(Updated at 2:55 p.m.) A large tree has fallen and is completely blocking the intersection of Yorktown Blvd and N. George Mason Drive.
Police and firefighters are on the scene. The tree reportedly also brought down power lines at the intersection, which is just down the street from Yorktown High School.
Drivers should expect detours in the area while crews work to remove the tree from the roadway. Eastbound traffic on Yorktown Blvd is being diverted onto 28th Street N., near the high school, according to scanner traffic.
Pedestrian traffic from the high school may also be re-routed.
UPDATE: N George Mason shut down between 26th St and Yorktown Bl. Yorktown shut down between N George Mason and N Dinwiddie. Seek alternate routes. https://t.co/yThuZHMXes
— Arlington Alert (@arlingtonalert) December 4, 2019
Separately, further down Yorktown Blvd from the fallen tree, Arlington County firefighters were on the scene of a possible gas leak at Nottingham Elementary as of 1:30 p.m. The school was evacuated while firefighters investigated a reported gas odor.
A new indoor swimming school is coming soon to Lee Highway in Arlington.
SwimBox offers one-on-one lessons to swimmers of all ages, from beginners to athletes. All lessons take place in the shallow, warm-water “Endless Pool,” with instant video feedback to customize swimming technique.
“We are anxious to work with the masters swimmers, competitive age group swimmers, triathletes, and adults learning to swim that live in/close to that area,” said owner Lissa Latella. “We find that the adult community is often overlooked in terms of learning to swim, so it will be great to provide that service to this new area as well.”
The space is slated to open in December, according to Latella, underneath Caribbean Grill at 5183 Lee Highway.
“The move to Arlington has been something we’ve been wanting to do for the past few years, but finding a good space that allows for our pool was a bit hard in an area where most buildings have underground parking garages,” said Latella. “Can’t put a pool above something like that!”
SwimBox applied for a construction permit in August, per county records, in which it was labeled as an “above ground modular spa.”
Photo courtesy SwimBox
New Trail Bridge Work Progressing — “Bridge girder installation is occurring this week during daytime hours for the new Washington & Old Dominion Trail Bridge over Route 29 (Lee Highway) in Arlington. This work is taking place west of Lee Highway, and will not impact roadway or trail users. Work will continue the week of Oct. 28, and will require nighttime hours and an additional trail detour.” [Press Release]
Chick-fil-A to Blame for Blocked Bike Lane? — Delivery drivers picking up orders from Chick-fil-A in Crystal City may be at least partially to blame for frequent bike lane blockages along Crystal Drive. [Twitter]
Netherlands Carillon to Get ‘Grand’ Upgrade — “The National Park Service (NPS) and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands today celebrated the start of a project to restore the Netherlands Carillon and add three bells to elevate its status to ‘grand carillon.'” [Press Release]
E-CARE Sets New Record — This past Saturday’s E-CARE recycling event recorded record turnout, as Arlington residents showed up en masse to drop of tons of old bikes, scrap metal and household hazardous materials. [Twitter]
Yorktown Golfer Wins State Championship — “He was the last player to tee off in the round, then at the end of the 18-hole competition, Benjamin Newfield was standing No. 1 on the leaderboard. The Yorktown High School freshman carded a 4-under-par 35-33-68 on Oct. 14 to win the Virginia High School League’s Class 6 individual state golf championship by one stroke.” [InsideNova]
Ceremony for New Elementary School — “This past weekend, the APS and [Fleet Elementary] communities celebrated the opening of the new school with ribbon cutting and fall festival.” [Twitter]
Woodbridge Development Claims HQ2 Proximity — “The radius of Northern Virginia buyers citing Amazon HQ2 in their plans continues to expand, with a developer in Woodbridge now citing the tech giant as a catalyst for a large-scale shopping center redevelopment.” [Bisnow]
An art studio for kids along Lee Highway is looking to double in size as part of its new expansion plans.
Art House 7, located at 5537 Lee Highway in Yorktown, is looking for the County Board’s permission to earn the necessary zoning changes to make the move. The studio has offered classes and summer camps on everything from painting to pottery-making since it opened in the space in 2015.
Art House 7 is currently based in a condo complex near the Lee Harrison shopping center, with classes offered on both floors of the small home. But its owners recently purchased an adjacent condo as well, located at 5535 Lee Highway, and wants to expand its operations there as well, according to a report prepared by county staff.
That would allow the studio to double the number of students allowed in the space at any given time, from 12 kids up to 24.
Staff wrote that they haven’t found any reason to deny that request, and noted that both the Yorktown and Leeway Overlee civic associations support the permit changes.
The matter is slated to go before the Board Saturday (March 16), as part of its consent agenda. That is generally reserved for noncontroversial items passed without debate.
So long as the Board signs off on this change, it would be up for review in one year’s time.
Photo via Arlington County
A driver ran off the road in a Yorktown neighborhood last night (Thursday), flipped the car over and landed directly in front of someone’s home.
The crash happened around 9:30 p.m. along the 2600 block of N. Harrison Street, according to county police spokeswoman Ashley Savage.
She says the driver “left the roadway, struck a telephone pole, rolled over and struck a parked vehicle.” It ultimately settled in the front yard of a small home on N. Harrison Street.
One neighbor also told ARLnow that the crash brought down some nearby power lines.
Savage says the driver was “transported to an area hospital with reportedly minor non-life threatening injuries.”
Police are still investigating the incident, she added.
Police are now investigating after an Uber driver ran off the road near the Lee Harrison Shopping Center, crashing into some street signs and knocking down a light pole.
The crash happened this morning on Lee Highway in Yorktown, near its intersection on N. Harrison Street.
It appears as if the driver of a hatchback, complete with an Uber sticker, lost control of the vehicle and drove down the sidewalk near the shopping center. The driver managed to knock down several street signs and a light pole, which fell into the street, before colliding with another utility pole.
Arlington Police and firefighters are currently on the scene evaluating the driver for injuries and administering a field sobriety test.
They’ve closed the westbound lane of Lee Highway as the investigation continues.
Some Yorktown residents say their neighborhood has become an icy mess at times over the last few weeks — and they believe a newly installed speed bump is to blame.
County officials still aren’t sure of the exact problem on the road, but they aren’t willing to blame the speed bump quite yet. Regardless of the exact source of the issue, people living along 26th Street N. as it runs between N. George Mason Drive and N. Glebe Road, say they’re desperate for a solution.
“We have had to have the county send salt trucks twice since [last] Friday to specifically address the road downhill from the speed bump,” David Miller, who lives along the 4900 block of 26th Street N., told ARLnow via email. “We expect this will be worse as we have more days below 32 degrees. We have not seen any accidents yet as a result of the ice/water, but have had our own cars slide while coming out of our driveway, so we fully expect it is only a matter of time.”
Miller says the road first started getting soaked with water about six months ago, the day after the county removed a speed bump from the area. Accordingly, neighbors can’t help but draw a connection between the two events.
However, he says the issue wasn’t serious until about six weeks ago, when the county installed a new speed bump and temperatures started to dip, leading residents to inform county officials about the problem. Everyone living in the area is convinced this is due to a leak of some kind, Miller said, but the county hasn’t come to a definitive conclusion just yet.
Katie O’Brien, a spokeswoman for the county’s Department of Environmental Services, says workers are indeed “actively investigating” what’s going on in the neighborhood. She says county staff “have been unable to identify a leak” thus far, making it possible that there are other factors at play in the area.
“Due to the record amount of rain we have received this year, there are a number of locations throughout the county that are supersaturated and the standing ground water may give off the appearance of a water main leak,” O’Brien wrote in an email. “We are also monitoring these locations as a precaution.”
Miller does give the county credit for its responsiveness to the issue, but remains frustrated that the problem is still unsolved all these weeks later. With temperatures continuing to plummet, he fears what will happen if the county still can’t find a fix in the coming months.
“Everyone on the street is concerned for the danger that the ice is creating,” he said.
Photo courtesy of David Miller
Big Tree Fall on Car — A large tree fell across 8th Street S. late last week, crushing a parked car and causing a widespread power outage. [Twitter]
Local NAACP Reflects on Progress — “The Arlington NAACP’s 71st-anniversary Freedom Fund Banquet was a chance to look back on progress, but also to press for vigilance so it doesn’t slip away… The banquet on Oct. 13 drew a large crowd to the Sheraton Pentagon City Hotel.” [InsideNova]
Rosslyn LED Art Unveiled — “Cliff Garten Studio is pleased to announce, ‘Gravity and Grace,’ a site-specific large-scale LED public artwork integrated into the architecture of JBG SMITH’s Central Place Plaza in the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington.” [LiveDesign]
Yorktown Tied for First — “With an important homecoming victory over the visiting Langley Saxons in Oct. 12 football action, the Yorktown Patriots (4-3, 2-0) upped their winning streak to three to remain tied for first place in the Liberty District.” [InsideNova]
ACPD Again Holding Take-Back Day — “On Saturday, October 27, 2018 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Arlington County Police Department, Arlington County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public its 16th opportunity in seven years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.” [Arlington County]
Flickr pool photo by Tom Mockler
The Taco Bell on Lee Highway will be out of commission for the next few months, as its owners tear down the existing store and replace it with a new one.
The fast food restaurant, located at 4923 Lee Highway near Yorktown, shut down last week and construction tape now blocks off its drive-through lane. The eatery will remain closed for the next three to four months, general contractor Steve Taylor told ARLnow.
Taylor said the exact timeline for the project will depend on the weather in the coming weeks, but current plans call for the old restaurant to be demolished and completely replaced.
County records show its owner, the Ionedes Family Corporation, received the necessary permit approvals for much of the project in April.
The records also show that the current restaurant was built back in 1993.
Chill Zone, a Yorktown cafe, might be serving alcohol soon.
The shop recently applied for a license to sell beer and wine at its location at 2442 N. Harrison St., said Chill Zone’s manager Daniel Bui.
Pending license approval, Chill Zone will serve red and white wine, and local beer, according to Bui. Initially the coffee shop plans to serve alcohol only on Fridays and Saturdays.
Chill Zone, which just celebrated its first anniversary, currently serves bubble tea, Vietnamese coffee and its signature “volcano mango frap,” in addition to food options like wings and sandwiches.
File photo
A young man with a gun held up three male victims in the area of Yorktown High School this past Friday night, according to this week’s Arlington County Police Department crime report.
Nothing was reported stolen during the hold up, which happened around 7:45 p.m.
More from the crime report:
BRANDISHING, 2017-12220221, 5200 block of Yorktown Boulevard. At approximately 7:41 p.m. on December 22, police were dispatched to the report of a suspect holding an individual at gunpoint. Upon arrival, it was determined that three victims were walking in a park when a male suspect jumped out from the bushes and brandished a firearm. The suspect forced the victims onto their knees and threatened them, before dismissing two of the victims. The suspect instructed the third victim to empty his pockets before dismissing him from the scene. None of the victims were injured and nothing was stolen from the contents of the third victim’s pockets. Units canvased the area with negative results. The suspect is described as a young, white male, in his late teens or early twenties, wearing a black jacket, blue jeans and a black mask.
The rest of this past week’s crime report highlights, including some that we’ve already reported, after the jump.
