Good Tuesday morning, Alexandria!
☀️ Today’s weather: Expect mainly sunny skies and a high of around 55 degrees, accompanied by a west wind at 10 to 13 mph and gusts up to 23 mph. As for Tuesday night, it will be partly cloudy with a low temperature close to 40 degrees, and a southwest wind at 7 mph.
New manhole inserts aren’t normally notable or a cause for celebration, but they are in several Alexandria neighborhoods where they could help prevent flooding.
The City of Alexandria announced today that it will be installing 870 stainless steel manhole covers in the Four Mile Run, Commonwealth and Taylor Run sewer sheds.
The final touches are being made to Alexandria City High School’s expansion of its Minnie Howard Campus.
The five-story, $174 million high school project is on-budget and on-track for “substantial completion this spring,” according to an Alexandria City Public School staff report that will be presented to the School Board on Thursday.
As Alexandria’s City Council works through a tight budget year, one of the big items infrastructure pieces looming over the city is the $110.2 million renovation of City Hall.
The renovation was brought up as an item that could be delayed at a recent budget meeting, but over time repeated deferrals — and an expansion in scope — have made the much-needed renovation more and more expensive.
Rosemont, Parkfairfax, and North Ridge residents could get the short end of the stick as DASH looks to scale back bus service in those neighborhoods.
A memo from Martin Barna, director of Planning and Scheduling for DASH, said the city’s bus system could reduce service on Line 104. Barna wrote that the change is based on the City Manager’s Draft FY 2025 budget.
Any Alexandrian looking to register for spring classes and programs through the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities should mark Wednesday, March 20, down in their calendar.
“Registration for spring classes and programs, beginning April 1 through mid-June, will open on Wednesday, March 20, at 9 a.m. for City residents and Friday, March 22, for non-residents,” the city said in a release.
Good Monday morning, Alexandria!
☀️ Today’s weather: Expect mainly sunny skies with a high around 51 degrees and west winds blowing at 9 to 14 mph, gusting up to 23 mph. Tonight, mostly cloudy skies will gradually clear, as temperatures dip to around 34 degrees. The northwest winds will persist, blowing at 11 to 13 mph and gusting as high as 21 mph.
Affordable housing has been top of mind for Alexandrians in recent weeks.
Along with fully funding Alexandria City Public Schools’ budget, affordable housing was one of the big discussion points at a budget meeting on Monday. Residents from Arlandria/Chirilagua and other neighborhoods spoke to the City Council about the human impacts of salaries not keeping pace with rising housing costs. Residents shared stories of being forced from their homes as gentrification creeps into the neighborhood.
The Alexandria School Board made significant changes to its proposed collective bargaining agreement resolution with staff on Thursday night.
In a work session that ran until nearly midnight, the Board amended the 17-page draft resolution, which sets the rules for negotiations on a three-year agreement. The draft resolution reveals a slow rollout for the Alexandria City Public Schools bargaining process that will only reach full fruition in future negotiations, with the school system currently focusing on reaching an eventual collective bargaining agreement on six yet-to-be-determined topics with a portion of employees.
As the old saying goes: when one spa closes, another one opens.
While Windsor of Old Town is closing this month after 43 years in Alexandria, a new business called Spa180 Prestige has opened at 2813 Duke Street. The spa also has a large parking area on-site.
After 16 months of digging, Hazel the tunnel-boring machine can rest.
Alexandria’s massive RiverRenew Tunnel Program reached a critical milestone on Wednesday with the completion of a 2.2-mile underground tunnel that will divert millions of gallons of raw sewage from flowing into the Potomac River every year.
