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(Updated at 3 p.m.) Tom Jensen has seen a lot on the uphill bike trail that ascends intimidatingly past his house in the Arlingwood neighborhood of Arlington.
A longtime project to make pedestrian, cycling and transit upgrades to Army Navy Drive has taken the next step forward.
Arlington County has sent the project out for bidding by contractors, while staff continue to acquire the easements needed for construction.
Arlington County is applying for $15 million in federal funding to improve cycling and walking connections around Arlington National Cemetery.
The money would partially fund the construction of a long-proposed Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) Wall Trail along Washington Blvd, which would connect Columbia Pike and the Pentagon City area with Memorial Avenue and the Arlington Memorial Bridge into D.C.
A new bike share station is potentially coming to Virginia Hospital Center, perhaps as soon as this summer.
At the County Board meeting on Saturday, members will vote on an agreement to install a Capital Bikeshare station at 1800 N. Edison Street in the Halls Hill neighborhood, where construction is currently ongoing to expand Virginia Hospital Center.
Blossoms are beginning to bloom in Arlington and the temperature is expected to climb above 60 this afternoon. Sounds like a good time for a bike ride.
Luckily, local bike boosters have made some handy maps for seeing the blossoms on two wheels.
Trek Bicycle is buying all six Northern Virginia-based Spokes Etc. bicycle shops, Spokes Etc. owner Jim Strang confirms to ARLnow.
That includes the Spokes Etc. location in Ballston at 3924 Wilson Blvd.
Ballston Development Has a Bike Benefit — From Transportation Commission Chair Chris Slatt, about a just-proposed residential development in Ballston: “The lynchpin of that alternative access is easy access to Wakefield Street from Fairfax Drive for bikes, which could be achieved through this redevelopment.” [Twitter]
Arlington Ranks No. 17 for Life Expectancy — “While the national trend is alarming, there are parts of the country where life expectancy is far higher than the national average. In Arlington County, Virginia, for example, life expectancy at birth is an estimated 85.9 years — about seven years longer than the comparable national average of 79.2 years.” [InsideNova]
(Updated, 11/16) For a Thursday afternoon, Phoenix Bikes just off of Columbia Pike is busy.
School’s out due to the holiday of Diwali, so there are a number of teenagers here at the shop on S. Dinwiddie Street spending their time learning how to build and fix bikes.
A busy street in the East Falls Church neighborhood is slated to get safer crossings for pedestrians and cyclists.
Arlington County has selected N. Sycamore Street between Langston Blvd and 19th Street N. — near the East Falls Church Metro station and not far from the W&OD Trail — as site of a new Complete Streets project. This segment “presents intersection crossing challenges for bicyclists and pedestrians,” according to the project webpage.
It took Maywood resident Stephen Young nearly 19 months, 92 rides, and more than 1,000 miles to bike every street in Arlington. He finally finished the goal Saturday morning in front of family and friends in Cherrydale.
“And I thought it would take six to nine months,” 58-year-old Young tells ARLnow, chuckling.
APS Enrollment Down — “Despite intensive efforts to get them back, Arlington Public Schools has about 4 percent fewer students in class than it did pre-pandemic, according to new figures. Superintendent Francisco Durán on Oct. 14 said the school system’s official count for the 2021-22 school year is 26,911 students, based on enrollment Sept. 30 that will be submitted to state officials as is required by law. That’s down slightly from the 26,932 students reported on hand at the start of classes in August.” [Sun Gazette]
Update on Metro Woes — “While Metro aims to provide service consistent with the announced basic service plan through the rest of the week, customers should anticipate trains every 15-20 minutes on the Red Line and every 30-40 minutes on all other lines to account for any unplanned disruptions. There is currently no capacity to fill unforeseen gaps, which will result in longer wait times. Crews are working as quickly as possible to put more trains into service.” [WMATA]
A newly-reopened segment of the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail in Falls Church boasts a feature that could be replicated in Arlington: separate paths for cyclists and those on foot.
Regional parks authority NOVA Parks widened just over one mile of the trail through the Little City in order to accommodate separate tracks. The organization celebrated the completion of the five-year, $3.7 million project this morning.
