This week, Alexandria officials dove in on several major issues around town, from responding to crime to dealing with declining school enrollment.
In the same week as Alexandria saw more high-profile crimes — an armed robbery and armed carjacking — Alexandria Police Department Assistant Chief Easton McDonald said the department will be increasing its presence in high-crime areas, having weekly walks through neighborhoods where major crimes are occurring, and organizing more community cook-outs.
Alexandria’s drinking water has an “actionable” level of Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), and the City Council just endorsed a plan to help clean it up.
The long-lasting substances, also known as “forever chemicals,” are hard to break down and pollute Alexandria’s drinking water to an “actionable” degree, Mayor Justin Wilson wrote in a letter unanimously supported by Council. PFAS are proven to weaken immune response, increase cancer risk and liver damage, and pose a risk to pregnant women and their babies.
As of today (Friday), Alexandria drivers should be experiencing significantly fewer potholes.
Alexandria’s Department of Transportation and Environmental Services tweeted that today, crews with the department have wrapped up their “pothole patrol” for all zones across the city.
After years of struggling with terrible traffic and frequent crashes, recent changes to West Taylor Run Parkway have had a substantial impact on the trouble street’s residents.
Alexandria city staff are recommending that a Duke Street Traffic Mitigation pilot — which redirects traffic flow onto Duke Street and off of “cut-through” streets winding through nearby neighborhoods — be made permanent.
Good Friday morning, Alexandria!
☔ Today’s weather: Showery. Overcast. Cool. High of 57 and low of 55.
☔ Tomorrow: Isolated tstorms. Overcast. Mild. High of 64 and low of 55. Sunrise at 6:13 am and sunset at 7:57 pm.
The Alexandria Police Department is investigating an armed carjacking that allegedly occurred in Old Town earlier today..
The incident allegedly took place around 2 p.m. near the 700 block of S. Alfred Street. According to the scanner, the victim told police a man in all-black clothing put a gun to the driver’s head and took the white Mercedes.
Personal security cameras, speed cameras in school zones, summer youth employment programs and eviction prevention funding are just a few of the final additions included in the fiscal year 2024 budget by the Alexandria City Council on Tuesday.
Council approved funding a $20,000 program to encourage businesses and homeowners with a “small incentive” to set up security cameras to deter crime, as well as increase their coordination with the Alexandria Police Department.
Do you take your yoga with coffee or tea?
By this summer, the Harold family of Alexandria want to add a third business in Old Town — Connect & Sip Cafe at 1320 Prince Street. The proposed cafe would be located next door to their PIES Fitness & Yoga Studio at 1322 Prince Street. If all goes well with the permitting process, they’d like to open up by mid-summer.
Five years after extensive flooding severely damaged parts of the Holmes Run Trail, a staff report to the City Council this week indicated that repairs could take even longer than expected.
Parts of the trail have been inaccessible since the flooding in 2018. Earlier reports estimated the trail would be repaired by this spring, then by late fiscal year 2024, but the newest Capital Projects Status Report (item 10) indicated a new estimated substantial completion as the second quarter of fiscal year 2025.
The National Weather Service has issued a Coastal Flood Watch for Alexandria, Arlington and D.C.
The Coastal Flood Watch will go into effect from midnight to 7 a.m. on Saturday (April 29).
ACT for Alexandria did it again.
Wednesday’s Spring2ACTion fundraiser — the largest single day of giving in Alexandria — broke the record set two years ago by collecting $2.9 million for 182 local nonprofits. The 13th annual event received more than 7,700 individual donations and ACT for Alexandria exceeded its goal of $2.5 million.
