A new group is being tasked with heading up the city’s plans to overhaul Duke Street.
The Duke Street In Motion Advisory Group is tasked with guiding the new eponymous Duke Street In Motion project — which aims to make adjust the arterial road to emphasize public transit, make improvements to bicycle/pedestrian safety and other changes.
At a meeting on Saturday, the City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that will allow City Manager James Parajon to reduce speed limits in Alexandria as low as 15 miles per hour.
The ordinance, unanimously approved by the City Council, allows the City Manager to “reduce posted speed limits to less than 25 miles per hour, but not less than 15 miles per hour on any city street located in a business or residence district.”
At the cusp of what should have been a crowning moment for Alexandria’s City Council — the long-awaited approval of broadband franchises to compete with Comcast — the city and the chosen internet providers appear to be having some network connectivity issues.
Last month, two companies were chosen to provide internet service piggybacking off the city’s new municipal broadband network. At a City Council meeting on Saturday, companies Ting and Lumos Telephone were given right-of-way franchises; seemingly one of the last major legislative hurdles.
It’s been a busy week in Alexandria, with some controversies at the school, city, and even state levels.
At ACPS, a new report detailed the arrests and safety incidents that have occurred in this school year, and then last night some School Board leaders butted heads over a lack of transparency in the creation of a new advisory board to review school safety issues.
Alexandria’s City Council set the maximum real estate tax rate at a half-cent higher than the current rate, with officials saying that 2022’s hardships make any higher burden on residents untenable.
The City Council voted unanimously for the real estate tax rate to be set at no higher than $1.115 per $100 of assessed value, a slight increase from the current $1.11. While the eventual real estate tax rate could be lower than $1.115, it won’t be higher. Additionally, the city won’t increase the tax rate on personal property or business-tangible property.
The WMATA monkey’s paw curls once more, and the planned opening of the Potomac Yard Metro station will coincide with a pair of shutdowns along the Yellow Line.
The first — and long-expected — shutdown will last from Sept. 10 to Oct. 22 as WMATA ties the new Potomac Yard Metro station in with the rest of the system. The shutdown will close all rail service south of Washington National Airport.
There was no proclamation at the March 8 City Council meeting honoring abortion providers, but that one had even been planned in the first place was enough to fill several rows of City Hall with anti-abortion advocates rallying against the canceled proclamation
While the casual viewer of the March 8 agenda might be baffled at the presence of anti-abortion advocates at the meeting, the docket had originally included a proclamation of March 10 as “Abortion Provider Appreciation Day.” Local religious groups were stirred by clergy like Arlington’s Bishop Michael Burbidge, despite the proclamation being pulled from the agenda at the request of Mayor Justin Wilson.
Alexandria kicked off a discussion of the FY 2023 budget with a public hearing last night (Monday), where climate and housing advocates pushed for the city’s budget to do more to address these issues.
There was little feedback from the City Council in the 45-minute session as the floor was mostly turned over to public speakers.
Eighteen Alexandria City Public School students were arrested in the first two quarters of this school year, in addition to 41 reported fights/assaults and 13 seized weapons. The weapons seized include a gun, five knives, a stun gun, two fake weapons, and pepper spray.
That’s according to a School Safety Data report to be presented to the School Board on Thursday. The report reveals 18 arrests within ACPS between August and December, 34 injuries, and also a sexual assault allegation at the Alexandria City High School-Minnie Howard campus in October.
Ewald Park is in notoriously rough shape, but the City of Alexandria is looking for grants to start revitalizing the Duke Street park.
At a City Council meeting scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday), the Council will consider a grant application (Item 14) to the 2022 Land & Water Conservation Fund in an effort to help finance the park revitalization originally approved in 2015.
After nearly two years of dining and shopping in parking spaces outside of local businesses, Alexandria wants to start charging rent.
City Council will review a staff proposal on Tuesday (March 8) to start charging annual rent to business owners for their use of parklets — converted parking spaces that have been used for outdoor dining, fitness classes and retail.
