Piles of “snowcrete” and debris are still hanging on at a Virginia Square site almost two months after the winter storm that hit Arlington in late January.
Two main mounds of ice are still present in the parking lot at 1400 N. Quincy Street as of today (Monday) — the larger of which appears to be around 5 to 6 feet high at some points.
The smaller pile, near the front of the property, is mostly melted, leaving behind scattered bollards and dividers that were apparently caught up in the county’s snow-clearing efforts.
“At this time, we are allowing mother nature to melt away the snow,” Katie O’Brien, spokesperson for Arlington’s Department of Environmental Services, told ARLnow. “Crews will sweep and clean the site once the snow has been cleared.”
In the days after the heavy snowfall from Jan. 24-25, crews hauled over 6,500 truckloads of icy debris — clocking in at over 2 million pounds — from Arlington’s commercial corridors, O’Brien said. The N. Quincy Street address was one of five sites where crews deposited the snow.
The other sites, located near S. Carlin Springs Road, Long Bridge, N. Fairfax Drive and 14th Street N., have all been cleared, she said.
To create the pile at the last address, the county shut down 14th Street N. between N. Courthouse Road and N. Uhle Street. It was filled within less than 18 hours and led to a temporary closure of the Arlington Farmers Market.
O’Brien did not have an estimate on when the snow would be fully cleared at the N. Quincy Street site.
It’s a government parcel that was used to accommodate ART buses while a new bus facility was constructed in Green Valley, to the dismay of some nearby residents. As the buses were preparing to leave 1400 N. Quincy Street in January 2025, County Manager Mark Schwartz warned that it could end up being “used for things that people would rather not have there.”
