How Neighborhood Advocacy Has Shaped Our Community
For many years neighbors have joined together to advocate for our neighborhood. Sometimes we hear neighbors today say, “What difference can I make? What I do won’t matter.” You can make a difference! Advocacy is a time honored endeavor that works to effect change.
Our community is what it is today because of the activism of its members in the past. We thank them. Now it’s our turn to get involved, and to weigh in with our views on what will be needed to protect and preserve the quality of our neighborhood along with our home values. We want growth and careful planning: preserving, protecting, maintaining , enhancing and stabilizing our neighborhood has always been our goal. What follows is a list of some of the efforts over the last thirty-five years that have had a positive impact on our community.
1. In the 70’s residents worked hard to change the planned interstate I-595 highway. Countless hours were spent conducting analysis and research. When these efforts didn’t result in change, neighbors and businesses reluctantly joined together in a lawsuit to stop the highway. The proposed elevated highway would have run from the 14th Street bridge to the Airport Connector. At 23rd and Route 1 the elevation would have been nearly 20′ high, and at 20th Street, a 23′ elevation –it was called a roller coaster Chinese wall. A ramp would feed continuous traffic from Crystal City and Route 1 onto 23rd Street Preliminary construction had started when the highway was blocked by a permanent injunction because of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and also the “segmentation” issue. VDOT explained that eventually this highway was planned to extend to the beltway and utilizing “segmentation” was not allowed for interstate highway planning. Following the injunction, the interstate highway funds were transferred to pay for an urban arterial on Route 1. Neighbors recommended some changes in the design, not all were not all adopted but the highway that was built was far better than the elevated highway. Interestingly, Charles E. Smith insisted that the Clark Street overpass be constructed, which is now planned to be demolished for the Crystal City plans. A by-product of I-595 was the elimination of the proposed 15th Street Expressway which would have extended from 15th Street to a cut in Arlington Ridge Road and exiting onto Washington Boulevard.
2. Fort Scott Drive used to intersect with Route 1. Neighbors advocated that Fort Scott Drive end at Eads. Eventually that was accomplished with a pedestrian access sidewalk from Eads to Route 1. This part of Fort Scott Drive was also eliminated from the Arlington County Master Thoroughfare Plan. With Fort Scott Drive severed for that block, plans for the “27th Street Connector” were removed from planning documents. The 27th Street Connector would have originated in Crystal City and connected to Fort Scott Drive; it was to be the vehicular southern exit from Crystal City with all cars from Crystal City exiting up Fort Scott Drive to 23rd Street.
3. Our neighborhood Sludge Incinerator is now closed and sludge is trucked elsewhere. In the 60’s high smokestacks burned sludge, and there was a lot less sludge than now. In the 70’s the incinerator was replaced with a lower stack which was claimed to be more environmental friendly. However, community air pollution experts and skilled neighbors organized and demonstrated otherwise, with the top of the stack “plume” just above the roof tops of houses on Fort Scott Drive. Eventually, the incinerator was removed and our air doubtlessly became a little cleaner. Also, trash was removed to a “trash to energy” facility.
4. In the 70’s parts of 23rd Street were a de facto 3 lane road. If the parking were removed, the street could become 4 lanes. In the 80’s curb extensions or “nubs” were installed to increase the sight distance and shorten pedestrian walking distance. Curbs, gutters, and sidewalks were added to 23rd Street between Kent and Fort Scott Drive. A wide green strip was added between Fort Scott and Arlington Ridge Road. The island at Fort Scott and 23rd was created to narrow the wide intersection. These actions virtually guaranteed that 23rd Street would remain 2 lanes. ARCA’s first neighborhood conservation plan recommended that landscaping and a bus shelter be installed on 23rd Street between Joyce and June Street. A business conservation project complemented this project between Route 1 and Eads.
5. Arlington Ridge Road used to be 4 lanes. Citizens working with the County staff obtained some significant changes — in the 80’s the four lanes were reduced to two. Brick like sidewalks were installed on both sides of the street on upper Ridge Road. On the lower portion, there was then room for sidewalks on both sides of the street and wide planting strips. In the 2000’s Ridge Road was again improved to be more pedestrian friendly with much citizen involvement.
6. In the 80’s Glebe Road was on the Master Thoroughfare Plan to be 6 lanes. Today Glebe Road remains 4 and there are no plans to make it 6.
7. Army Navy Drive was to be 4 lanes. In the 90’s neighbors worked hard to have concrete sidewalks replace the temporary asphalt walks. Green strips, plantings, and lighting were also installed.
8. The green strip around the “Shirley Park” shopping center was installed so that there would be a green transition place between the shopping center, the residential neighborhood and Gunston School grounds. An agreement was made so that store fronts would not “front” on either residential areas or the school.
9. The green strip and park around the Linden Resources and former Nellie Custis School was advocated by neighbors to protect the neighborhood and provide green space. We were concerned the commercial zoning would creep to the back of the property.
10. Finally the Pentagon City tract: Information abounds about this 116 acre tract of land, of which the PenPlace site is a part. As a community we advocated for changes to the proposed plans and some progress was made with positive community benefits as part of the planning for the tract. These benefits included curving roads to keep traffic out of the community, contributing an additional 11 acres to the Virginia Highlands Park, building an apartment for the elderly, a nursing home, and constructing family townhouses. During the County Board hearings, the office space was reduced from 2,000,000 square feet requested to 1,250,000 square feet becayse if the increased traffic congestion, air pollution and noise associated with office use. Recognizing possible future air pollution conditions, the County Board installed an air pollution monitor when the Community Center was later built. Today’s library, fire station, and community center were part of the Phased Development Site Plan for the Pentagon City tract.
In sum, our reasonable and rational advocating has helped make our neighborhood more hospitable and pleasant. Certainly other issues involved advocacy; we can’t include them all in this writing. We want to preserve and enhance our community; you can make a difference!
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