Dept. of Environmental Services | ARLnow.com

The tale of two comebacks: Arlington footbridge earns second life thanks to land grant

Published July 24, 2024 at 10:30AM

A small pedestrian footbridge linking Arlington Forest and Barcroft is set to be replaced after tree damage (staff photo by James Jarvis)

After succumbing to falling trees for the second time in nearly 50 years, the quaint footbridge linking the Barcroft and Arlington Forest neighborhoods is on the brink of its second rebirth.

On Monday, the Arlington County Board approved the transfer of a small parcel of land, owned by Dominion Energy and located between 416 S. Abingdon Street and 500 S. Abingdon Street, to rebuild a recently fallen footbridge that has provided safe passage to residents crossing a stream known as Grandma’s Creek since the 1940s.

News

Nearly $1M EPA grant to fund efficiency upgrades in disadvantaged parts of Arlington

By Dan Egitto

Published June 24, 2024 at 2:30PM

Workers installing solar panels (via Arlington DES)

Arlington plans to develop a new tool to encourage energy-efficiency upgrades among disadvantaged communities.

The Arlington County Board last week approved a $980,350 grant award from the Environmental Justice Government-to-Government Grant Program at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). With the money, the county plans to build a tool to model green improvements in building types common to low-income disadvantaged communities (LIDACs).

News

Blocked sewage pipe leads to stream warning in North Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Published May 29, 2024 at 9:30AM

Map showing portions of Gulf Branch that should be avoided on 5/29/24 (via Arlington DES)

Avoid the waters of Gulf Branch downstream from N. Utah Street, county officials say.

That includes the portion of the stream that runs past the Gulf Branch Nature Center. The reason: a blocked sewage line that’s potentially overflowing into the creek.

News

UPDATED: Arlington County investigating fish kill in Four Mile Run

By ARLnow.com

Published March 13, 2024 at 11:15AM | Updated March 13, 2024 at 4:01PM

A heron fishes in Four Mile Run at twilight (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 4 p.m.) People and pets should avoid Four Mile Run downstream of Mount Vernon Avenue, Arlington County says.

The advisory follows a reported fish kill.

Events

Electronics and hazardous household item recycling event to return next month

By Savannah Taffe

Published February 9, 2024 at 11:30AM

2023 E-CARE Event at Wakefield High School (via Dept. of Environmental Services/Flickr)

This spring, tackle cleaning out that junk drawer full of electronics or the garage with leftover paint and old lightbulbs.

Next month marks the return of Arlington County’s Environmental Collection and Recycling Event (E-CARE). On Saturday, March 23, residents can safely dispose of old electronics and household hazardous materials.

News

County seeks public input as Gulf Branch restoration project design nears completion

By Jo DeVoe

Published January 10, 2024 at 1:30PM

Current conditions along Gulf Branch near a cabin east of the nature center (via Arlington County)

In 2025, Arlington County will embark on a major project to rehabilitate the Gulf Branch stream.

Planning for the project began in 2019. The project was paused during the pandemic due to budget constraints but remained in focus due to the stream’s poor conditions today.

News

Arlington County applying brine to ‘tricky spots’ ahead of storm, just in case

By ARLnow.com

Published January 5, 2024 at 10:30AM | Updated January 5, 2024 at 1:45PM

Snow falls in the Westover neighborhood on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 1:45 p.m.) This weekend’s coastal storm is expected to fall as mostly rain in Arlington, but the county is preparing just in case.

If you were among the 76% of ARLnow readers to predict less than an inch of snow in Wednesday’s poll, congratulations — one day out, the forecasters agree with you. The storm is currently expected to start as snow Saturday morning, leaving maybe a coating of accumulation locally before switching to sleet and heavy rain.

News

Arlington County buys electric buses for its fleet

By Jo DeVoe

Published August 17, 2023 at 11:30AM | Updated August 23, 2023 at 10:20AM

The Gillig bus rolls through Ballston (courtesy Dept. of Environmental Services)

(Updated at 9:30 a.m. on 8/23/23) Arlington County’s efforts to electrify transit just jolted forward.

Arlington’s transit system, ART, is getting its first batch of battery electric buses, or BEB, as it pursues carbon neutrality by 2050, according to a press release. The vehicles will be deployed in late 2024 after work wraps up on the new Operations and Maintenance Facility on Shirlington Road.

News

County Board quadruples threshold for projects needing a vote to $1M

By Jo DeVoe

Published June 14, 2023 at 4:45PM

Construction workers at Oakland Park (file photo)

Arlington County, like the rest of us, is realizing $250,000 does not get you as far as it used to.

With inflation, gone are the days that a construction contract of any significance could realistically come in under that sum, the threshold for a project that requires Arlington County Board approval. Gone too are the days that most professional services contracts, for things like engineering work, would cost under $80,000.

News

Arlington gets to work installing sensors, drawing parking spots for future ‘performance parking’ pilot

By Jo DeVoe

Published April 14, 2023 at 11:30AM

Installing sensors and marking bumper-to-bumper boundaries for the County's upcoming Performance Parking pilot (via Dept. of Environmental Services/Twitter)

While road repaving season has kicked off in Arlington, crews are working on local roads for another reason.

They are installing traffic sensors in and marking some 4,500 parking spots in the Rosslyn-Ballston and Pentagon City-Crystal City corridors.

Traffic

These are some of the older Arlington roads getting new pavement this year

By Jo DeVoe

Published March 30, 2023 at 10:30AM | Updated March 30, 2023 at 10:56AM

An existing traffic circle at 7th Street N. and N. Highland Street in 2014 (via Google Maps)

(Updated at 10:55 a.m.) The cherry blossoms have passed their peak and the days are getting warmer and longer. That means all signs point to the start of street paving season.

Every year, in March, the Dept. of Environmental Services embarks on its seasonal effort to repave some of its 1,061 lane miles of roadway. After stepping up repaving after years of anemic paving rates, the county has sharpened its focus on streets in poor condition and those that have a lot of traffic.

News

County to propose safety upgrades at an intersection that has seen two pedestrian-involved crashes this year

By Jo DeVoe

Published March 23, 2023 at 2:20PM

W&OD Trail crossing near the intersection of S. George Mason Drive and S. Four Mile Run Drive (via Google Maps)

A South Arlington intersection that has seen two pedestrian-involved crashes this year, including one last week, is set to be updated to improve safety.

In the evening on Tuesday, March 14, an adult man was struck by a driver at the intersection of S. George Mason Drive and S. Four Mile Run Drive, causing bleeding from his head, per initial reports. His support dog ran off but was later returned, according to social media.