Arlington County could soon acquire a Columbia Pike home as part of an effort to improve an intersection.
The Arlington County Board on Saturday is set to consider whether to make a $627,000 offer to the owner of 1802 Columbia Pike.
Acquiring the property would allow the county to realign the intersection of S. Rolfe Street and the Pike, making current plans to improve the crossing safer and more efficient, according to a county report.
A proposed resolution comes with a threat of the county forcibly claiming the home, which has been vacant since January 2021. If the landowner and her legal guardian were to refuse the county’s offer, county staff are seeking permission to exercise eminent domain to take the property and compensate its owner.
The resolution declares that acquiring the property is “a public necessity” for the sake of improving “public safety, convenience and welfare at said intersection.”
“The County has been in discussions with the Conservator regarding voluntary acquisition of the Property since January 2023,” the report says. “Discussions to date have been unsuccessful.”
For years, according to the report, the county has been in talks with residents of the Arlington View neighborhood about improving transportation access and safety issues. The only way out of the neighborhood is through three intersections on the Pike, and only one of these intersections has a traffic signal.
The county’s original plan for improving S. Rolfe Street and Columbia Pike calls for a split-phase traffic signal, which would allow pedestrian crossings only on the east side of the intersection. Acquiring this house would instead let the county build an additional crosswalk on the Pike, making the intersection less hazardous for foot traffic and reducing delays for motorists by about 30%.
“A more efficient single-signal design will create a safer, direct crossing of Columbia Pike for bikes, pedestrians, and vehicles on S. Rolfe Street,” the report says. “This will benefit all modes of travelers on both Columbia Pike and S. Rolfe Street, and will particularly improve access for residents of the Arlington View neighborhood.”
Changes to this intersection are part of the Columbia Pike Multimodal Street Improvements project, a $114 million initiative partially funded by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Photo (top) via Google Maps