Columbia Pike

News

Six Detained at Columbia Pike Days Inn

By ARLnow.com

Six people were detained by police at the Columbia Pike Days Inn motel yesterday after a tip about prostitution led officers to a stolen vehicle.

Officers investigating a tip about prostitution activity at the Days Inn discovered an SUV that had been reported stolen out of Pennsylvania in the parking lot, according to Arlington County Police spokeswoman Det. Crystal Nosal. Officers kept an eye on the SUV and, when several people got in and started to drive off yesterday afternoon, police swooped in in dramatic fashion, blocking the vehicle in and handcuffing the occupants.

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News

DEVELOPING — Pike Streetcar Cost Soars

By ARLnow.com
Original Columbia Pike streetcar rendering

The five-mile Columbia Pike streetcar line will run from Pentagon City to the Skyline area of Fairfax, and cost between $242 million and $261 million, according to “a new, more detailed analysis.” In 2007, officials pegged the cost at about $161 million.

“Inflation, an increase in the scope of the proposed project, additional engineering requirements, and federal requirements for higher contingency funding and escalation accounted for the increase in projected costs,” the county said in a press release. “The $50 million per-mile cost now estimated for the proposed streetcar project is comparable to the costs of similar projects across the nation.”

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News

NEX Gas Station Closes for Cemetery Expansion

By ARLnow.com

The Navy Exchange/Quarters K gas station on S. Joyce Street, near the Pentagon, closed for good about a month ago. The Navy Times reports that the station will eventually be demolished as part of the cemetery expansion plan.

The expansion is being made possible by a 2008 land swap deal between Arlington County and the federal government. At some point after 2011, the county will exchange a 4.3 acre parcel of land along Southgate Road — which runs from Henderson Hall to the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. Joyce Street — for 4.3 acres of land on the present Navy Annex site along Columbia Pike.

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Around Town

William Jeffrey’s Tavern Bets Big on the Pike

By ARLnow.com

Wilson Whitney, Adam Lubar and Chris Lefborn — who own Rhodeside Grill (1836 Wilson Blvd), Ragtime (1345 N. Courthouse Road) and Dogwood Tavern (132 West Broad Street, Falls Church) — are plowing some $2 million into the elaborately-decorated, nearly 200 seat restaurant at 2301 Columbia Pike, on the ground floor of the Siena Park apartment building. They’re in it for the long haul, too, after signing a 20-year lease on the space.

“We’re really out there,” Whitney said of their investment.

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News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Traffic on the GW Parkway (file photo)

Garvey Announces For County Board — Arlington school board member Libby Garvey, who ran unsuccessfully for state Senate earlier this year, will formally announce next month that she’s running for Senator-elect Barbara Favola’s old seat on the County Board. In an email to supporters, Garvey also said that she will not run for re-election to the school board when her term is up in 2012.

Pike Streetcar Project Moves Forward — The Columbia Pike streetcar project is still on track. “We’re on a schedule to try to get a project going, and we don’t want this to take as long as Dulles rail,” County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman told WAMU.

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News

High-End Cocktails Coming to Columbia Pike

By ARLnow.com

The Washington Post’s Going Out Guide has today’s scoop that mixologist Todd Thrasher, Northern Virginia’s king of cocktails, will be opening a new bar within the already-announced Eamonn’s: A Dublin Chipper restaurant on Columbia Pike.

According to the Post, the 30-seat bar — named ‘TNT’ — will feature original cocktail creations and a sort of global cocktail “greatest hits” menu. TNT and Eamonn’s is expected to open around the beginning of spring.

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Around Town

Brown’s Used Car Center Closes on the Pike

By ARLnow.com

The dealership, at 3200 Columbia Pike, was once billed as “the area’s largest selection of pre-owned/used cars, trucks, SUVs and vans.” Its brands included Honda, Toyota, BMW, Nissan, Mazda, Mercedes Benz, Lexus, Infiniti, Hyundai and others.

Now, the parking lot has been cleared out and little but furniture and art remains in the one-time showroom. An employee who answered the phone confirmed that the super center has closed. The employee said she did not know what will take its place.

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Events

Meeting to Address Improvements on Columbia Pike

By Katie Pyzyk

The focus will be on the progress of the Columbia Pike Multimodal Street Improvements Project and what should be done next to reach its goals. The county started the project to analyze transportation along the 3.5 mile Columbia Pike corridor, and suggest improvements for pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles.

Residents are encouraged to attend the meeting and offer feedback on the recommended design. It’s tonight from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Walter Reed Community Center (2909 S. 16th St.).

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Traffic

High Grass Makes Tricky Merge Even Trickier

By ARLnow.com

The tricky merge from eastbound Columbia Pike to northbound Washington Boulevard has been made even trickier recently due to high grass.

The merge, which lacks an acceleration lane to get up to the speed of fast-moving traffic on Washington Boulevard, has been the scene of numerous fender benders. While it was still hard for drivers to see oncoming traffic when the grass was mowed, cab drivers tell us that it’s now even harder.

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Around Town

Penrose Square to Get $2 Million Public Park

By ARLnow.com

Over the weekend, the Arlington County Board will vote on whether to approve a construction contract and a public art contract for a “Penrose Square Public Plaza” at 2503 Columbia Pike. The 17,360 square foot plaza will be a central focus of the revitalized Columbia Pike “town center,” and will serve “as a meeting and gathering spot in the Corridor’s new urban fabric.”

The construction contract, worth some $1.6 million, will create “a tree-covered terrace with movable tables and chairs; an inner plaza with a water feature… an inscription of historical significance of the site; and a grass mound area shaded with trees for informal seating.” The water feature will be made sustainable “by collecting, treating and then reusing water from the fountain again to minimize daily water consumption.”

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