On April 10, ground was broken for Long Bridge Park, a new urban park and recreational facility at the north end of Crystal City. The former industrial site is one of the largest remaining pieces of open space in Arlington. The project will both reclaim a contaminated “brownfield” (which once housed a scrapyard, concrete company, and vehicle towing and storage yards) and add badly needed parkland.

Phase I of park development will add three lighted athletic fields, picnic areas, and restrooms and storage facilities. In a partnership with Arlington County, Marymount University will fund the construction costs of one of the fields in exchange for use of the field by the University’s soccer and lacrosse teams.

One of the most dramatic features of Phase I will be a half-mile long raised walkway — the “Esplanade” — that will connect the park and its recreational facilities. The Esplanade will be designed for strolling, bicycle riding, and other leisure activities, with dramatic views of the Potomac and monuments and other sights across the river.  Read more about Long Bridge Park

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While Virginia is failing to meet its long-term transportation needs due to a lack of consensus on funding, several large-scale transportation construction projects are underway in Northern Virginia. These “Megaprojects”, largely funded by Federal and private dollars, offer the promise of eased congestion down the road – but they will tie up our travels across Northern Virginia until they’re completed:

I-495 HOT Lanes
Fourteen miles of new HOT (high occupancy toll)lanes are being built on the Beltway between the Mixing Bowl and the Dulles Toll Road. Buses, carpools and vanpools with three or more people, and motorcycles can ride in the new lanes for free. Cars with one or two passengers can ride them if they pay a toll.  Learn more.

Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project
This new Metro line eventually will offer service from the East Falls Church station in Arlington to Dulles Airport. The first phase, through Tysons Corner to Wiehle Avenue in Reston, is scheduled for completion in late 2013. Phase 2, to Dulles, is expected to open in 2016. Detailed project information.

Beltway Telegraph Road Interchange

The final phase of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project is rebuilding the Telegraph Road interchange west of the bridge.

I-95 Widening

VDOT is adding a fourth lane in both directions to a six-mile stretch of I-95, between the Fairfax County Parkway and Route 123. The widening is designed to ease a chronic bottleneck and improve traffic flow to and from the rebuilt Mixing Bowl.

Fairfax County Parkway/BRAC

In order to accommodate the thousands of defense workers who will be shifted to Fort Belvoir under DOD’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) plan, a number of improvements are under construction. These include the completion of a missing link of the Fairfax County Parkway, as well as I-95 ramps to Fort Belvoir North (formerly the Engineer Proving Ground). A study is underway on how to handle BRAC-related traffic to the Mark Center, at seminary Road and Shirley Highway in Alexandria.

VDOT is warning of significant traffic delays around the Megaproject construction zones in the coming months. (Tysons Corner, at the crossroads of the Beltway HOT lane and Dulles Rail Megaprojects, is likely to be particularly impacted.) Sign up for alerts and updates on these projects.

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