Alexandria will be looking into new safety improvements for the King Street, Braddock Road, and Quaker Lane intersection after a car overturned last week in a crash.
The city made improvements to the intersection a few years ago — with changes to the traffic signal and improvements to the service road. The city implemented other safety measures to the surrounding area, like reducing the speed limit on Quaker Lane. Despite this, the junction remains congested and, some believe, dangerous.
Amazon Presence on Innovation Campus? — “Virginia Tech leaders and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) executives are working toward a partnership that could give the company’s cloud computing arm a home at the $1 billion innovation campus at Potomac Yard.” [Washington Business Journal]
Underage Drinking Prevention Town Hall — “On Dec. 10, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., at the Charles Houston Recreation Center (901 Wythe St.), the Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition of Alexandria will host a town hall discussion titled, ‘Healthy Youth, Healthy Families: Promoting Alcohol-Free Holidays.'” [Zebra]
The city will likely add gender and transgender identities to protected statuses in Alexandria.
The new ordinance is scheduled for an introduction and first reading at the City Council’s meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) and for public hearing and enactment on Saturday, Dec. 14.
An Alexandria agency that helps locals adapt to a changing job market is itself trying to figure out how to adjust its services to meet the city’s changing marketplace.
Facing the impacts of Amazon’s looming arrival, the Workforce Development Center (WDC) is working to modernize and realign its services to fit with younger demographics.
Less than a month after the initial announcement of bidding for a new municipal fiber network, the city is saying people may have let their expectations run a little too rampant.
The city is hoping to build a broadband network for its facilities, but Craig Fifer, a spokesman for the City of Alexandria, clarified that the side benefit of increased consumer choice in cable, voice and broadband services is still conditional.
With construction back on track for the Potomac Yard Metro station, the city has scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony early next month.
The groundbreaking is set for Tuesday, Dec. 19 from 2-3 p.m at the future northwest entrance, near the Regal Potomac Yard movie theater, which is nearing the end of its run. The theater is not included in the new Potomac Yard plans.
Alexandria Keeps High Bond Rating — “S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service have reaffirmed the City of Alexandria’s top bond ratings of ‘AAA’ and ‘Aaa,’ respectively, in advance of the City’s planned sale of $205 million in general obligation tax-exempt bonds to fund the Potomac Yard Metrorail Station and school facility capital projects.” [City of Alexandria]
More Phone Problems for City — A week after an issue with a fiber optic line knocked out incoming calls for most Alexandria non-emergency phone lines last week, the same issue with incoming calls cropped up yesterday. It was reported to be resolved later Tuesday afternoon. [Twitter/@AlexandriaVAGov]
Alexandria has ranked highly on the 2019 Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Municipal Equality Index of cities, with a 90/100 score, but it also highlighted where there’s room to improve.
Alexandria’s lowest category is in non-discrimination laws, where HRC gave Alexandria 15 of 30 possible points. Of localities in Virginia, Alexandria ranked third behind Richmond and Arlington. Where Alexandria loses is in its protections for gender identity, where there are no protections in employment, housing, or public accommodations from discrimination.
(Updated at 10:55 a.m.) Thanksgiving is just two days away, and much of the city government will be shutting down for the holiday.
On Thursday (Nov. 28), all city facilities and the Torpedo Factory will be closed. DASH bus service will not operate, but the King Street Trolley will still be running. The Vola Lawson Animal Shelter will be closed on Thursday except for its Kongs-giving event to make treat packages for animals in the shelter.
As Eisenhower East continues to grow, the City of Alexandria is hoping for input on how to shape the community as it continues to grow.
City staff is working on an update to the 2003 Eisenhower East Small Area Plan. A lot has changed for the area since 2003, with the National Science Foundation moving in and new developments taking shape. A draft of the update to the Small Area Plan focuses on how to build or maintain affordable housing and open space amid new development in the area.
As the City Council considers approving Alexandria’s e-scooter pilot program for another year, several of the city’s boards and commissions have written letters asking that scooters be prohibited from city sidewalks in one form or another.
A draft recommendation being presented to the City Council tomorrow (Tuesday) includes banning sidewalk riding in Old Town and along Mount Vernon Avenue, which runs through Arlandria and Del Ray.
