GROUND-BREAKING MARKS LAUNCH OF NEW ENTRANCE TO CRYSTAL CITY METRO: Local and regional leaders on July 12 gathered to celebrate the ground-breaking of a project that will provide an additional entrance to the Crystal City Metro station.
When completed, the effort will result in an access point to the station from 18th Street South and Crystal Drive. It will provide increased connectivity to the Virginia Railway Express, Amtrak, local transit and bike options, and the planned connection to the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Construction is expected to be completed in 2027.
The project is a collaboration between the Arlington County government, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, Northern Virginia Transit Authority and Federal Transit Administration.
ARLINGTON SEEKS STATE FUNDING FOR TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS: Arlington County Board members on July 22 are slated to authorize the submission of six requests totaling $85 million for three projects as part of the state government’s “Smart Scale” transportation-funding program.
The County Board vote is needed to beat the Aug. 1 deadline for submissions. Projects selected at the state level likely will be funded in fiscal years 2029 and 2030.
Requests will include:
• $35 million for improvements to the interchange of Arlington Boulevard (Route 50) and Washington Boulevard (Route 27).
• $25 million for safety improvements on Glebe Road from Interstate 66 to Columbia Pike.
• $25 million for upgrades to the Interstate 395 interchange with South Glebe Road, a project submitted in collaboration with the Alexandria city government.
If any or all of the requests are authorized, the county government would not be required to pay any matching funds.
ARLINGTON GOVERNMENT TO OK SIDEWALKS, CURB-AND-GUTTER: Arlington County Board members on July 22 are slated to approve a $2.07 million project to improve a roadway in the Ashton Heights neighborhood.
The project, recommended by the Neighborhood Complete Streets Commission, would add three blocks of missing sidewalk and curb-and-gutter on North Oakland Street from Pershing Drive to 6th Road North.
If County Board members appropriate the funding, the total left in the Neighborhood Complete Streets budget for the new fiscal year will be $479,000.
‘SOBERRIDE’ SEES BUMP UP IN INDEPENDENCE-DAY USAGE: The SoberRide initiative of the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) saw a major bump up in usage for the Independence Day holiday.
A total of 738 people used the service during a 12-hour period from July 4 at 4 p.m. to July 5 at 4 a.m. That’s up from 447 a year before.
“For its hours of operation this Independence Day, this level of ridership translates into SoberRide removing a potential drunk driver from Washington’s roadways every 58 seconds,” said Kurt Erickson, WRAP’s president.
WRAP also offers its free safe-ride-home service on St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, Halloween and the winter holidays through and including New Year’s Eve. It is conducted in collaboration with Lyft.
The program was founded in 1982. Since 1991, it has provided more than 90,700 free rides home.
METRO SYSTEM MOVES TO ‘AUTO-DOOR’ MODE FOR TRAINS: The Metro system on July 8 moved to operating its trains in “auto-door mode,” which will allow for faster door openings and could cut down on delays across the system.
The initiative was launched on the Red Line last December as a pilot program. The Washington Metrorail Safety Commission approved service for the entire system.
“Auto Doors on the Red Line has been very successful, with more than 1.3 million safe door openings since launching last year,” said Randy Clarke, general manager of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. “We’ve achieved better schedule consistency and now we’re excited to bring this safety and convenience improvement to all our customers.”
While train doors now open automatically upon arrival, operators still will close train doors manually for departure after checking outside the driver’s-side cab window, Metro officials said.
