March: when it can be nearly 80 degrees one day and under 40 degrees the next. And in Arlington, the month marks the start of pothole filling and street repaving season.
There are 1,059 lane miles of roadway in Arlington County, and every March, the Arlington Department of Environmental Services launches its effort to fill in potholes caused by winter freezes and repave about 7-8% of roads.
Labor Rule Violations Alleged at Temporary HQ2 Projects — “A union is charging that employers at six construction projects that will house Amazon employees or operations in Northern Virginia have evaded federal and state taxes by misclassifying workers, failing to carry workers’ compensation coverage and avoiding overtime pay.” [Washington Post]
Beyer Voting Yes on Impeachment — “The facts allow for no other interpretation: President Trump violated his oath of office to faithfully execute the laws. In order to cover up his offenses, he engaged in unprecedented obstruction of Congress’s oversight power and role as an equal branch of government.” [Press Release]
Arlington’s fleet of street sweepers will be hitting the streets less often due to budget cuts.
Shani Kruljac, operations manager with the the Department of Environmental Services (DES) Solid Waste Bureau, told ARLnow yesterday (Monday) that cuts in the fiscal year 2020 budget brought the county’s sweep fleet from five to four trucks.
Arlington County has pledged to inspect the Madison Manor neighborhood’s sewers more often after sewage flooded homes last month for the third time since 2001.
“Typically, our maintenance program calls for inspections of our sewer pipes every four years; however, we have more aggressive schedules of 1, 3 and 6 months for known problem areas,” said Jessica Baxter, a spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Services.
Have you seen Arlington utility workers feeding what looks like a giant flat worm into your neighborhood manhole?
The County Board is set to approve a construction contract that would install the final “missing link” of sidewalk along Old Dominion Drive.
Sidewalk installation would run along the eastbound side of Old Dominion Drive, between N. Thomas Street and Fire Station No. 3. The fire station is approximately 440 feet from Military Road.
Editor’s Note: Earlier this month we ran an article based on a county-produced video that profiled the Arlington Department of Environmental Services. Within hours, the video was pulled down. County spokespeople later explained that the video was accidentally uploaded in an incomplete form. The video has since been re-uploaded, and we’re posting it and much of the original article again for the benefit of readers.
The Department of Environmental Services may be Arlington County government’s largest single department.
With about 375 full-time employees and an operating budget of more than $70 million, the department is in charge of maintaining the county’s streets, street signs, street lights, water lines, and sewers. It also collects your trash and leaves, runs the county’s snow plows and operates transit programs.
An employee with the county’s Water, Sewer and Streets Bureau was struck in the head by a falling branch this afternoon while working at Washington Boulevard and North Nicholas Street, in the Highland Park neighborhood near Westover Village.
The accident happened around 1:00 p.m. when a backhoe struck part of a tree, causing the branch to fall about seven feet onto the employee’s head, according to Arlington County Chief Fire Marshal Benjamin Barksdale.
