In the next couple of months, Arlington County will launch a campaign encouraging transit use and thanking people who rode Metro and the bus during Covid.
The campaign, aimed at restoring transit ridership rates to pre-pandemic levels, should kick off later this spring or early this summer and will last at least one year, says Department of Environmental Services Director of Transportation Dennis Leach.
(Updated at 3:05 p.m.) Arlington County and JBG Smith are changing up plans for a second entrance to the Crystal City Metro station due to projected cost overruns.
An east entrance to the station — a long-standing goal of county transportation planners — is being built through a public-private partnership with the developer, which the County Board authorized in the summer of 2020.
Local officials are concerned that major work on the Yellow Line, starting in September, will cause significant problems — and are asking Metro to come up with solutions.
Last week, WMATA announced that the Yellow Line tunnel and bridge crossing the Potomac will shut down starting September 10 for up to eight months due to much-needed rehab work.
Date Set for Yellow Line Work — “Yellow Line Tunnel and Bridge Rehab, beginning Sept. 10, 2022: This work will require a shutdown between Pentagon and L’Enfant Plaza stations, closing the Yellow Line crossing of the Potomac River for seven to eight months.” [WMATA]
No APS Boundary Change Drama — “With Arlington’s student enrollment now projected to be considerably lower in coming years than once anticipated, School Board members this week are likely to call off a planned elementary-school-redistricting process that had been slated for the fall. ‘Small boundary adjustments’ may still be needed, but a countywide look at elementary-school-boundary switcheroos would be off the table.” [Sun Gazette]
Arlington County is requesting feedback on partial designs for expanded bus bays and pedestrian safety improvements at the East Falls Church Metro station.
The $6.6 million bus bay expansion project, a capital improvement project approved last year, is part of a handful of near-term upgrades planned at and around the Metro station, the parking lot of which was frequently packed pre-pandemic.
Vida Scraps Rosslyn Plans — “Vida Fitness has scrapped plans for a new location in Rosslyn, where it was to be part of a much larger multifamily-and-retail development that has been in the works for more than five years. Urban Adventure Cos., its D.C.-based parent company, has exercised an option to terminate its roughly 27,000-square-foot lease at The Highlands, according to two sources.” [Washington Business Journal]
ABC Stores Returning to Normal Hours — “Beginning Tuesday, March 1, all 396 Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (ABC) stores will return to normal operating hours. All stores will open by 10 a.m. every day, apart from some stores which regularly open later on Sundays. Store closing times, which were not part of the month-long adjustment, will remain the same.” [Press Release]
Pentagon City Plan Passes Unanimously — “The Arlington County Board adopted a new vision for a vibrant and livable Pentagon City, following an 18-month planning process. The Board voted 5-0 to approve the Pentagon City Sector Plan (PCSP) and its associated Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance amendments.” More than 110 people spoke at the Board’s meeting on Saturday, many of them opposed to a portion of the plan that would allow a significant increase in density on the RiverHouse property. [Arlington County]
Second HQ2 Phase Advancing — “PenPlace, the 3.2 million-square-foot second phase of Amazon.com Inc.’s second headquarters, has earned the key support of Arlington County staff as it heads into its final stretch of reviews. During the last Site Plan Review Committee meeting Thursday, Peter Schulz, a staffer with the Arlington planning division, said ‘staff has no major outstanding issues’ with regard to PenPlace’s architecture and landscape design.” [Washington Business Journal]
Fallon Sings About Pentagon Chicken — “That stroke of social media brilliance was followed by even more exposure as ‘The Tonight Show’ host Jimmy Fallon wrote a song for the bold bird. It began with the lyrics ‘Are you just a clucker or an undercover spy?’ We do not expect the Pentagon to answer.” [WTOP, Twitter, Facebook]
WBJ Calls Out Crystal City Erasure — “On Jan. 18, JBG Smith Properties announced it has started construction on a pair of multifamily towers at 2000 and 2001 S. Bell St., a block south of the Crystal City Metro station. In, I dare say, the heart of Crystal City. But in that 750-word press release, “Crystal City” does not appear. Not once. ‘National Landing,’ meanwhile, appears seven times.” [Washington Business Journal]
Local Home Sales, Prices Up — “The average price of a detached, single-family house that sold in Arlington County, Virginia, in December was $1,258,648. That is 17% more than the average price a year earlier, according to the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors.” [WTOP]
Crystal City Office Tower Sells for $188M — “The building at 1400 Crystal Drive, totaling 308,000 square feet, was sold in late December by affiliates of Lincoln Property Co. for $188.5 million, or $612 per square foot, to Starwood Capital Group, according to Arlington County property records.” [Washington Business Journal]
Towers Coming to Site in National Landing — “Developers have closed on the purchase of a vacant site near Crystal City and Potomac Yard in Arlington, a transaction that paves the way for a new two-building project there.” [Washington Business Journal]
Anti-Vaccine-Mandate Rally Growing — “The event, called ‘Defeat the Mandates: An American Homecoming,’ plans a march from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial… [A spokesperson] says the group has more than 36,000 signups; a permit application filed with the National Park Service… says it expects 20,000 people.” Organizers have been encouraging attendees to stay in Arlington. [Washingtonian]
Local Closures Due to Winter Storm — In addition to Arlington Public Schools being closed due to today’s winter storm, Arlington County government has shifted to virtual operations, recreation centers and libraries are closed, and ART buses are operating on a severe service plan.
Federal Offices Are Closed, Too — From the U.S. Office of Personnel Management: “Federal offices in the DC area are CLOSED. Emergency and telework-ready employees must follow their agency’s policies.” [Twitter]
Nearly all county operations and services, including COVID-19 testing sites and vaccine clinics, are set to be closed during the Christmas and New Years holidays.
County government offices, courts, community centers, and libraries, will all be closed on Friday, Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve), Saturday, Dec. 25 (Christmas Day), Friday, Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve), and Saturday, Jan. 1 (New Year’s Day).
