The DMV office on Four Mile Run Drive closed Thursday night and is not expected to reopen until Jan. 9.
“Upgrades to the office include four additional service windows and a new countertop design that will allow for a more efficient customer flow and minimize customer wait times,” the department said in a press release (below).
The glitch came after a long holiday weekend — DMV offices have been closed since Thanksgiving.
Just after 8:30 a.m. — the office opened at 8 a.m. — a customer told ARLnow.com that some 150 people were waiting around as employees tried to figure out how to get the computers to work.
Election Security in Arlington — Arlington County Police are on alert for election-related incidents, with additional officers on duty today, though there’s no recent history of election violence or fraud. “We haven’t had any issues of Election Day fraud in Arlington,” says the county’s top election official. [NBC 4]
DMV Opening Date Delayed — The opening of the new Dept. of Motor Vehicles office in Virginia Square has been delayed until Wednesday. [ARLnow]
The office, which will supplement the existing Arlington DMV location on Four Mile Run Drive, is set to open on Monday, Nov. 7. (See update, below.)
Located on the ground floor of an office building at 3434 Washington Blvd, the office will offer all DMV services with the exception of road tests.
The Virginia Dept. of Motor Vehicles office on Four Mile Run Drive is reported to be among those affected by a widespread power outage this morning.
On what may be the hottest day of the year so far, large portions of the Shirlington and Fairlington areas are without power.
Arlington DMV Wait Times — The Arlington DMV office on Four Mile Run Drive has the longest wait times in the state. The average wait time is just shy of 45 minutes. Outside of the D.C. area, the wait times at Virginia DMV offices generally range from 20-25 minutes. [Twitter]
Dueling I-66 Letters to Dr. Gridlock — The widening of I-66 would “cripple Arlington forever,” says a letter writer to the Post’s Dr. Gridlock. “A significantly wider I-66 would be an even worse physical barrier to Arlington residents than I-66 is now,” and “turning I-66 into a repeat I-395 would send a devastating message to Arlington homeowners.” An earlier Arlington letter-writer said critics of widening were “whining” and pointed out that plenty of those who work and live in Arlington use I-66. [Washington Post]
We reported in November that the DMV was planning to end its lease this spring and move to the Barcroft Plaza shopping center in the Falls Church area.
The planned move was not particularly well-received in Arlington nor in Fairfax County, where the new DMV office was to open. Del. Lopez organized a community meeting in Arlington to hear concerns about the plan, while residents of Fairfax County’s Mason District lambasted the plan and the anticipated traffic and parking problems the new DMV would bring.
Arlington School Administrator Dies — Kathleen Meagher, the director of secondary education for Arlington Public Schools, has died at the age of 53 as a result of a scuba diving accident. Meagher, who joined APS in 2014 after serving as a school administrator in Palo Alto, Calif., was vacationing with her partner in St. Kitts and Nevis, in the Caribbean. [Washington Post, Daily Democrat]
TSA May Stay in Arlington After All — A judge’s ruling has opened up the door to the Transportation Security Administration potentially keeping its headquarters in Arlington. The TSA is currently headquartered in Pentagon City, and was set to move to Alexandria, but may now be able to consider the Stafford Place complex in Ballston, from which the National Science Foundation is moving in 2017. [Washington Business Journal]
Passenger Thrown from Minivan in Crash — Three people were hurt in an early morning crash on S. Arlington Ridge Road today. Police say a car traveling at 55 mph on the residential street slammed into the back of a minivan near 23rd Street S., causing one passenger in the van to be ejected from the vehicle. [WJLA, NBC Washington]
School Board Approves $100 Million H-B Design — The Arlington School Board has approved a concept design for the Wilson School in Rosslyn, future home of the H-B Woodlawn secondary program. With a 92-space parking garage factored in, the construction cost of the school may exceed $100 million. Also last week, the School Board confirmed that it will again ask the County Board for permission to build a new elementary school on the Thomas Jefferson Middle School campus. [InsideNova, InsideNova]
The office will be located at 3434 Washington Blvd, behind George Mason University’s Arlington campus and a few blocks from Clarendon. It’s expected to open in April, said Virginia DMV spokeswoman Brandy Brubaker.
News of the new DMV follows news that Arlington’s current DMV, on S. Four Mile Run Drive, will close this spring and move to the Barcroft Plaza shopping center in Fairfax County. That announcement has stirred up some local controversy and prompted lawmakers from both Arlington and Fairfax County to schedule public meetings.
DMV and elected officials in Fairfax are planning a community meeting on Thursday to discuss the DMV office’s move to a busy shopping center along Columbia Pike, reports the Annandale VA blog. Locals there have expressed concern that the new DMV will cause traffic and parking problems in the area.
In Arlington, meanwhile, some residents are unhappy with the idea of having to trek out to Fairfax County to get a drivers license. In order to address the concerns of Arlington residents, Del. Alfonso Lopez (D) will be hosting a town hall meeting with DMV officials this weekend.
