Two to three lanes of Ft. Myer Drive have been shut down between Lee Highway and Wilson Boulevard until further notice. The closures are due to a major, 16-inch water main break at the 1812 N. Moore Street office building construction site near the Rosslyn Metro station.
The break happened around 12:30 this morning, according to police. The Metro station was briefly closed for inspections after the break but has since reopened. The pickup spots for some buses have been moved as a result.
Bike to Work Day was created in 1956 to encourage commuters to try riding their bike to work as a healthy alternative to sitting in traffic. In metro D.C., participation has ballooned from a few hundred riders to 11,000 last year.
Arlington County is hosting three pit stops tomorrow: Rosslyn (Rosslyn Gateway Park, 1300 Lee Highway), Ballston (FreshBikes Bike Shop, 3924 Wilson Blvd) and Crystal City (Crystal City Water Park, 1750 Crystal Drive).
All of the movies involve the American presidency or elections, featuring films like Wag the Dog, The American President and All the President’s Men. They will be shown at dusk every Friday night from June 8 through August 24 at Gateway Park (1300 Lee Highway).
The movies will play rain or shine, but may have to be cancelled in the event of storms.
International developer and construction company Skanska is working on the five story building at 1776 Wilson Blvd, which will contain both retail and office space.
To earn LEED certification, a developer must earn credits in six categories called Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials & Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, and Innovation in Design & Regionalization. The rating system has a total of 110 points, and 80 are necessary to receive platinum certification.
After 21 years in business, Rosslyn Renaissance (RR) will cease to exist and its urban design work will be taken over by the Rosslyn Business Improvement District (BID).
RR was created by the Arlington County Board in 1991, and lists its mission as “to work with residential, commercial, cultural, and government communities to realize Rosslyn’s potential as a distinctive urban environment through a focus on urban design and development.”
The massive new 474-unit Sedona and Slate apartment complex on the 1500 block of Clarendon Boulevard in Rosslyn is set to open to residents “early next year,” according to developer JBG.
The complex, which suffered a construction setback last year due to a retaining wall collapse, consists of two residential towers: one 14-stories and the other 12-stories. Of the 474 units, 55 are expected to be affordable. Another 25 townhouses will be added to the project “at a later date.”
Starting at 10:00 tonight and continuing through system closing on Sunday, buses will replace trains between the Pentagon and Rosslyn stations. Blue Line trains will operate in two sections, with one of the sections running between Franconia-Springfield and Mt. Vernon Square via the Yellow Line bridge. Arlington Cemetery station will be closed.
The service change is necessary to allow crews to replace wooden rail ties — the same work that was taking place last weekend.
The incident was first reported by WMATA as a “track problem” around 7:15 p.m. Minutes later the agency announced that Blue and Orange Line service was temporarily suspended in between D.C. and Arlington due to a “minor” derailment. No injuries have been reported and WMATA says passengers on the train were “safely moved to platform.”
Trains started single tracking around 7:30 p.m. and are now running with a 20 minute headway, according to Metro. The agency is advising Blue Line passengers to use the Yellow Line between D.C. and Virginia, if possible.
There are two partners for the new Rosslyn franchise, and they think the idea of self service frozen yogurt is “perfect” for the busy location, according to a press release.
Fro.Zen.Yo has eight locations throughout the metro area, with Crystal City being the only one in Arlington so far. Last year, plans were announced for trying to build one in Ballston as well, but so far there’s no word on when that will be coming to fruition. We’re told 15 more franchises are on the way, but locations haven’t been announced.
The station will have 19 docks, and will be set up on N. Stuart Street at 9th Street, in front of Welburn Square. The station is scheduled to be installed from noon to 2:00 p.m. next Monday, with a ribbon cutting event to follow.
“Ballston already has a number of transit options, and this is a great addition to that,” said Ballston BID Executive Director Tina Leone. “We see this as a great asset for Ballston, and for Arlington.”
The North Rosslyn Civic Association (NRCA) opposes the decision to replace the existing escalators to the plaza level with a granite staircase. The county says the change is necessary to accommodate a Commuter Store that will be built on the ticketing level. The store essentially will be built under the current escalator area, which will not provide adequate access for performing maintenance on the escalators.
According to Lisa Maher, Development Plan Review Supervisor in the county’s Department of Environmental Services, staff pored over the plans for months trying to find a different place to put the store, but couldn’t locate an area that had the necessary amount of space.
(Updated at 10:55 a.m.) The space shuttle Discovery made its final rounds today, flying over Arlington on its way to Dulles International Airport.
The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft had Discovery attached to its back, and made a number of passes over the area, before heading to Dulles.
