This just in... Arlandria Newsletter July 2014

This just in...

Alexandria's Department of Planning & Zoning has produced a July 2014 edition of the "Arlandria Newsletter" detail updates on the Arlandria Action Plan Impementation.

The newsletter can be viewed at this link or on the City's Arlandria Plan webpage: www.alexandriava.gov/Arlandria

Online viewers might also be able to view it below:

Open Space and Parks: Celebrate, Clean and Improve this Weekend

The City of Alexandria his hosting a celebration and discussion on Open Space on Saturday to be held at the Conservatory Center at Four Mile Run Park, 4109 Mount Vernon Avenue. 

Activities begin 2:00pm and include:

Public open house

Learn about the success of the 2003 Open Space Master Plan and provide ideas and recommendations on the future of Open Space in Alexandria

Four Mile Run Clean-up              

“Competition” co-sponsored by the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust (NVCT)

Soccer field open play                   

The Four Mile Run Soccer Field will be open to the public for pick-up play

Movie night 

Free viewing of the film “Green Fire” (Spanish subtitles) – sponsored by NVCT

Food and fun 

Pizza and snacks provided – bring your Frisbee, soccer ball, sunscreen……

Then on Sunday morning, the Hume Springs Citizens Association is holding another cleanup that's being supported by officers from Alexandria Police Department to help beautify our neighborhood.

They're meeting at "Flagpole Park" starting at 8:30am  and will be providing bags and gloves as they work their way through the neighborhood and wetlands to collect trash. Afterwards they'll be heading over to the Four Mile Run Farmers and Artisans Market for some complimentary snacks.

Lastly, the Four Mile Run Farmers & Artisans Market is donating $1,000 to enhace Four Mile Run Park with a community tree plantings and has entered to win another $2,000 through the "Green Idea Challenge" sponsored by ACTion Alexandria

Your clicks can help win the grant! Express your support and vote up to 3 times before Saturday at:
http://www.actionalexandria.org/solution/4mr-park-tree-plantings-through-community-crowd-sourcing-and-crowd-funding

Soon, we'll have news about how residents and businesses can help raise more money for trees with matching donations...and how to participate in the planting.

 

Coming Soon: Del Ray Tower

View of what the completed building will look like

It's official: the Calvert has a new name.

It was way back in June of 2009 that we heard that new owners of the Calvert on Mount Vernon Avenue were contemplating renovations that would entail a complete overhaul of the aging property.

Approved in September of 2010, owner UDR has re-christened the development Del Ray Tower and listed the property on its website as "Coming Soon".  UDR's partner in the project, Rosenthal Properties has similarly listed the commercial spaces that are available for lease.

UDR has almost finished refacing the existing tower and has replaced the front parking lot and retaining wall with a mid-rise (4 story), street-fronting apartment building. The project is designed to maintain (and even expand) the rental housing opportunities in the area while bringing added vibrancy to the Avenue business districts.

Before: the old Calvert building.

The new construction will incorporate the existing ground-floor retail but move it adjacent to Mt Vernon Avenue. Some of the retail space will surround a central art or water feature in an open air plaza at the intersection of the T-shaped building as shown in the first graphic in this post. Most of the parking will be placed underground with some above-ground parking on the north side of the property, just as it was before.
The old south parking lot will ultimately be replaced with green space adjoining Warwick Village and Goat Hill Park.

In its listing, UDR describes the new Del Ray Tower:

Del Ray Tower’s studio, one and two bedroom apartment homes offer state-of-the-art kitchens with select units featuring concrete floors and spectacular city views.

Amenity spaces include a rooftop pool and jogging track, a penthouse fitness center and yoga studio, a game room, media room, private dining room, clubroom with demonstration kitchen and a business center with a conference room. 

Pets are welcome and an on-site dog park will offer plenty of space for exercise. A four-level, 500 space parking garage and storage units will be available for our residents.

Over 11,000 square feet of retail space may include a boutique grocery, dry cleaners, café or a bistro.

Builder Donohoe Construction has posted an interesting time-lapse slideshow of the projects construction progress (click here):

Move-ins are expected to commence in the late Spring.

Related articles from The Arlandrian:

• Renovations Coming to the Calvert?
• Renovating the Calvert
• The Arlandrian News Round-up
• Mock-Ups of Arlandria Wayfinding Signs

New Metrobus Service for the 10's Starts Sunday

Starting this Sunday, March 30th, Metrobus service will be restructured on the Hunting Point-Pentagon Line (Routes 10A,10B &10E) as well as some other nearby routes, such as the McLean-Crystal City Line (Routes 23A & 23C) to provide more direct service, enhance connections and provide additional service on the most heavily used portions of the lines.
The changes come following a set of public meetings and an online survey set up last year to gain public input for improvements to service on a variety of bus routes, and most important to Arlandria: the 10A, B & E MetroBus lines.

Begun last May, Metro was looking to identify the strategic needs and review the capacity, productivity, reliability, and quality of the Route 10A, 10B & 10E lines with and eye toward proposing recommendations and changes that will improve service. The factors that Metro is interested to improve included: reliability, frequency, crowding, travel time, bus stop amenities, and customer communications.

What these changes mean for you:
Route 10A will become non-rush only with rush hour service carried by new extended route:  

During the a.m. peak period northbound (from Hunting Point) and the p.m. peak period southbound (to Hunting Point), Route 10R will replace 10A service. Route 10R will provide a direct connection between Crystal City and Rosslyn bypassing the Pentagon. Existing 10A passengers traveling to the Pentagon may take a Route 10E bus or transfer to Metrorail at Braddock Road Station.

These changes do not impact off-peak, weekend, a.m. peak period southbound (from the Pentagon) or
p.m. peak period northbound (to the Pentagon) 10A service.


NEW Routes 10R and 10S will join 10E service during rush hours: 

Service will operate weekday peak periods between Rosslyn, Crystal City and Alexandria. Routes 10R and 10S will bypass the Pentagon, saving passengers approximately 10 minutes of travel time between Crystal City and Rosslyn. Route 10A and 10E buses will continue to serve Pentagon Station.

Route 10R will operate northbound from Hunting Point to Rosslyn via Crystal City during the morning peak period and southbound from Rosslyn to Hunting Point via Crystal City during the afternoon peak period. 

Route 10S will operate southbound from Rosslyn to Braddock Road Station during the morning peak period and northbound from Braddock Road Station to Rosslyn during the afternoon peak period. 

Route 10E service will operate between Braddock Road and Pentagon stations only. Passengers traveling between Crystal City and Rosslyn may board a Route 10R bus or transfer to Metrorail at the
Pentagon. The weekday peak period schedule will be adjusted to provide a 15 minute time between buses.

Route 9E Riders will be replaced by new 10S route: 

Route 10S service will replace all 9E service. Route 10S buses will not serve Pentagon Station. Route 9E riders traveling to the Pentagon may transfer to a Route 9A bus on Eads Street, or transfer to a Route 10E bus or Metrorail at Braddock Road Station.


For new schedules and for more information about Metrobus service evaluation and corridor studies, visit wmata.com/betterbus.

Recent Related Posts:

• Evaluating the MetroBus
• Traffic Hampers Morning Bus Commute (again).
• Traffic Hampers Morning Bus Commute
• Bus shelters go solar
• NextBus Service Coming Soon to Mt Vernon Avenue

Parking Clarification Slated for March Traffic & Parking Board Hearing.

On the agenda for the March 24th hearing of Alexandria's Traffic & Parking Board is the consideration of a request to install a “No Parking Here to Corner” sign along the east side of Elbert Avenue 45 feet before the intersection with Four Mile Road.

City Staff is recommending the installation of the parking restriction which comes at the request of the Alexandria Police based on complaints from residents who have recently been confronted with a blind intersection with the recent rise of cars parked at the location due to a lack of clarity.

From the staff report:

The Alexandria Police Department has received complaints of a safety concern along Elbert Avenue at the Four Mile Road and Elbert Avenue intersection. Currently vehicles are allowed to park in parallel parking spaces on the west side of Elbert Avenue. Vehicles can park on the east side of Elbert Avenue perpendicular to the road in a parking lot. Please see figure 4b. The parking lot ends approximately 45 feet from the intersection of Elbert Avenue and Four Mile Road where there is a stop sign for vehicles traveling northbound on Elbert Avenue. There is currently no parking restriction on this stretch of Elbert Avenue from the end of the parking lot to the intersection. 

Elbert Avenue is 28 feet wide, and should a car be parked on both the east and west side, it can be extremely difficult for both to pass. Parking is currently allowed on both sides along the rest of Elbert Avenue, but vehicles will use open parking spaces or areas in front of driveways to make room for a vehicle traveling in the other direction to pass. This maneuver is not possible when vehicles are parked on both sides of Elbert Avenue near the intersection, as there is no room for a vehicle turning onto Elbert Avenue while another vehicle is waiting at the stop sign. A situation like this causes a safety concern for vehicles and pedestrians at this intersection.