transportation planning | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published March 8, 2019 at 7:30AM | Updated March 8, 2019 at 9:36AM

Crash Closes Part of Parkway — A serious crash has closed the northbound lanes of the GW Parkway between the Daingerfield Island marina and I-395. A crash investigation is underway. [Twitter]

False Report Prompts Big Police Response — “At approximately 2:30 p.m. on March 6, police were dispatched to the report of a man brandishing a firearm in the lobby of” the Days Inn hotel on Arlington Blvd. “The investigation determined that no disturbance had occurred and that the reporting party allegedly had an ongoing dispute with the hotel over a refund. A warrant for Filing a False Police Report was obtained for the suspect.” [Arlington County]

News

County Plans Incremental Transportation Projects Alongside Major Efforts to Prepare for Amazon

By D. Taylor Reich

Published March 4, 2019 at 10:00AM | Updated March 4, 2019 at 10:59AM

A multimodal transit hub planned for Crystal City to coincide with Amazon's arrival. (via JBG Smith)

The following feature article was funded by our new Patreon community. Want to see more articles like this, exploring important local topics that don’t make our usual news coverage? Join and help fund additional local journalism in Arlington.

With Amazon hoping to open a headquarters in Arlington, Crystal City’s transportation network can’t seem to stay out of the spotlight.

News

Spurred on by Amazon, VRE Looks Set to Find Funding for New Crystal City Station

By Alex Koma

Published January 3, 2019 at 5:00PM

Crystal City VRE station (Photo via VRE)

Virginia Railway Express leaders think they’ve just about nailed down funding for a new and improved Crystal City station, a key component of the area’s impending transportation transformation with Amazon on the way.

VRE officials have been eyeing improvements to its existing station, located at 1503 S. Crystal Drive, for years now, considering that its platform isn’t quite long enough for the commuter trains. Right now, anyone hoping to get off at the station needs to walk to one of their train’s first four cars, even though many are 10 cars long.

News

Transportation Planners Sketch Out Vision for Region-Wide Bike Trail Network Through 2045

By Alex Koma

Published January 2, 2019 at 2:45PM

Transportation planners are sketching out a vision to build out a fully connected regional bike trail network by 2045, linking a “Bike Beltway” around D.C. to the rest of the suburbs surrounding the capital.

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Transportation Planning Board voted late last month to endorse a vision for a “National Capital Regional Trail Network,” expanding its long-range plans for cycling infrastructure throughout the region. Though the actual funding and construction of the trails involved remains up to the individual localities, the map represents a potential path forward for the D.C. area’s elected officials to follow in the coming years.

News

Amazon Plans to Offer Incentives to Push Future Arlington Employees to Use Public Transit

By Alex Koma

Published December 19, 2018 at 2:45PM

Passengers board at the Rosslyn Metro station (file photo)

Amazon says it will offer “transit benefits” to its thousands of employees bound for Arlington, in a bid to incentivize workers to rely on the county’s public transportation options once they arrive.

The tech giant has long worked to help employees at its Seattle headquarters afford train and bus rides and ease their commutes, but Amazon officials didn’t initially detail similar plans for the new offices it plans to set up in Crystal City and Pentagon City.

News

County Readies Update of Cycling Infrastructure Plans, Sketching Out Dozens of Potential Improvements

By Alex Koma

Published December 11, 2018 at 10:45AM

Arlington transportation planners are weighing major revisions to the guiding document for the future of the county’s bike infrastructure, sketching out a wish list of new trails and bike lanes they want to see over the coming years.

County officials have recently begun circulating a draft version of an updated “bicycle element” to Arlington’s “Master Transportation Plan.” The document was last updated a decade ago, and a working group has spent more than a year crafting potential changes for the plan.

News

County Officials See Plenty of Room on Roads, Metro Stations Near Amazon’s Future HQ

By Alex Koma

Published December 7, 2018 at 2:45PM

To combat growing concerns about how Amazon’s new influx of workers might put a strain on Arlington’s congested roads and Metro’s troubled rail system, county leaders are increasingly embracing the same argument — so many people have left Crystal City and Pentagon City over the years that the area’s transit network is ready to welcome new residents.

There’s little doubt that the 25,000 workers Amazon plans to eventually bring to the region will have an impact on commute times for drivers, and crowd more people onto local trains and buses. But Arlington officials stress that they already planned to move plenty of people through and to the newly dubbed “National Landing,” only to see thousands of federal and military employees flee the neighborhood years ago.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published December 4, 2018 at 8:50AM | Updated December 4, 2018 at 9:08AM

Rosslyn Shooter Sentenced — “A man who worked as an investigator for conspiracy theorist Jack Burkman will serve nine years in prison for shooting and wounding his ex-boss” in a Rosslyn hotel parking garage. [Washington Post]

Marijuana Arrest Disparity — “African Americans were more than eight times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana crimes in Arlington from 2010-2016.” [Bacon’s Rebellion]

News

NoVa Officials Remain Willing to Send County Cash for New Crystal City, Ballston Metro Entrances

By Alex Koma

Published October 23, 2018 at 2:45PM | Updated October 24, 2018 at 1:48PM

18th Street S. outside the Crystal City Metro stop (photo via Arlington County)

A major funder of transportation projects across Northern Virginia isn’t giving up on Arlington’s long-stymied efforts to build second entrances for the Crystal City and Ballston Metro stations, though any substantial progress remains elusive.

For years, the county has planned on paying for the new entrances by pairing its own money with some funding from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, a group that doles out sales tax revenues to transportation projects around the region.

News

Rosslyn Road Changes Could Mean Big Improvements for Walkers, Cyclists, New Headaches for Drivers

By Alex Koma

Published October 9, 2018 at 1:45PM

Approved for funding: Proposed changes to the "Core of Rosslyn" (via Arlington County)

Plans to make Rosslyn a bit easier to navigate for pedestrians and bicyclists are coming together, though county officials are concerned that some of the proposed changes might further snarl traffic in the area.

The county unveiled its latest designs for future of the “Core of Rosslyn” at a public meeting last Tuesday (Oct. 2), which includes plans to convert several streets around the Rosslyn Metro station into two-way roads, remove the Fort Myer Drive tunnel under Wilson Blvd and add a host of new connections for cyclists and walkers.

News

Metro Needs Better Reliability, Not Service Increases, to Attract Riders, NoVa Officials Say

By Alex Koma

Published October 4, 2018 at 4:45PM

As Metro’s leaders wrestle anew with the question of how to bring riders back to the troubled transit service, Northern Virginia officials are offering their own suggestions: focus on reliability, and create new fare card plans to entice riders.

In a new report to Gov. Ralph Northam and the General Assembly set to be considered tonight (Thursday), the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission plans to urge Metro to use those strategies to boost ridership, and put WMATA on sounder financial footing in the process.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published October 2, 2018 at 8:30AM | Updated October 2, 2018 at 9:06AM

Judge Dismisses Dewey Horse Punch Case — A man who was accused of punching a police horse in Dewey Beach is now trying to clear his name after the case was dismissed. Surveillance video reportedly exonerated the man, who might not actually be from Arlington as originally reported. [Cape Gazette]

Rosslyn Transportation Meeting Tonight — “Join Arlington County and the Rosslyn BID to provide feedback at this public meeting that will focus on the Core of Rosslyn Transportation Study. This study will examine the feasibility and potential impacts of permanent changes to the street network in the core of Rosslyn, with the goals of improving safety and accessibility for all users, including those walking, biking, using transit and driving.” [Rosslyn]