If you’re one of the commuters who likes to rush along the twists and turns of Bellview Road, your joyriding days may be numbered.

Bellview Road is a two-lane street running through a neighborhood north of Wolf Trap littered with mansions, but it also has the distinction of being a favored route of various map applications connecting Old Dominion Drive to Leesburg Pike.

“It’s a windy, narrow road and one that deals with a significant amount of cut-through traffic,” said Supervisor John Foust.

A series of traffic calming measures approved at yesterday’s (Tuesday) Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting will add seven new speed humps along Bellview Road and one on Ingleside Avenue, closer to downtown McLean.

As VDOT was planning its restrictions of cut-throughs in McLean, Ingleside Avenue was considered but was ruled ineligible for some of the larger restrictions but was considered qualified for other traffic calming.

In November, the Dranesville District Supervisor confirmed that the local community was in support of the traffic calming measures. Foust said there’s no specific date determined for when the speed humps will be installed, but said they would be installed “as soon as possible.”

Photo via Google Maps

There are plans in the works for nearly every corner of Tysons East, and a distinctive curved glass building called “One Tysons East” is planned for a corner of Route 123 near the McLean Metro station.

“The proposed development of 1690 Old Meadow Road will fill in one of the final remaining pieces of developable property adjacent to the McLean Metro Station,” Fairfax County staff wrote in a report on the project. “The property is completely surrounded by… prior Tysons development approvals.”

To the north, across Route 123, is the sprawling Capital One development that was completed last month. The Scotts Run South development abuts the property on two sides. Working inside the tight confines of this space, the report says the proposed building is “a unique visual feature at a prominent location.”

The applicant, Akridge, proposes a single office tower on the property with ground floor retail accessible to pedestrians. The building designs show that it would be accessible from every frontage. Encouraging bicycle transit is a key part of the development proposal as well, with a bicycle storage room and changing rooms included in the design.

One Tysons East would include 250,000 square feet of office and 12,000 square feet of retail.

The property is currently a two-story brick building constructed in 1977, formerly a GEICO training facility, which will be demolished as part of the construction.

The building has been in the works since at least late 2015, when Akridge acquired the brick building. According to the Fairfax County government website, the development is still under review by county staff.

In a robotics competition featuring 35 schools and 2,500 students from across the state, a team from Vienna’s St. Mark Catholic School walked away with a third place win and $16,000 in scholarships.

According to a press release from the school, eighth-graders Valentina Roza and Frankie Anstett took home a bronze award during the finals for the Cyber Robotics Coding Competition (CRCC), held at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Engineering on Jan. 12. The pair missed second place by only one point, the school said.

The competition features a graphical simulation of a robotics kit, where students use a coding interface to direct the robot to carry out a series of complex tasks and missions.

Two seventh-grade students from the school, Ava Romeo and Finley Tarr, placed 10th in the competition.

All four students were awarded the scholarships, which are applicable only if the students attend VCU.

“We are so proud of our students for shining in this state-wide event,” Darcie Girmus, principal at St. Mark Catholic School, said in the press release. “We feel strongly that by focusing our instruction on critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and teamwork, that they will succeed in any number of challenges across multiple disciplines, including coding.”

Fairfax County is scheduled to make nearly $3.9 million off of the sale of a property in Tysons West to Dominion Energy, in order to turn the vacant plot into an electric substation.

The item was scheduled for consideration at today’s (Tuesday) Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting, but was deferred by Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins without discussion to March 5 at 4 p.m.

The property includes two parcels proffered to the county via rezoning processes. According to the agenda item, the funding raised from the sale will be allocated to public facilities projects in the Tysons area.

The new substation is planned to be constructed just south of Spring Hill Road near Leesburg Pike. The property is west of the Dominion Square development.

According to the staff report:

Because the parcel is not needed for right-of-way purposes, and since the small size of the parcel and its isolation from other public land make it unsuitable for any other public use, the County will serve the greater public benefit by conveying the parcel to Dominion Energy for redevelopment.

Photo via Fairfax County

The fences are up and construction is underway on the site of the former Chili’s in Tysons as Fairfax-based Great American Restaurants prepares for the opening of its latest restaurant later this year.

The new restaurant will occupy a large new building which looks like a cross between a church and a warehouse. It was built on what was once a Chili’s and an On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, before both closed and were torn down.

The manager at another Great American Restaurants location said the new eatery will serve American cuisine. A name hasn’t been selected yet, but the manager said the food would be somewhere between the cuisine of Mike’s American in Springfield and Jackson’s in Reston, two of the company’s other locations.

Great American Restaurants currently operates 10 locations across Fairfax, including Coastal Flats in the Tysons Corner Center mall. Its headquarters are also located in Fairfax, near Merrifield.

On Reddit, several users said the new Tysons restaurant would have a sports bar component. The manager said the location would also contain a bakery, similar to the Best Buns Bread Company in Arlington, and is planning to open in June or July.

Pokéworks, a Hawaiian-inspired poke bowl and burrito eatery, is hosting its grand opening in the Tysons Corner Center mall today.

Today from 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m., visitors who purchase one poke meal can get a second one free.

Pokéworks is a nationwide chain founded in 2015. The Tysons location is run by local entrepreneurs Mark and Annie Chi and David and Viengkeo Tzong. According to a press release:

After noticing the rise of Poke restaurants and the need for more diverse food options in the area, the Chis and Tzongs found the fresh, light and flavorful ingredients at Pokéworks to be unmatched by any other poke restaurant. Eager to expand their business in the Northern Virginia area, these entrepreneurs have recently signed a second Pokéworks location in Chantilly and expect to open summer of 2019.

The restaurant held a soft opening Nov. 12 in the mall’s first-floor food court.

Photo courtesy of Pokéworks

Work is coming along on the latest addition to the growing development around the Spring Hill Metro station.

A project dubbed “Tysons West Phase III” is set to transform the under-utilized lot across from Walmart and create a mixed-use development.

“Tysons West Phase III builds on the success of the Walmart and 24 Hour Fitness [that] anchored Tysons West Phase I and provides an interim development of in-line retail buildings organized around surface parking,” construction contractor L.F. Jennings said in a press release. “These retail buildings will provide dining and service retail options that take advantage of the vehicular hub nature of the location as well as proximity to the metro station, local residents, and nearby offices.”

The development will contain four single-story buildings, with a combined 22,800 square feet of retail space.

Construction on the project started last July and is scheduled to be completed in the spring.

Plans from developer JBG Smith show Dunkin’ Donuts, Smoothie King, Jersey Mike’s and COX listed among the new retailers coming to the development.

Future Tysons West development is planned north of the site, and some of the car dealerships to the south are on sale with plans to be redeveloped as mixed-use buildings.

Fatal Pedestrian Crash on Route 50 — “Officers responded to the report of a hit-and-run crash involving a pedestrian on Arlington Boulevard near Summerfield Road, at approximately six [Friday] night. The pedestrian was crossing Arlington Boulevard, not in a crosswalk, and was hit by a dark colored mid to full-size pickup truck with an open bed. The truck did not stop and drove away from the scene. The pedestrian, 93-year-old Pericles Apostolou, from Falls Church, was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.” [FCPD]

Road Closed Due to Downed Trees — Amid high winds and power outages, Spring Hill Road in McLean was closed for an extended period of time Sunday due to downed trees and wires. [Twitter]

Tegna Auctioning Office Fixtures — Broadcast conglomerate Tegna is moving from its current Tysons home to the Boro development. As part of the move, it’s auctioning off furniture, TVs and other items of value from around the office. Bids close Thursday. [Washington Business Journal, Rasmus Auctions]

Local Hackers Gather in McLean — “All day Monday, the NoVa Hackers held their SchmooCon Epilogue in McLean… Over 150 members attended topical lectures, competed in MetaCTF challenges, and participated in discussions about cyber and information security between insider groups.” [WDVM]

Virginia State Police say an altercation between drivers resulted in a gunshot just south of Tysons.

The incident was reported to have taken place on I-66 at the Route 7 exit ramp, near Pimmit Hills at around 1:38 p.m. this afternoon (Friday).

According to police:

When troopers arrived on scene, they found a Toyota Highlander stopped on the shoulder with a bullet hole in the front, driver’s side, quarter panel near the headlight. No bullet was recovered.

The Toyota’s adult male driver said that a black Audi sedan with tinted windows cut him off on Interstate 66 as they were both headed east and merging from three to two lanes.. The Toyota’s driver sounded his horn in response, at which point the driver of the Audi “brake checked” him. Then the Audi pulled up alongside the Toyota and the driver displayed a handgun and fired a single round at the Toyota.

The driver of the Toyota was not injured and was not able to provide a valid tag number of the suspect vehicle.

Anyone who may have witnessed this incident or has information related to it is encouraged to call the Virginia State Police at 703-803-0026 or by cell at #77. The investigation remains ongoing.

Space in the Kingston, one of the newest residential buildings in the growing Tysons East, is disappearing quickly.

Tysons has a residence deficiency, with roughly 100,000 jobs but only 19,000 residents. But the demand is there, with the 319-unit Kingston filling up faster than predicted in the project’s initial lease-up timeline. Currently, 44 percent of the building is leased.

A residential unit in Tysons isn’t cheap either. There are 64 workforce dwelling units on the site, housing required by the county to be set aside as affordable, but the market rate rents start at $2,000 per month for a studio apartment. Two bedroom units cost $3,200 per month and three bedroom units lease for approximately $5,200 per month.

A press release for the apartment community highlighted the “high-end events” regularly hosted by the property management.