A local addition to the National Defense Authorization Act — a $740 billion bill approved through the House and Senate and headed to the White House — would require the Pentagon to establish a helicopter noise abatement group for the region.
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The update on the Transportation Master Plan Pedestrian and Bicycle Chapter wasn’t planned to coincide with a sudden uptick in bicycle ridership and walking around the city, but it could help explain why many Alexandrians exploring their local pedestrian/bike infrastructure might find it different than they remember.
An update prepared for the canceled June 17 Transportation Commission meeting shined some light on the progress the city has made since it a chapter specifically about that infrastructure was added to the city’s Transportation Master Plan in 2016. The primary goals the city laid out at the time were to improve safety, engineering, encouragement and education of bicycle and pedestrian facilities in Alexandria. The move corresponded with a push towards Vision Zero — a project that aims to eliminate all traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2028.
After a launch delayed by the pandemic, mobility company Helbiz has started putting scooters onto Arlington and Alexandria streets.
The company announced yesterday that it would immediately move forward with bringing 100 new scooters to locations in Arlington and 200 to Alexandria. Like other scooter companies, like Lime or Bird, Helbiz scooters are unlocked by scanning a code in an app, riding with cost determined by distance, and parking.
After getting a late initial start, the Four Mile Run Conservatory Foundation is back on the water and looking for volunteers to help kayak along Alexandria’s northern border and do some cleaning.
The organization has had three kayak cleanups so far this season, starting in late June. Upcoming sessions are planned for Wednesday, July 29 at 4 p.m., and on both Saturday, August 1 and Sunday, August 16, at 9 a.m.
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Seven years to the day after he was shot in the head by a deranged cab driver in Old Town, former Alexandria Police officer Peter Laboy got his driver’s license.
The 17-year APD veteran spent years trying to legally drive again, and now after two years without any seizures and after passing all of his tests, the former motorcycle cop is back on the road and his license has no restrictions.
A series of new improvements to Alexandria’s Union Station — a Virginia Railway Express stop — proposed late last year are moving forward toward city approval.
The plan is to create new Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant access with a grade-separated pedestrian tunnel and elevator access. The expansion will also allow the station to take two trains at any given time, with one at each platform. The change is part of a regional effort to reduce the system’s bottleneck around the D.C. area.
Mayor Says Heroes Act Ignores Local Government — “The Heroes Act, adopted by the House of Representatives included $89.6M in funding for Alexandria, which nearly replaced the revenue we are projected to lose this year. The bill released in the Senate tonight doesn’t even mention local government. They cannot be serious.” [Twitter]
ACPS Hosting Reopening Chats Today — “School Board Representatives, Lorraine Johnson and Ashley Sanchez-Viafara (both seniors), to lead Student-focused Reopening Community Chats.” [ACPS]
Despite the pandemic, Inova Blood Donor Services says participation in blood drives has remained high in the region. Inova expects that need to go up soon as more people begin to leave their homes.
On Thursday, July 30, the Inova Blood Donor Services’ Bloodmobile will be set up at Inova Alexandria Hospital’s paid visitor’s lot from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. to keep up the services’ fresh supply of blood.
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Gov. Ralph Northam has raised the possibility of moving back into the shutdown if coronavirus cases continue to increase, but the state’s data indicates many Alexandrians still haven’t recovered from the first shutdown.
Alexandria’s continued unemployment continues to hover around 6,000 people with new claims reaching mid-May levels, according to the Virginia Employment Commission.
Alexandria is advising residents to file a claim for flood damage after the Alexandria’s sewer system was backed up by a rush of water 30 times greater than what the city can accommodate in an intense storm last Thursday (July 23).
The most impacted areas were Del Ray, Old Town and Park Fairfax, the latter of which had water reaching to the level of car windows, according to the Alexandria Times.
Students at T.C. Williams High School and city residents are placing a tarp over the school marquee every day to obscure the name until the school board votes to change it next spring.
“I don’t want to graduate from a school that is represented by a racist name,” T.C. rising senior Sarah Devendorf told ALXnow. “I don’t want to put it on my diploma, and it’s shameful because we are such a diverse liberal community.”