Twelve hours after a pedestrian was struck by a driver in the Landmark neighborhood, a crash between the drivers of a Ford Explorer and a motorcycle left the biker with life-threatening injuries.
The second crash occurred at the intersection of West Braddock Road and High Street near the Rosemont neighborhood.
“There is a heavy police presence at West Braddock Road and High Street,” police said. “This is in response to a two-vehicle crash. One person was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. APD’s Crash Reconstruction Team is investigating the cause of the crash.”
Earlier that day, a 42-year-old woman was seriously injured crossing South Van Dorn Street when she was hit by the driver of a silver Honda CRV.
According to police:
The Alexandria Police Department is investigating a traffic crash that occurred on Monday, October 17, 2022, in the 500 block of South Van Dorn Street.
At approximately 6:36 AM, police responded to the area for a pedestrian struck in the 500 block of South Van Dorn Street. The preliminary investigation suggests a 42-year-old female, was crossing South Van Dorn Street when she was struck by a silver Honda CRV traveling northbound on South Van Dorn Street. The female was transported to the hospital in critical condition with life-threatening injuries.
The driver of the silver SUV remained on the scene.
MOTORCYCLE CRASH WITH CRITICAL INJURY— High St at West Braddock Rd in Alexandria. Ford Explorer vs. motorcycle with the adult male motorcyclist in traumatic cardiac arrest. #VATraffic @AlexandriaNow pic.twitter.com/bAJcySN9s7
— Alan Henney (@alanhenney) October 18, 2022
(Updated 8/17) The Woodbine Rehabilitation and Healthcare facility (2729 King Street) near Ivy Hill Cemetery is seeking permission from the city to build a new three-story addition to the healthcare complex, though the overall number of beds will stay the same.
Woodbine is a nursing home just off King Street in the Rosemont neighborhood. Woodbine Property 1, LLC has filed a request for a Development Special Use Permit to construct a new building that fronts King Street.
“The addition to the nursing home will help to facilitate additional private rooms while maintaining the total number of 307 licensed beds,” the application said. “The Applicant also proposes to increase the number of parking spaces from 143 to 154 to meet the required parking for the nursing home.”
The application said the new building will help Woodbine offer more private rooms, though the total number of beds at the facility won’t increase.
“In summary, the proposed addition will improve the patient experience at Woodbine Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center by reducing the number of quad- and triple-occupancy rooms and increasing the number of private rooms for patients,” the application said.
The project is scheduled to go to the Planning Commission on Thursday, Oct. 6.
Image via Google Maps
Updated at 11:15 p.m. It took nearly five hours for the power to turn back on for thousands of Alexandria residents on a steamy Sunday night (May 22).
Alexandria got hit by a severe thunderstorm at around 6 p.m. At 8:36 p.m., Dominion Energy tweeted that there were more than 25,000 homes still without power in Northern Virginia.
According to Dominion Energy’s Outage Map:
- More than 1,300 residents experienced an outage in the Rosemont area
- There were about 2,600 outages in the Arlandria area
Jesse Thompson lives in a high rise Arlandria, and had no power or water for five hours.
“I’m doing about as well as I can right now,” Thompson said during the outage. “This is really something else.”
After a few rocky years outage-wise, Dominion has recently pledged to invest millions in Alexandria.
City Councilman Kirk McPike tweeted that Dominion Energy’s service “continues to be unacceptable.”
Households across Alexandria are suffering a blackout right now. Dominion’s service to our city continues to be unacceptable. You can report a power outage here: https://t.co/ix1t8rBFex pic.twitter.com/tqTvXDAMAm
— R. Kirk McPike (@KirkMcPike) May 22, 2022
There are over 3,300 @DominionEnergy customers presently experiencing an outage throughout the City.
Report outages at 866-366-4357 or online at https://t.co/P7thQdZmld pic.twitter.com/NTjOwWNcYZ
— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) May 22, 2022
Fairfax Co has 9,284 outages.
Northern Va: 25,461 customer outages.We are in full storm-response with extra @DominionEnergy crews on the job.
We hope to bring service back to most by switching. But replacing downed poles wires will take longer.
Thank you for your patience. https://t.co/MSLfbWHGBw pic.twitter.com/GBt7ca4JKZ— Peggy Fox (@PeggyDomEnergy) May 23, 2022
City staff laid out what’s ahead for some of the city’s stormwater infrastructure projects in a presentation prepared for the City Council’s meeting tonight (Tuesday).
Three large projects to increase sewer capacity are planned in Del Ray, according to the Flood Action Alexandria presentation. Two of the projects — a $34 million undertaking at East Glebe Road and Commonwealth Avenue and a $16 million project at Ashby Street and East Glebe Road — were merged together for planning purposes. The two projects are next to each other in the Four Mile Run watershed.
“This project is expected to increase the capacity, or size, of the stormwater sewer pipes; create opportunities for stormwater to be stored and released slowly over time; and incorporate ‘green infrastructure’ practices, such as permeable pavement, that allow the stormwater to soak into the ground, reducing runoff,” the city website states.
The contract for work in the Four Mile Run watershed is estimated to be awarded sometime this spring, with the project targeted for completion in 2025.
Another, called the Hooff’s Run Culvert/Timber Branch Bypass, is at the southern end of Del Ray. The $60 million project will construct a new stormwater pipe system to transport stormwater away from the Hooff’s Run Culvert, helping manage flows from the Timber Branch watershed, the city website states. The city plans to put out a request for qualifications for that project this spring.
Between fiscal years 2023 and 2032, the city proposes to fund $156 million in large capacity projects, $55 million in maintenance, $44 million in spot improvements and $18 million in water quality projects, according to the presentation.
The presentation lists two spot improvement projects in the design phase and another two in construction phase. Spot improvements are small capital projects meant to address localized flooding and draining issues relating to the city’s storm sewer system.
Cul-de-sac inlets and drainage are being designed for the Mount Vernon Avenue cul-de-sac near Blue Park. At Oakland Terrace in Rosemont, the city is in the design phase to stabilize degrading and eroding banks and protect sanitary sewer line.
The city is also increasing inlet capacity at Hume Avenue in the Potomac Yard area, and not far away at Clifford Avenue, and Fulton and Manning streets. The latter work started at the end of February.
Vernon Miles contributed to this article. Photo via City of Alexandria.
Alexandria Sheriff Dana Lawhorne is fed up and says the city’s stormwater management is a disaster. On Sunday, Lawhorne said he was helping a neighbor in Del Ray pump water out of his basement until 4 a.m.
“It’s the same summer repeated over and over again,” Lawhorne told ALXnow. “I’ve got basement damage and my shed in the back is destroyed. Whenever we get a big storm you’ll see two-to-three feet of water rushing into the back alley and our house gets engulfed with floodwater. It’s not sanitary.”
Sunday’s storm dumped five inches of water on the city in less than an hour. The city’s stormwater system gets overrun after rainfall of about three inches.
Mayor Justin Wilson says city staff are looking into which stormwater projects can get fast-tracked, and that money is not the problem.
“We’re exploring ways to accelerate execution of the plan, but more money is not the most significant need,” Wilson told ALXnow. “I am heartbroken for the residents and businesses impacted by this flooding. No one should have to fear for their safety and financial well-being every time it rains. I wish we could implement all of these projects tomorrow, but unfortunately they take time. These are very significant projects. We are working to accelerate these efforts as quickly as possible, as well as identify other ways to reduce the impact on our residents.”
Lawhorne says that City Manager Mark Jinks is at fault for underfunding flooding projects for years, and that the city keeps reliving the same summer over and over. Last summer, for instance, there were several major storms that resulted in the doubling of the stormwater management fee for residents to tackle backups, most notably in Rosemont, Del Ray and Old Town.
“Why do we tolerate this?” Lawhorne said. “I give the City Manager a D- for his unwillingness to pay attention to this issue prior to 2020, until the stormwater system crumbled and there was the political will to do something. I’m glad they’re making improvements now, but their plan falls short of accomplishing what needs to be done sooner rather than later.”
Lawhorne continued, “We will continue to pay the price for the next 10 years, just as we saw this last weekend. It’s been a year since all that flooding last year and we haven’t moved the needle. Where’s the results? I’m not saying we have to get them overnight, but good grief.”
Council’s approval last year provided hundreds of millions of dollars toward flood mitigation. Additionally, the city plans to spend millions in American Rescue Plan Act funding on the Hoof’s Run Culvert and spot improvements.
City Councilman John Taylor Chapman has also asked staff to look into redirecting ARPA funding, as well as shifting resources to tackle the issue now.
“It’s a shame to see this over and over again,” Chapman said. “I completely understand the frustrations of residents impacted by small, medium and large storms. We need to adjust and take care of this crisis situation.”
Alexandria announced on Aug. 13, the day before the deluge, that it will accept applications for its new Flood Mitigation Pilot Grant Program on Monday, August 30. Property owner can get a 50% reimbursement (up to $5,000) for flood mitigation projects at their homes.
One resident said on NextDoor that she spent more than $16,000 on drainage systems in her yard last year.
“I know I’m not alone in being frustrated by our flooding and infrastructure issues in Alexandria,” the resident said. “The city of Alexandria NEEDS to address and fix our flooding problems now.”
Lawhorne says he gets frustrated when he hears officials call for patience.
“They say that it’s a 100-year storm, and that it’s just Mother Nature,” he said. “The people who say that must live at the top of the hill.”
TES Operations crews have been cleaning up from this weekend's storm. They will work 12-hour, 24/7 shifts this week. This ramped-up status will enable us to respond to any weather events this week (we are monitoring two Tropical Storms) while we continue clean up. pic.twitter.com/1oz35wNX9F
— Alexandria T&ES (@AlexandriaVATES) August 16, 2021
A new billingual Montessori program for pre-school children could open at the First Assembly of God Church (700 W. Braddock Road) in the Rosemont area.
Owner Flor Brea has filed an application with the city to open a program called Matteo Place Montessori Bilingual Preschool. According to the application, the program will teach children ages 2-6. The program is designed to teach up to 60 children with 10 employees.
“At Matteo Place Montessori Bilingual Preschool, our educational model is truly unique,” Brea said on the school website. “We use a blended learning approach — combining Montessori pedagogy with a Creative Curriculum — while teaching our children in English and Spanish to enhance their understanding of the world.”
Matteo Place Montessori Bilingual Preschool will use the First Assembly of God Church space during the week days.
The program is connected to Luca’s Rainbow, a similar program at 6335 Little River Turnpike in Lincolnia.
“Studies have shown that blended learning, used in many classrooms across the country today, can be an engaging and effective teaching approach for students from diverse backgrounds — including English learners and students with learning challenges who benefit from having the material presented in a variety of ways,” the website said.
Via Google Maps
Beyer Wishes Speedy Recovery, Then Refutes Trump Tweet — “We continue to hope that the President is feeling well and will recover swiftly, but it must be pointed out that this is a bunch of nonsense. None of it is true.” [Twitter]
City Offering Free COVID Tests — “In partnership with our friends at @NeighborhoodHth the City will be hosting free COVID-19 testing events every week this month throughout our City.” [Twitter]
DASH Adding Six Electric Buses — “The buses are manufactured by New Flyer of America and Proterra. They are 40 feet in length and rely completely on battery power rather than gasoline.” [Zebra]
Commonwealth Avenue Improvements Proposed — “A portion of Commonwealth Avenue in the Rosemont area is scheduled to be repaved in 2021, and the city is seeking feedback on improvements that could go along with it.” [Patch]
Walk to Bust Breast Cancer Goes Virtual — “This month you may notices some painted angel wings around Alexandria. These wings are part of the National Breast Center Foundation’s new Angel Wing Challenge associated with the annual Walk to Bust Breast Cancer, which looks a little different this year.” [Alexandria Living]
Recreation Centers Providing Childcare for Essential Workers — “There are currently 250 students enrolled in the full-day program at no cost to families. Many of these children have parents who are essential workers.” [Zebra]
Today’s Weather — “Mainly sunny (during the day). High 73F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Clear skies (at night). Low near 55F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.” [Weather.com]
New Job: Marketing Communications Specialist — “To be successful in this position, the Marketing Communications Specialist must demonstrate strong persuasive writing skills, strong digital layout design skills and be an overall expert in digital and social media marketing.” [Indeed]
Alexandria Police are investigating a robbery from a person that occurred in the Del Ray/Rosemont area at around midnight on Tuesday morning, September 8.
According to police, a person was robbed in the area of West Mason Avenue and Russell Road. The area is mostly residential and surrounded by churches.
Alexandria Police did not respond to ALXnow’s questions on the incident.
NOTIFICATION :: The Alexandria Police Department is investigating a robbery from person in the area of West Mason and and Russell Road. Expect police activity in the area.
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) September 8, 2020
Alexandria Police are investigating an assault that put an Alexandria minor with non-life-threatening injuries on June 3 in the Del Ray/Rosemont area.
The incident, which was first reported by the Alexandria Times, occurred at around 10 p.m. in the area of Russell Road and Rosecrest Avenue. The victim was jumped by two suspects while walking home from a friend’s house, according to Alexandria Police spokesman Lt. Courtney Ballantine.
The victim is a member of the T.C. Williams High School varsity baseball team, according to The Times. He was reportedly driven to the hospital by his father.
The suspects did not have weapons and full descriptions of their appearances are not available. Nothing was stolen from the victim and the investigation is ongoing, Ballantine said.
File photo
High School Student Assaulted Walking Home — “The assault occurred near the intersection of Russell Road and Rosecrest Avenue in the Del Ray/Rosemont neighborhood. The victim was a member of the T.C. Williams High School baseball team.” [Alex Times]
Officers Complain of Toxic Work Culture at Alexandria Police Department — “There are employees, including some who resigned after allegedly being subjected to retribution, who blame Chief Michael L. Brown for establishing an environment without discipline or accountability, where misconduct is swept under the rug. They say that under Chief Brown’s leadership, problems have gotten worse, which has fueled retirements and resignations from the department.” [Alex Times]
Vigil for Victims of Police Brutality Tonight in Arlandria — “Let’s join in solidarity with our Black community. Please bring a candle, poster, or other tribute to honor the lives lost at the hands of police. We will gather in the parking lot behind TWU’s building at 3801 Mount Vernon Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22305. For everyone’s safety, please wear a face covering.” [Facebook]
fibrespace Gives May 31 Profits to ‘Innocence Project’ — ‘Thanks to your shopping, we sent almost a thousand dollars today to this incredible organization who is working to exonerate the innocent and reform our broken criminal justice system.” [Facebook]
George Mason Elementary Donates Books to Community Lodgings — “The principal, Mr. O., was so generous to collect the books and spread them around the lawn at Fifer so that families could select books while maintaining a safe distance from one another.” [Facebook]
Virtual Concert Saturday Benefiting Senior Services of Alexandria — “100 percent of your contributions to the Löwball virtual tip jar for our June 6th webcast will go to support SSA Meals on Wheels program.” [Facebook]
Wesley Housing Closes on Affordable Housing Near Huntington Metro — “Located at 2317 Huntington Avenue, The Arden will be a seven-story building at the intersection of Huntington Avenue and Biscayne Drive.” [Zebra]
New Job: Brand and Public Relations Specialist — “The Specialist, Brand and Public Relations is a core member of the SHRM Brand and Communication team with responsibilities to support national TV commercials, brand activations, PR campaigns and earned media to amplify SHRM’s thought leadership and reputation.” [Indeed]
