The street improvement phase of this project, which includes installation of storm drains, wider sidewalks, street trees, and street lights, will run concurrently with the wiring connections. Construction for the street improvements will require lane closures with at least one westbound and one eastbound lane open at all times. Crews may perform some of this work during evening hours to minimize the impact to businesses and motorists. Residents can expect some construction noise associated with this work. The County appreciates your patience during this time! Businesses located along Columbia Pike remain open during construction and owners greatly appreciate the community’s continuous support. Completion of this project is scheduled for fall 2013.

Streetlight Upgrade

Construction of 290 LED energy-efficient streetlight units along the Pike is now complete. Crews programmed the lights along Columbia Pike between S. Scott Street and S. Glebe Road and replaced all faulty LED inserts, radio units, and circuit breakers. They are now programming lights on the westward portion of the Pike. These lights offer a 30-year life expectancy, reduce light pollution, and dim automatically based on the time of day. The energy savings will pay for the cost of the lights and construction in an estimated five to 10 years.

Bike Boulevards

To provide safe and convenient bike routes along the Pike, Arlington County will create two bike boulevards parallel to Columbia Pike on low-volume and low-speed (25 MPH) streets. Work will begin with placing street markings and signs on the 9th Street S. and 12th Street S. side of the bike boulevards. Street marking placement will begin later this spring.

Sign and street marking placement is slated for completion this summer. Staff has started to design curbs, medians, ADA compliant ramps and sidewalk re-alignments. Following this design phase, the project team will meet with the community to discuss these new features and the HAWK (High-intensity Activated crossWalK)-related left turn restrictions. Staff is exploring options for testing the HAWK turn restrictions and researching any implications of leaving out the restrictions.

Super Stops

The County Manager has temporarily placed Super Stop construction on hold in order to reassess the design and cost of the program. We would like to hear from you about your experiences with the Walter Reed stop. Please send all comments and suggestions about the existing stop to des@arlingtonva.us with “super stop” in the subject line. ]]> http://www.columbia-pike.org/?feed=rss2&p=3116 0 http://www.columbia-pike.org/?p=3093 http://www.columbia-pike.org/?p=3093#comments Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:39:10 +0000 admin http://www.columbia-pike.org/?p=3093 Streetcar Now is the name of a growing group of vocal supporters of the Columbia Pike / Crystal City Streetcar. They went public at the County Board meeting on Feb. 23:

Arlington, VA – A pro-streetcar group, Arlington Streetcar Now, announced its formation at the Arlington County Board meeting on Saturday, February 23. Longtime Arlington resident and civic activist John Snyder made the announcement and presented the Board with a list of principles the group will promote in support of the proposed streetcar system that would link Fairfax County and Alexandra through Columbia Pike and Crystal City.

Arlington Streetcar Now is a growing group of Arlington residents and other strong supporters of the streetcar system. Calling the redevelopment plans for South Arlington “an exciting vision for the future,” Snyder called the streetcar system “the best way to achieve that vision.” Arlington’s vision for Columbia Pike and Crystal City depends on a qualitative upgrade and an increase in transit capacity which cannot be achieved merely by enhancing existing bus service.

Arlington Streetcar Now has been formed, Snyder said, to help “explain how a modern streetcar operates, how it is integral to growth of a locally-oriented business district, to affordable housing preservation on the Pike, and to environmental stewardship.”

Mary Margaret Whipple, former Arlington County Board member and state senator, pointed out that opposition today is similar to resistance to the installation of the Metrorail system in Arlington.  “They made similar claims then – that it cost too much, that we should use buses instead, that kind of thing. It doesn’t matter how sensible or popular a transit proposal is,” said Whipple. “There are always going to be a few people who make it their mission to oppose it.”  Today, Arlington’s investment in the rail system is widely regarded as a principal factor propelling Arlington from a community in economic decline in the 1970s to one of the most desirable locations in the region to live and work.

Local businesses have come out in strong support of this system and the vision for growth and sustainability it represents. Chamber of Commerce member David DeCamp, also a founding member of Arlington Streetcar Now, strongly agrees with the group’s mission. “The investment in the Streetcar will induce mixed-use development and pay us back with growing annual revenues as new buildings are developed – in much the same way that development along Arlington’s Metro corridors has produced a virtuous circle of growing tax receipts that keep a lid on our tax rates and contribute enormously to the quality of life in Arlington.”

Arlington Streetcar Now can be found at www.streetcarnow.org and on Facebook and Twitter.  

It is official: Penrose Square, phase I (17,760-sq. ft.), will be dedicated on Thursday Nov. 8th.

The master plan for the Penrose Square was approved by  the Arlington County Board In July 2009 and is the product of years of civic engagement and multi-stakeholder effort. It is the first of multiple new squares planned on the Columbia Pike corridor. These public spaces are key to the County’s and our community’s vision to transform the Pike into a walkable main street. The new squares are designed to be more than community ornaments meant to increase the appeal and value of our streets and buildings. They are purposely designed to be used very much like an “outdoor room” where people are encouraged to engage in a wide variety of activities.

The square’s  design, was developed by a 12-member citizen Working Group and the landscape architectural firm, Oculus. Both envisioned a space that would draw the community together to socialize, dine, relax or recreate.

The center piece of the square is the sculpture “Echo” by Richard Deutsch. The concept makes reference to the Arlington Radio Station from which the first transatlantic radio-transmitted phone-call was placed in 1915. The two-piece sculpture is the first ever public art to be dedicated in our corridor.

“Penrose Square will provide a beautiful, well-planned public gathering place on Columbia Pike,” said County Board Member J. Walter Tejada back in 2009. “This is an important step forward in the County’s efforts to revitalize the Pike by turning it into a lively, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use corridor with plenty of outdoor spaces where people can come together.”

Read also: Arlington County Press Release

Please check for the latest updates here.

Who to Call:

To prepare for a possible power outage, print out or write down these numbers

• Power outages: Dominion Virginia Power, 1-866-DOM-HELP (1-866-366-4357), or 1-888-667-3000.  (or www.dom.com )
  • Check on your neighbors, especially the elderly and folks with disabilities
• Natural gas emergencies: Washington Gas 703-750-1400 or 800-752-7520. If you smell gas, leave and call 9-1-1. Washington Gas Safety Page 
• Trees Down:  703-228-6525
• Street flooding, water, sewer and storm-sewer: 703-228-6555 (emergency hotline)
  (Note: During high rains, call volume is often greater than normal. Operators will respond to your call as soon as they can.)
• Traffic signal outages: 703-228-6511
• Community assistance: If you are without power, out of food, need shelter or any number of vital services, call 703-228-1300 to get connected to people and organizations that can help.
  • You can also dial 2-1-1 from any phone.
  • For life-threatening emergencies, always call 9-1-1.
• Internet or Cable TV outages:
  • Verizon: www.verizon.com/outage  to report any wireline service-related issues; or call 1-800-VERIZON (1-800-837-4966).  Business customers are advised to contact their regular customer service centers or account teams as needed.
  • Comcast: 703-841-7700 or Emergency website: www.comcast.com/hurricaneseason/?SCRedirect=true 
• If you have a life-threatening emergency, always call 9-1-1. The non-emergency number (for the Emergency Communications Center) is 703-558-2222.

Press Release - For immediate release
Recent publications suggest that Bus Rapid System would be superior to a Streetcar serving the transit needs of our area. The Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization takes this opportunity to reaffirm support for a modern Streetcar.

In July 2012, the Arlington County Board and Fairfax County Board chose a modern Streetcar as the preferred transit alternative in our corridor.  This decision was correct and well informed.

The rationale in support of a BRT alternative has been exhaustively discussed during the many years of public process preceding the aforementioned decisions.

Among many other benefits, a modern streetcar system:

• Commits the land use and economic development for decades to come. The sense of permanency and the corresponding growth dynamics that rail based transportation conveys to investors and businesses cannot be matched by a BRT system.
• Serves important destinations that focuses on corridors, connectors and regional development nodes. By contrast, BRT would serve a constellation of ever changing destinations and routes, leaving the network design, scope and functionality at the whim of political and market changes.
• Offers superior passenger capacity and superior economies of scale in the network both on Columbia Pike and on top-capacity corridors (like Route 1) where streetcar trains outperform BRT.
• Provides superior comfort to passengers. Comfort is not an optional luxury. It is a critical parameter that determines the level of ridership.
• Improves traffic safety in mixed traffic by keeping the largest vehicles on predictable tracks free from random lane-changes, which, combined with the narrower width of streetcars improves overall flow in a congested corridor.
• Supports our community’s goal to preserve affordable housing by having the proven potential to create enough real estate value to cross-subsidize committed affordable units.

The Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization applauds the Arlington County Board and the Fairfax County Board for upholding their commitment to the community’s long standing vision for Columbia Pike.
The decision has been made.  It is time to move forward.

See also:

• CPRO’s letter to the Arlington County Board in support of a Columbia Pike Streetcar
• Revitalization projects on the Columbia Pike portion of the streetcar line
• Piketransit.com
• Arlington’s Streetcar System
• Modern Streetcars in American Cities

The focus of the piece was the Streetcar and the goal of making Columbia Pike more Walkable.  ”The streetcar gives you the opportunity to leave your car in your garage or your parking space, or even live without a car entirely,” says DeCamp. Di Caro also interviewed County Board member Chris Zimmerman.

Click here for the full article.

A 12-year resident of the Columbia Pike neighborhood of Arlington Heights, Juliet Hiznay has served as a community representative on the board of directors for CPRO since 2006.

An attorney by trade, during her tenure on the CPRO board Ms. Hiznay has worked on a number of operational and policy issues, including expansion and improvement of the Columbia Pike Farmer’s Market and balancing civic and business representation on the board.

Ms. Hiznay served in the leadership of her civic association for several years, concentrating on improvements to neighborhood infrastructure, including updating the neighborhood’s 28 year-old Neighborhood Conservation Plan to obtain funding for street projects in the neighborhood, lobbying for replacement of the blue stone athletic field, and working with county Parks staff to enhance the parkland at Thomas Jefferson Community Center and Middle School.

Ms. Hiznay also worked to improve county-PTA-neighborhood connections, seeking renovation of the Thomas Jefferson Middle School and serving on the Quality Review Team during the TJMS renovation. She has also served in a number of appointed positions in Arlington County:  Columbia Pike Form Based Code Advisory Working Group, Capital Improvement Plan Working Group, Neighborhood Conservation Advisory Committee, Fiscal Affairs Advisory Commission, and Public Spaces Master Plan Working Group (2000).

A graduate of George Mason University School of Law and Boston College, Ms. Hiznay is in private practice.  She focuses her practice on representing parents who are seeking special education services for their children in the public school setting.

More information: CPRO Board of Directors

On Monday, September 10, 2012 from 4-7:15PM, there will be a reception with the artists behind the project followed by a panel discussion titled “From Pupusas to Microbrews: Gentrification and Columbia Pike.”

Panelists: Takis Karantonis, executive director of the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization (CPRO); Chris Zimmerman, Arlington County Board Member; Nina Janopaul, President of the Arlington County Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH); Christian Dorsey, community activist, political commentator & Pike resident

The Bash is from 4-10pm with the wine tastings running from 4-7:30pm. Get your tickets online (click here), by calling  571.482.8581, or in person at Twisted Vines, located at 2803 Columbia Pike.

This event is co-sponsored by Yelp! and CPRO.

The Menchie’s franchise has more than 200 stores worldwide and their motto is “We Make You Smile.” For more information and their frozen yogurt flavors visit their website here!