Update at 12:45 p.m. — The accident scene has been cleared and all lanes of traffic are open.
A cyclist has reportedly been struck by a vehicle on Route 50.
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Traffic
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On Tuesday, the Arlington County Board approved a funding plan for the county’s share of revenue generated by Virginia’s new transportation legislation. The plan, which will be submitted to the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA), calls for $500,000 to be allocated to planning for the new Metro entrance during the current fiscal year.
The entrance is already partially designed. As proposed, it will be located at the intersection of N. Fairfax and Vermont Streets, allowing easier access to the new developments along Glebe Road in Ballston, the Bluemont neighborhood and other points west. The station will feature two street-level elevators and escalators, connecting to an underground passageway and mezzanine (with an attended kiosk) that will lead to the train platform.
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The bridge was rebuilt as part of the $39 million Route 50/Courthouse Road/10th Street interchange project, which is expected to be complete by mid-2014. The old bridge was torn down in January, but crews made quick work of the new bridge, erecting steel beams for the span in July.
For now, the bridge is only carrying traffic from Courthouse Road to eastbound Route 50. Eventually, it will also carry traffic from eastbound Route 50 to Courthouse Road, with a traffic signal regulating traffic entering and exiting the highway.
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Update at 4:30 p.m. — Police say the 35-year-old man who fell at the construction site has been pronounced dead at Virginia Hospital Center. Police remain on the scene as part of the investigation. OSHA is on the way to the scene to conduct its own investigation.
Earlier: Medics are performing CPR on a construction worker who fell two stories at a construction site on Columbia Pike.
A two-vehicle collision has destroyed the traffic control box at the intersection of Washington Blvd and N. Kirkwood Road, near Clarendon, cutting off power to the intersection’s traffic signal.
The t-bone crash happened at about 10:45 a.m. The driver of one car was transported to the hospital with minor injuries, a police officer at the scene said. A passenger in that vehicle and the driver of the other car involved were relatively unharmed.
Police officers will be a high-visibility presence, directing traffic in school zones, and variable message boards will be placed along county roadways reminded drivers to take extra precaution as students start returning to area schools.
Arlington County issued the following tips for safe driving on the first day of school:
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The event — which commemorates the anniversary of 1963 march and rally that featured Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech — will start at 9:00 a.m. with a 1.6 mile march throughout the District, and will culminate with speeches at the Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool.
Among the planned speakers are President Obama, former presidents Clinton and Carter, and civil rights leaders. The program at the Lincoln Memorial will take place from 11:00 to 4:00 p.m. and is open to the public. Gates open at 9:00 a.m.
The organization estimates that 811,500 people will travel at least 50 miles this weekend, a 2.6 percent increase from 2012. Of those travelers, 707,000 — or 87 percent — are expected to travel by car. About 8 percent will travel by air and 5 percent will travel by train, bus or boat, AAA projects.
AAA says the average traveler will journey about 600 miles, which is close to the national average. Gas prices are “unlikely to be a major factor for people in determining whether they will travel this Labor Day,” even though most consider the current national average of $3.54 a gallon “too high,” according to AAA.
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The event, which will commemorate the anniversary of 1963 march and rally that featured Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, will take place Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Memorial.
The National Park Service says it’s taking “every effort… to minimize traffic delays during this event.”
The riders are expected to head eastbound on I-66 around 2:45 p.m., before motoring southbound on Route 110 and arriving at the Double Tree hotel in Pentagon City (300 Army Navy Drive) by 3:15 p.m. In past years, Arlington County police have set up rolling road closures to ensure safe passage of the convoy.
The bikers started the day at the Flight 93 crash site in Shanksville, Pa. They will spend the night in Pentagon City and will hold an event in the Pentagon parking lot early tomorrow morning, before departing for New York City around 7:00 a.m.
The annual Buckingham Festival will close a stretch of Pershing Drive on Sunday afternoon.
Organized by BU-GATA, a local tenants association, the festival features “dance music, folkloric presentations, and delicious food.” It runs from 1:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Last week, a tipster told ARLnow.com that signs for eastbound traffic on 12th Street (pictured) indicated there two through lanes, when in fact there’s only one available lane on the other side of the intersection. This caused confusion for drivers, which could lead to accidents, the tipster said.
(The road and intersection was recently re-striped and reconfigured as part of the Crystal Drive two-way project, which converted Crystal Drive from a one-way to two-way road between 12th and 15th Streets.)