Posts by Alex Cox — Contributor
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The Army nixes a land swap deal with Arlington County that would expand Arlington Cemetery
Last month, Arlington County announced that the Army had decided to opt out of a planned land exchange that could have given the county a plot of land near the Pentagon, after years of negotiations. Here’s what that means for the future of the site and of development along Columbia Pike. Keep reading…
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Megabus drivers keep crashing on H Street. Why?
Last week, for the second time in less than two months, a Megabus was involved in a crash on H Street NE that shut down the busy thoroughfare for several hours. Is this an H Street problem, or a Megabus problem? Keep reading…
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Arlington needs a new high school. Where should it go?
Arlington County is looking for a location to build a new public high school, and the search is now down to three sites. But if an effort to grant historic status to a complex of buildings near Washington-Lee High School succeeds, the plans might come off the rails. Keep reading…
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Local station maps, customized SmarTrip cards, and markers where trains will stop: great ideas, but not MetroGreater winners
Back in August, we announced that the winning idea of GGWash's MetroGreater competition was to install compass roses at Metro station entrances. A number of other very good suggestions came forward as well, but not all of them could win. Here's our final rundown of ideas that didn't come out on top, and why. Keep reading…
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Did you know that Ballston used to be the last stop on the Orange Line?
Only two stations with side platforms, rather than a single island platform in between the tracks, have ever served as the end station of a Metro line: Dupont Circle and Ballston. Here’s how we think it worked at Ballston. Keep reading…
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There’s no place like… the Ballston Metro station
I love the Ballston Metro station. And that makes sense, given that I’m an unabashed Metro fanatic and Ballston has been my home station since I moved to the region in 1997. It’s a shining example of just how great a neighborhood can become when we build good transit and then use it to anchor retail, commerce, and housing. Keep reading…
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F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald are buried just a block away from the Rockville Metro station
A ride on the Red Line might take you closer to Jazz Age royalty than you’d think. The final resting place of acclaimed author F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda is located in Rockville, just a few blocks away from the Metro station. Keep reading…
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When the Metro first arrived in Shaw and Columbia Heights, they were far different than they are today
During rush hour, northbound Yellow Line trains need to reverse direction at Mount Vernon Square because there isn’t enough capacity for all of them to run to Greenbelt. That’s because when Metro designed the Yellow Line, it was hard to imagine neighborhoods like Shaw and U Street developing as rapidly as they did. Keep reading…
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AskGGWash: Why are Yellow Line trains terminating at U Street?
During rush hour, Yellow Line trains usually run between Huntington and Mount Vernon Square. But beginning in August, I noticed that many went all the way to U Street, two stops north of their usual ending point. The reason is a mechanical malfunction with a track at Mount Vernon Square that lets trains change direction, and the issue highlights just how important that track is to the… Keep reading…
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Arlington has a great new park, and it was easy to build
What if you turned parking space in your neighborhood into the area’s newest park? Staff members from a handful of Arlington County agencies recently did just that, creating a new “pop-up plaza” near Courthouse Plaza. It only took paint, plantings, outdoor furniture, and two days of work. Keep reading…