morning are likely due to the temporary traffic pattern that makes cars turn left to get on northbound I-395, Virginia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jenni McCord said. The temporary traffic pattern shift is expected to be in place for the next six months.

After that time, the traffic will again go back to using a right exit off Columbia Pike to get on the interstate in the direction of D.C.

The complete project’s end date is Sept. 14, 2015.

The left turn isn’t the only headache Pike drivers will have to deal with as the $48.5 million construction of the Washington Blvd bridge over Columbia Pike continues. Scheduled to start in early December, McCord said, S. Queen Street will be closed to traffic at Columbia Pike for six months. “Local traffic will enter/exit Arlington View and Carrington Village via S. Quinn or S. Rolfe Streets,” McCord said.

On Washington Blvd, the temporary signal at the Columbia Pike exit ramp has been removed, and crews will be pouring the concrete deck for the second bridge on Monday after steel beams were installed in September, McCord said. There will continue to be daytime lane closures in the area until the project is complete in a year.

File photo

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