An annual multicultural street festival this Saturday (September 23) will bring together members of various immigrant populations that live throughout Arlington County.
Local nonprofit Prio Bangla will host its sixth annual free street festival from 1-7:30 p.m. at 880 S. Walter Reed Drive, near Columbia Pike. Its motto this year, according to organizers, is “Let’s Celebrate the Cultural Diversity.” They expect between 5,000 and 8,000 attendees.
County Board Stalls on VRE Decision — The Arlington County Board, at a Tuesday meeting that stretched into early Wednesday morning, declined to endorse one of the options for a proposed new Virginia Railway Express station in Crystal City. VRE officials, county staff, the Arlington Chamber of Commerce and Arlington’s Transportation Commission backed Option 2, which places the station closer to the Crystal City Metro station and transit center. Some local condominium residents and the Planning Commission, citing concerns about noise, wanted Option 3 — which places the station behind an office building — to be considered as well. [InsideNova, InsideNova]
Michelle Obama Stops By Arlington for Salon Opening — Former first lady Michelle Obama and her Secret Service entourage were among “a crowd of about 40 VIPs” who came to Arlington Tuesday night for the opening of a new salon. The business, Aesthetics Salon, is owned by stylist Yene Damtew, who was part of Obama’s “glam squad” while she was in the White House. Aesthetics Salon is located at 2412 26th Road S. in the Long Branch Creek neighborhood just south of I-395. [Washington Post]
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(Updated 8:25 a.m.) Columbia Pike’s eastbound lanes have reopened. Those nearby can expect residual delays.
Update at 1:35 p.m. — The gas has been turned off and firefighters are leaving the scene. Any remaining road closures are expected to be lifted soon.
Earlier: A pair of busy roads are closed due to a major gas leak in a building in Courthouse.
Arlington Ridge Road is blocked by a downed utility pole following a crash, according to scanner traffic.
A vehicle reportedly ran into the pole along the 1900 block of Arlington Ridge Road, toppling it and blocking the street. At least one person is being evaluated for injuries by paramedics.
Work to rebuild the Wilson School in Rosslyn could cause some inconveniences for those in the area as crews closed a sidewalk and street near the project.
Due to construction at the school at 1601 Wilson Blvd, 18th Street N. is closed to non-construction traffic between N. Quinn Street and N. Oak Street for the entirety of the project.
(Updated at 10:30 a.m.) Military Road is closed between 30th and 31st Streets N. due to a reported downed tree and power lines.
It appears that a large tree fell on lines and and across the road. Crews from Arlington County, Dominion and a tree contractor are on the scene.
Crews started moving in this morning (Tuesday, August 15) to begin work to give the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial — also known as the Iwo Jima memorial — a facelift.
The work will limit public access to the memorial and surrounding parkland until next year. In signs posted near the memorial and the Netherlands Carillon, the National Park Service said the revamp includes washing and waxing the memorial and re-gilding its lettering, repairing any parts of the granite plaza that have become damaged, improving lighting, and installing new signs, shrubs and trees.
Emergency repairs to a 6-foot-deep sinkhole near the under-construction Ballston Quarter mall could cause traffic headaches today (Thursday).
The sinkhole opened suddenly yesterday near the intersection of Wilson Blvd and N. Randolph Street, but was quickly covered ahead of repairs to allow cars to keep driving over it.
(Updated 3:15 p.m.) Police temporarily closed Wilson Blvd at its intersection with N. Danville Street in Clarendon after two cars crashed this afternoon.
The crash occurred around 2:40 p.m., involving a blue Toyota and a white car. The white car had its front bumper ripped off in the collision, while the Toyota was damaged on its left side. The intersection is near Whole Foods and Market Common.
Fairlington to Trap Raccoons — Following two well-publicized raccoon attacks in the past week, the Fairlington Villages condo association is taking action. In a letter to residents, the association says its Board of Directors has “authorized management to engage a wild animal control contractor to begin a program of trapping raccoons on the property.”
County Moves Forward on Fairfax Drive Ownership — “Arlington County wants to own State Route 237 (Fairfax Drive/10th St. North) from roughly Ballston to Courthouse. The County Board voted at its July 18, 2017 meeting to request that the Commonwealth transfer ownership of the stretch of road to Arlington.” [Arlington County]
Units from the Arlington County Fire Department responded to the scene under Rosslyn Gateway Park with Virginia State Police just after 3:30 p.m after reports of the crash.
Three patients were transported to the hospital with injuries, according to scanner traffic.
