An upcoming meeting at the end of October will provide an update to locals about work to repair two flood-damaged roads in McLean.
The 1300 block of Kirby Road and Swinks Mill Road by Scott’s Run closed due to severe storm damage from flash flooding in July.
Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust will host the meeting with county staff and representatives from the Virginia Department of Transporation (VDOT) on Thursday, Oct. 24.
“This meeting will still provide residents with the opportunity to learn more and speak directly with VDOT and county staff regarding specific questions,” Foust said in an email to constituents.
VDOT expects Kirby Road to reopen in mid-December. While VDOT has said it planned to have work on Swinks Mill Road done by the end of September, Foust said in an email to constituents that it is now slated to finish in early October.
The meeting is set to take place at 7 p.m. at Chesterbrook Elementary School (1753 Kirby Road).
Attendees will have the chance to ask officials questions about the progress of the repairs.
Photo courtesy VDOT
Updated at 10:30 a.m. — Police tweeted at 10:20 a.m. that all lanes on Old Dominion Drive are open. A police spokesperson told Tysons Reporter that no injuries were reported.
Earlier: A fallen tree that struck a truck has caused a partial closure of Old Dominion Drive in McLean this morning (Thursday).
Fairfax County police tweeted about the closure around 9:30 a.m. Old Dominion Drive is down to one lane between Kirby and Birch roads, according to the tweet.
Police are on scene directing traffic.
TRAFFIC ALERT: Old Dominion Dr between Kirby Rd and Birch Rd is down to one lane due to a tree that fell on a truck. Officers are on scene to direct traffic, please use caution. #FCPD pic.twitter.com/ODmDQKJbMU
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) October 3, 2019
Map via Google Maps
Two new baddpizza locations are slated to open in the next few months in the Tysons area.
One location will be in McLean at 6263 Old Dominion Drive, while the other one will come to Falls Church at 346 W. Broad Street.
Though the exact opening dates have not been announced yet, owner Joel Salamone said that the Falls Church location is expected to open in late November, followed by the Mclean location in either late December or early 2020.
Baddpizza is known for its “deliciously badd” chicken wings and pizza, according to its website. The chain also offers sandwiches and salads.
Diners can expect the menu to stay consistent between locations, Salamone said. “Our goal is to expand the number of locations in this area rather quickly, so we are focused on keeping things manageable for consistency’s sake.”
Salamone said he plans to host grand opening parties for both of the locations and that finalized dates will be announced within the next month.
Work has kicked off to replace a bridge connecting a McLean neighborhood to Lewinsville Park.
The former wooden bridge connected the Lewinsville Heights neighborhood to the park’s community garden.
Fairfax County Park Authority contractor Accubid Construction Services is replacing the old bridge with a new fiberglass one that will be longer by 30 feet and wider by 8 feet.
Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust told Tysons Reporter that the new bridge will be a “dramatic improvement in terms of accessibility.”
Construction began last week and is expected to finish up within two weeks, according to Fairfax County.
Until the new bridge is finished, a sign at the construction site encourages park visitors to find an alternative route like Nathanial Lane and Chain Bridge Road.
“Please respect the closure,” the sign says. “The bridge may be up and look ready for use, but the concrete will need time to set.”
The McLean Medical Building may soon become the future site of a Sunrise Senior Living Facility.
Sunrise identified a need for more assisted living facilities in McLean — an area known for being disproportionately elderly. This is Sunrise’s second attempt in recent years to bring a senior living facility to McLean.
The site currently at 1515 Chain Bridge Road is home to a medical office building from 1964 with substantial surface parking. (In the spring, a historical link was uncovered tying the building to the doctor behind the first polio vaccine.)
While the McLean Medical Building is not listed on any official historical register, county staff have requested that Sunrise have an architectural historian conduct a study.
The proposed facility would have 140 beds and 40 employees at peak times. Most of the parking would be underground. The proposal would also have a public garden and open space for private use by the residents.
The McLean Citizens Association decided to support Sunrise’s proposed facility in September.
“Rob [Jackson, the chair of the Planning and Zoning Committee,] mentioned that — some time ago — the MCA had opposed a Sunrise Senior Living facility proposed at the intersection of Westmoreland Street and Kirby Road for being incompatible with the neighborhood,” according to the notes for the MCA meeting.
In 2017, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors nixed Sunrise’s plans to open a 90-bed official facility at 1988 Kirby Road, with county officials saying at the time that the proposal would overwhelm the surrounding residential area and worsen traffic, Inside NoVa reported.
The new site seems favorable to county staff.
“The assisted living facility will serve as a transitional use between the residential development in the north and west and the commercial development to the east,” the staff report said.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended approval of the senior living facility at the new spot in September.
A sign at the site indicates that the project goes to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Oct. 15
Image via Fairfax County
Two people have been taken to the hospital after a crash on Westmoreland Street in McLean this evening (Tuesday).
Police responded to the call around 5:15 p.m. for a head-on collision involving two vehicles on Westmoreland Street by Old Chesterbrook Road, spokesman Sgt. James Curry told Tysons Reporter.
Two people have non-life threatening injuries and have been taken the hospital, Curry said.
Westmoreland Street is temporarily shut down and tow trucks are in route, Curry said around 5:30 p.m.
Map via Google Maps
Tysons Reporter is back with its new monthly crime map showing where the incidents occurred in Fairfax County Police Department’s McLean District Station.
We went ahead and pulled together all of the incidents noted for the McLean District Station in FCPD crime recaps from Sept. 1-30, weeded out the ones that are not in the Tysons Reporter coverage area and plotted them in the interactive map above.
The McLean District Station covers crime in Merrifield, Dunn Loring, Falls Church, McLean, Tysons and Great Falls.
The map only includes information from FCPD and does not include reports to the police departments in the Town of Vienna or the City of Falls Church.
Use the icon in the top left corner of the map to toggle between the various types of crimes displayed.
Fairfax County’s weekday police recaps are not comprehensive lists of every incident and the addresses are approximate. FCPD also notes that information in the recaps “is generally based on initial reports made to the police department.”
Anyone with information about any of these crimes should call 703-691-2131 or 1-866-411-TIPS(8477).
The Weekly Planner is a roundup of interesting events coming up over the next week in the Tysons area.
We’ve scoured the web for events of note in Tysons, Vienna, Merrifield, McLean and Falls Church. Know of any we’ve missed? Tell us!
Monday (Sept. 30)
- Mr. Brown’s Park Dedication — 6-7 p.m. at former Downtown Park (100 block of W. Broad Street) — This event celebrates the transition from Downtown Park to Mr. Brown’s Park, which will now be named after the oldest business in the City of Falls Church. Local officials will be on-site commemorating the renaming.
Thursday (Oct. 3)
- Tysons Reporter Happy Hour — 5-7 p.m. at the Tysons Biergarten (8346 Leesburg Pike) — Celebrate Tysons Reporter’s first anniversary. Community members will have the chance to grab a drink or a slice of cake with the journalists behind the site. The first 50 attendees will receive a free drink. Rumor has it that there will also be free swag.
Friday (Oct. 4)
- Vienna Oktoberfest — 11 a.m.-7 p.m. at Historic Church Street (131 Church Street NE) — This 12th annual event offers visitors a variety of vendors, live music acts, food, kids activities and alcoholic beverages. It is free.
- WellieWishers™ Friendship Tea Party — 2-4 p.m. at American Girl Store (8090 Tysons Corner) — Kids 5 and up are welcome to gather for an afternoon of dining, crafts and a cupcake-decorating. Tickets are $13.50 per person.
- Block Party — 3-7 p.m. at Capital One Center (1640 Capital One Drive) — Capital One is hosting a block party with City Works Eatery and Pour House to celebrate the new mixed-use development space. There will be live music, games, food and drinks available. Admission is free and includes a free drink. There will be over 90 beers on tap.
Saturday (Oct. 5)
- Ribbon Cutting for Synthetic Turf Field — 10 a.m. at Larry Graves Park (300 Hillwood Avenue) — This event celebrates the grand opening of a field in Larry Graves Park that includes striping for several different sports. All are welcome to attend this free event.
- Moon Festival – Tet Trung Thu — noon-5 p.m. at Eden Center (6761 Wilson Blvd) — This Vietnamese festival invites the community to gather for an afternoon of colorful lantern displays, music, cultural performances and food. It is free and all ages are welcome to attend.
Sunday (Oct. 6)
- MPAartfest –10 a.m.-5 p.m. at McLean Central Park (1468 Dolley Madison Blvd) — This free event invites community members to check out pop-up art galleries, hands-on exhibits, food vendors and live music.
- Tysons Singles Seated Speed Dating — 7-9 p.m. at Tysons Biergarten (8346 Leesburg Pike) — Singles in the area are invited for an evening of mingling at the Tysons Biergarten. Event organizers request that attendees arrive before 7 p.m. for check-in. Tickets start at $15.
Image via Facebook/Eden Center
A clothing boutique named Smith’s of Bermuda seems to have closed up shop in McLean.
The clothing boutique’s spot at 6651 Old Dominion Drive is next to Balducci’s Food Lover’s Market. While the sign is still at the location, the shop’s interior was mostly empty.
The woman at the home goods store on the other side of Smith’s of Bermuda said that today (Monday) was the store’s last day. The woman wasn’t sure how long Smith’s of Bermuda has been open, but did say that it has been there for at least 20 years.
Washingtonian included Smith’s of Bermuda in a round-up of shops for McLean and Vienna in 2009. “Ladies can find good daywear at this McLean boutique, which pairs classic staples with trendy accents,” Washingtonian reported.
Metro ridership might be plummeting overall, but ridership in the Tysons area is continuing to increase.
All four stations in the Tysons area saw increased ridership in the spring of 2019 as compared to the year before, continuing an upward trend this year.
The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission’s new stats compared ridership in April, May and June of 2019 with the same period in 2018.
Ridership at the McLean Metro station by the new Capital One headquarters has continued to spike. Out of the four, the McLean station saw the largest increase in ridership during the three-month period, rising 25% over the last year.
On the other side of Tysons, the Greensboro Metro station spiked to 18%.
Meanwhile, ridership at the Spring Hill station increased 7% and Tysons Corner station increased 5%.
“Ridership at the McLean station has now gone up dramatically for three quarters in a row: first by 18.6%, then 20.6% and now 25%,” Tysons Partnership tweeted, thanking Capital One and The MITRE Corporation.
As for Greensboro, the partnership pointed to Meridian Group’s The Boro development.
“Ridership at the Greensboro station has now gone up dramatically for two quarters in a row: first by 18.4% and now by 18%,” Tysons Partnership tweeted.
Graph via Tysons Partnership/Twitter
