streetcar | ARLnow.com

UPDATED: Virginia Kicks in Add’l $65 Million for Pike Streetcar

Published July 11, 2014 at 11:45AM | Updated July 13, 2014 at 11:47PM

Original Columbia Pike streetcar rendering

The county says the new funding will enable to Arlington and Fairfax to proceed with the streetcar project more rapidly — accelerating the construction timetable by at least a year — partially thanks to eliminating the need to obtain federal funding.

“The Commonwealth is committed to supporting the Columbia Pike project as a funding partner,” Virginia Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne said, in a letter to Arlington County Board Chair Jay Fisette and Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova.

Opinion

Morning Poll: Streetcar Crystal Ball

By ARLnow.com

Published July 11, 2014 at 10:55AM

Rendering of a streetcar along Columbia Pike (file photo)

This week we reported — followed by other local TV, print and online outlets — that the county had produced more television spots that try to explain “why streetcar.”

Among the expected benefits along Columbia Pike are more development, increased county tax revenue, increased transit ridership, and the preservation of affordable housing.

News

Fisette: Streetcar Has an Image Problem

By ARLnow.com

Published June 25, 2014 at 2:35PM | Updated June 25, 2014 at 3:40PM

(Updated at 2:55 p.m.) Arlington County Board Chair Jay Fisette says the streetcar is a “strategic investment” that will drive economic development. But he acknowledges that it has an image problem.

Delivering his State of the County address to members of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, Fisette said “the workhorse modern streetcar” gets a bad rap from critics who say it would be waylaid frequently by vehicle accidents and other possible obstructions on the tracks.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 25, 2014 at 9:00AM | Updated June 25, 2014 at 9:18AM

Board Members Spar Over Streetcar PR Funds — Of the $7-8 million contract with Parsons Transportation Group to serve as project manager of Arlington’s streetcar system, up to $650,000 will be spent on “public-education efforts during the first year of the contract.” That isn’t sitting well with Board member and streetcar critic Libby Garvey. “We should not be wasting $650,000 on PR,” she is quoted as saying. [InsideNova]

DJ Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Women — DJ Joey Flash, who counts A-Town Bar and Grill in Ballston among his former clients, has pleaded guilty to charges of rape and sexual battery. The nightlife fixture, whose real name is Joseph Rivera, admitted to bringing highly intoxicated women back from bars, having sex with them while they were unconscious, and filming the encounters. [Washington Post]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 20, 2014 at 9:45AM | Updated June 20, 2014 at 10:02AM

Board to Consider Sign for Rosslyn Skyscraper — The Arlington County Board next month will consider lifting a prohibition on rooftop signs on two new Rosslyn office towers. The action would potentially allow the JBG Cos. to begin work on its Central Place office tower, which is expected to be anchored by the Corporate Executive Board. [Washington Business Journal]

Fisette Asks for Alternative Streetcar Funding Plan — Federal funding is currently expected to pay for half of Arlington’s $287 million share of the Columbia Pike streetcar system’s costs. But federal funding is not guaranteed and, at last night’s Capital Improvement Plan work session, County Board Chair Jay Fisette asked Arlington Director of Transportation Dennis Leach to work on an alternate streetcar funding plan that does not use federal dollars or county funds from residential taxpayers. [Mobility Lab]

News

No Streetcar Referendum, Says County Board Majority

By ARLnow.com

Published June 18, 2014 at 10:45AM | Updated June 18, 2014 at 11:18AM

Rendering of a streetcar along Columbia Pike (file photo)

County Board Chairman Jay Fisette, Mary Hynes and Walter Tejada all read statements at Tuesday’s County Board meeting, stating opposition to a referendum on the streetcar and giving reasons why they support the $585 million project.

The Board members said they oppose using general obligation bonds to build the streetcar lines on Columbia Pike and in Crystal City. Rather, they expect to fund the streetcar with a mix of federal and state funds and with transportation-designated local business tax revenue.

News

Arlington, Fairfax Select Streetcar Project Manager

By ARLnow.com

Published June 2, 2014 at 1:35PM | Updated June 2, 2014 at 2:33PM

Original Columbia Pike streetcar rendering

The contract with Parsons will be worth $7-8 million for an initial round of management work on the 7.4 mile streetcar system, according to Arlington County. That will come from a mix of state reimbursements and commercial real estate tax revenue that’s earmarked exclusively for transportation projects. The county will negotiate the cost of the contract for each subsequent year.

California-based Parsons has worked under contract for Arlington County before. The company helped to redesign the infamous million dollar bus stop, dropping the per-stop cost to around half a million dollars.

Opinion

Morning Poll: Long-Term Thinking Needed on Streetcar?

By ARLnow.com

Published May 19, 2014 at 10:25AM

Residents should take a long-term view of the benefits of the Pike streetcar, instead of just looking at the price tag, Alpert says. Such long-term thinking helped Arlington come up with the plan for Metro that ultimately led to much of the county’s prosperity.

Alpert adds the streetcar line is relatively inexpensive when comparing projected ridership with that of the Silver Line.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 15, 2014 at 8:45AM | Updated May 15, 2014 at 9:09AM

Shuttleworth Drops Out of Congressional Race — Arlington resident Bruce Shuttleworth has dropped out of the still-crowded race for Congress. There are now 7 candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to replace Rep. Jim Moran. Of those, 6 are from Alexandria and only Del. Patrick Hope is from Arlington. [Blue Virginia]

Garvey Phones It In, Literally — Arlington County Board member Libby Garvey, who was injured on Friday in a bicycle accident, voted and participated in Tuesday’s County Board meeting via phone. It’s the first time that has been done in Arlington — Virginia law only recently changed to allow board members to participate in meetings via phone in certain circumstances. [InsideNova]

News

Cost of Pike, Crystal City Streetcars Estimated at $585 Million

By ARLnow.com

Published May 13, 2014 at 5:00PM | Updated May 13, 2014 at 11:16PM

(Updated at 5:55 p.m.) The combined cost of the Columbia Pike and Crystal City streetcar systems is now estimated at $585 million.

Presenting an overview of her proposed FY 2015-2024 Capital Improvement Plan to the Arlington County Board this afternoon, County Manager Barbara Donnellan and her staff said that the cost of the streetcar systems had risen $190 million from the 2013 CIP due to changes in the size of the streetcar vehicles, higher engineering and start-up costs, higher inflation and a larger project contingency.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 8, 2014 at 9:00AM | Updated May 8, 2014 at 9:21AM

Morroy, O’Leary Join Call for Streetcar Referendum — The two elected officials directly responsible for managing the county’s money, Commissioner of the Revenue Ingrid Morroy and Treasurer Frank O’Leary, have joined Del. Patrick Hope and County Board candidate Alan Howze in support of a referendum on the Columbia Pike streetcar project. (Hope’s fellow congressional candidate, Mark Levine, has also called for a referendum.) “This issue has become too divisive to fester any longer,” Morroy said in a press release. [Blue Virginia]

‘Film Processing Kiosk’ to Be Removed from Zoning — In a sign of the times, “film processing kiosk” is being removed from Arlington County’s zoning classifications. The designation was determined to be “archaic,” a victim of the rapid rise of digital photography. [InsideNova]