Civic Association Meeting Tuesday 17th June

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The next meeting of the Douglas Park Civic Association will be held Tuesday 17 June 2014 at 7.30p in the downstairs meeting room of Firehouse 9, 19th Street South at South Walter Reed Drive.

On the agenda:

  1. An update on the 2014 Virginia General Assembly session. Forty-Ninth District Delegate Alfonso Lopez will be on hand to review the activities of 2014 session of the Virginia General Assembly.
  2. Bike Boulevards Update.  As has been discussed in several Civic Association meeting over the past few years, Arlington County is installing improvements along 9th, 11th, 12th and 13th Streets South to create ‘Bike Boulevards’ paralleling Columbia Pike.  Plans include changes to pedestrian crossings at South Glebe Road, South Walter Reed Drive, and South George Mason Drive.  The proposed improvements include
    • HAWK signal at South George Mason Drive and 13th Street South
    • HAWK signal at  South Walter Reed Drive and 9th Street South
    • Rapid flashing beacon and crosswalk at South Glebe Road and 9th Street South
    • Other intersection curb and crosswalk improvements.

    Christine Simpson of Arlington DOT will be on hand to review the latest plans.    Additional information is online at http://www.arlingtonva.us, search ‘Bike Boulevards.’
    The Executive Committee of the Civic Association voted on 22 May to oppose the portion of the Bike Boulevard between South Glebe Road and South Walter Reed Drive until the County develops a plan to address ongoing pedestrian, cyclist and motorist safety issues in the corridor.

  3. Proposed Traffic Changes near Randolph Elementary School.  Arlington County and Arlington Public Schools (APS) have been working to address perceived traffic circulation and safety issues around Randolph Elementary School.  Proposals include:
    • Two to three additional student loading and unloading spaces along South Quincy Street.
    • Updated school warning signage and ‘End School Zone’ signs along South Quincy Street.
    • School crosswalk signage at 13th Street South and 14th Street South.
    • ‘No U-Turn’ signage at South Quincy Street and 14th Street South.
    • Turn restrictions during arrival (8–8.30a) and dismissal (3–3.30p) at the intersection of South Quincy Street and 14th Street South.

    Stephanie Taylor of Arlington Transportation Engineering will be on hand to review the proposal and answer questions.

  4. Fourth of July Parade and Picnic.  Most of the details are nailed down, but we’ll spend a few minutes to review the plans to be sure that everything is ready to go.
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All are welcome to attend.

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Ft Barnard Water Main to Be Upgraded

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Ft Barnard Water Main
The Arlington Department of Environmental Services (DES) has announced a major upgrade to the Ft Barnard Water Main in Douglas Park.  Work is expected to begin in May and last through the end of 2014.  Streets impacted include:

  • S Quincy St from Columbia Pike to 18th St S
  • 18th St S from S Quincy St to S Pollard St
  • S Pollard St from 18th St S to 19th St S
  • 19th St S from S Pollard St to S Walter Reed Dr

The onsite construction manager for the project will be Amarjit Riat, (703) 228-3402.

The initial notice from Arlington DES is here [PDF]. Further details will be forthcoming closer to the start date of construction.

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Use Permit: Capital Bikeshare; S Four Mile Run Dr at S Walter Reed Dr

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An application for a use permit for a Capital Bikeshare station has been filed for the County Board meeting on 14 December 2013.  The station is to be located within the W&OD Trail right of way at the northwest corner of the intersection of S Walter Reed Dr and S Four Mile Run Drive/ S Four Mile Run Drive (Minor), near the existing bus stop.

The use permit number is U-3375-13-1.  Further details are in this PDF.

Questions and comments may be sent to Matt Pfeiffer, in the Arlington Planning Department at 703.228.0097 or mpfeiffer@arlingtonva.us.

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Recap of 17 September Civic Association Meeting

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Approximately twenty people attended the Civic Association meeting on Tuesday evening 17 September at Firehouse 9.

The agenda included:

We reviewed a proposal by Capital One Bank to donate land to the County to enable the completion of the missing segment of 11th St South between South Monroe St and South Glebe Rd, through the Pike 3400 (Rosenthal) site.

While most attendees were in favor of the extension, as it has long been part of the Columbia Pike redevelopment plan, we did have concerns with the intersection designs at
South Glebe Road and South Monroe Street as proposed by County staff.  Both these intersections are shown as ‘driveway’ style entrances rather than standard intersections.  The Civic Association feels that these new street segments should be designed to resemble all other intersections in the neighborhood.  We will be appealing to the County Board to address our concerns as talks with County Staff gave reached an impasse.  More details on this project may be found  here.

Update (22 September):  Several officers of the Civic Association spoke about our concerns at lat night’s Board meeting.  On a motion from Board Member and Douglas Park resident Chis Zimmerman, the item was deferred to the October Board meeting with instruction to Staff to work with the DPCA in resolving our concerns.  In addition, there have been last minute snags in the legal language between Capitol One Bank and the County regarding the necessary easements.

Update 2 (22 October):  In negotiations with Staff, DPCA was able to have the intersection of 11th St South and S Monroe St altered to a standard intersection.  We were less successful with the intersection at S Glebe Rd as that intersection is under the jurisdiction of VDOT and any significant design changes would trigger a very lengthy review process.  With Staff assistance, we have identified several small design changes to give the intersection a more conventional appearance without triggering VDOT review.  In addition, the County and Capitol One Bank have resolved their issues with the legal language of the easements.  The project was approved by consent at the County Board meeting on 9 October.

We heard presentations from 49th District Virginia House of Delegates candidates Alfonso Lopez and challenger Terrence ‘Terry’ Modglin.

Both candidates were given fifteen minutes to speak, followed by 15 minutes of questions from the audience.

The next Civic Association meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, 19 November 2013 at 7.30p.

 

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Washington Gas Work, Autumn 2013

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Washington Gas has announced the next phase of its line replacement schedule. Work will be occurring in the following neighborhood locations this fall:

Columbia Pike at S George Mason Dr
Columbia Pike at S Taylor St
12th Rd S at S Taylor St
13th St S at S Taylor St
13th Rd S at S Taylor St
S Thomas St

Further details are in the attached PDF (17pp, 3,2 Mbyte).

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25 Jun 2013: 16th St South Projects Update: ‘Green Streets’ and Traffic Calming

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On 24 June 2013, DPCA received word that the 16th St South ‘Green Streets’ and Traffic Calming projects have been delinked.  Traffic calming will move ahead with ‘Green Streets’ considered at a later date.  The letter from Arlington DES:

Dear Douglas Park Civic Association and residents,

The County will be “delinking” the neighborhood traffic calming (NTC) and green street projects on 16th Street South, as requested by the Douglas Park Civic Association and 3700 block 16th Street South residents.  The County will proceed to construct the full scope of the NTC project and anticipates that construction will begin in October 2013.  Any further questions regarding the NTC project should be directed to the NTC project manager, Jeff Sikes at jsikes@arlingtonva.us. Upon completion of the NTC project, the County will consider whether to return to 16th Street South to address the issues raised by the residents in regard to green street measures.

Adjacent residents will also be notified regarding this decision by letter.

The attached Q&A document summarizes the County responses to questions raised at the June 18 DPCA meeting, as well as others that were voiced in subsequent email communications. Please take the time to review this document.  If you have any questions regarding this information, you are always welcome to contact County staff for clarification. For your convenience, this document has also been posted to the 16th Street South Green Street project web site at: http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/EnvironmentalServices/Sustainability/page87635.aspx.

Thank you,

Christin Jolicoeur, Watershed Planner
Arlington County, Dept. of Environmental Services
cjolicoeur@arlingtonva.us
2100 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 705
Arlington, VA  22201

703.228.3588 (p)
703.228.7134 (f)

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Recap of 18 June Civic Association Meeting

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Approximately twenty people attended the Civic Association meeting on Tuesday evening 18 June at Firehouse 9.

The agenda included:

Christin Jolicouer, Watershed Planner; Greg Emanuel, Director of Arlington DES and other DES staff presented an update on the 16th St South ‘Green Streets’ project. We also heard from residents on 16th St South affected by the project.

Afterwards, Civic Association attendees discussed the presentations and expressed numerous concerns with the project.  A consensus emerged to have the Civic Association formally communicate those concerns to the County Board and DES staff.  That letter is available here.

Update:  Arlington County has agreed to delink the ‘Green Streets’ project from the previously approved traffic-calming project on 16th St South and revisit the ‘Green Streets’ project itself.  See the full response in this post.

John Snyder, Immediate Past-President of DPCA, updated us on plans for the 31st Douglas Fourth of July Park Parade and Picnic.

Adam Henderson was elected President of the Civic Association.

The next Civic Association meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, 17 September 2013 at 7.30p.

 

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Streetlamp Conversion to LED Technology

The County is converting streetlights to LED technology in order to modernize the overall streetlighting network, reduce costs, minimize energy use and environmental impact, and improve safety and visibility for vehicular and pedestrian traffic on County roadways. As part of the LED Streetlight Conversion Program, streetlights on the following streets in Douglas Park are slated to be converted to LEDs in the next few months:

  • S Monroe St (from Columbia Pike to 13th St S)
  • S Glebe Rd (from 12th St S to 14th St S)
  • S Kenmore Cir
  • 12th St S (from S Monroe St to S Glebe Rd)
  • 13th St S (from S Monroe St to S Glebe Rd)
  • 14th St S from S Quincy St to S Walter Reed Dr)
  • 16th St S (from S Taylor St to S Glebe Rd)
  • 17th St S (from S Monroe St to S Glebe Rd)
  • S Taylor St from 16th St S to the cul de sac)
  • S Quincy St (from 14th St S to 18th St S)
  • S Pollard St (from 14th St S to 18th St S)

The retrofitting/conversion process takes approximately two weeks for each street. During the conversion installation process, streetlights will remain off, and crews will work to minimize the traffic impact in the area. This process also includes testing of the initial operation of the newly retrofitted lights and the implementation of the remote dimming capability. Each light must be individually programmed for dimming purposes.
A detailed fact sheet regarding the new LED technology and conversion process is available here. This information can also be found on the County’s website at www.arlingtonva.us by searching “Streetlight Conversion”. For specific questions regarding the upcoming installation, please contact Santosh Neupane, Streetlight Engineer, at sneupane@arlingtonva.us.

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Street Sealing in Douglas Park

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The 2013 County Street Slurry Seal preventative maintenance program will begin around 8 July and end sometime in November 2013

We have been advised that the following streets in Douglas Park are currently scheduled for sealing work this summer:

  • South Quincy Street from 16th Street South to South Walter Reed Drive
  • South Stafford Street from 16th Street South to 18th Street South
  • 18th Street South from South Stafford Street to South Quincy Street

Slurry Seal is a water-based, emulsified asphalt mixture spread one-eighth inch (1/8″) thick over the street surface. It protects streets from water penetration, provides a new surface with improved skid-resistance, and is a quick and economical repair method between full resurfacings.

The operation requires street closures and parking restrictions for 4-8 hours depending on weather.

A notice will be mailed out to affected addresses 4 week in advance on the affected streets and is followed up with door hangers. These provide information about the planned activities and suggestions for residents. A detailed area map showing the proposed work locations can be accessed via the Internet at: http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/EnvironmentalServices/dot/StreetSlurry.aspx.

More details will follow as available.

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Overnight Lane Closures on Glebe Road

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VDOT crews will perform alternating overnight lane closures on southbound Glebe Road (VA Route 120) from Wilson Boulevard to 24th Street South. These closures will take place from 9.00p to 5.00a on Tuesday, May 28 – Thursday, May 30, 2013.

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