Wednesday, January 30, 2008

pothole on Arlington Blvd sidestreet



Cyclists on Arlington Blvd (not Route 50, the parallel street) in Rosslyn, just past the N. Rhodes St. bridge over Route 50, should beware of the above pothole. I've reported it on Arlington County's handy online Residential Maintenance Report Form.

Report potholes and support your environment-helping, traffic-reducing, heroic neighbors who Bike to Work.

Monday, January 28, 2008

dangling telephone wire on 12'th St.



A telephone wire has been hanging down into the street for several weeks on 12'th St. N. near the corner of 12'th St. N and Ft. Myer Dr. The Verizon website doesn't seem to provide for reporting a public telephone wire problem. Neither does the Arlington County website. I've notified Arlington County through a general email address.

Until this dangling wire is fixed, be careful when cycling and running on the street in that area.

Update: Fixed about 7/17/08.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

response from Arlington on bike paths in winter

I received a response from an Arlington official regarding my post on snow and ice on bike trails:

Thank you for writing in regard to snow and ice on trails. When it first snows most of the County resources are directed to clearing streets and sidewalks of snow, ice and downed trees. We focus first near high priority areas such as safe routs to schools, Public facilities and Metro rail access paths.

There are sections of the trail system that are cleared during snow events that correspond to the areas mentioned above. The BicycleAdvisory Committee is also helping to identify new areas that may be problematic. Due to limited resources, we rely primarily on melting to clear the majority of trails. Limited clearing occurs in problematic areas. Freeze - Thaw situations can cover the trails again. We constantly remind patrons to use extreme caution when using trails. We discourage bicycle traffic during those times.

Fortunately, the snow and ice usually only remain a few days. Most years, the majority of the trails are clear for more than 48 weeks. Snow covers streets and sidewalks about 2 weeks during the course of a year. Keep in mind that the trails are multi-use trails. Cross country skiers may also utilize these areas during snow events.

We certainly appreciate any information you want to share about areas that are not cleared by warmer weather in a few days. I understand that areas in shade take longer to clear. Staff may be able to treat those areas. Your information will help us plan where to treat in the future.

If I can provide further information, please contact me again.

Kevin Stalica
Park Service Area Manager
Office 703/228-7743
Fax 703/228-6507

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Dr. Dremo's closing on Jan. 27


Dr. Dremo's, a storied Arlington hang-out joint on Clarendon Boulevard, is closing on January 27, 2008. The property, along with that of the Taco Bell next door, will become a 141-unit apartment complex with ground-level retail shops.

Dr. Dremo's is a grungy, warehouse-style brew pub located in a building that formerly housed a car showroom and dealership. In the summer, you could find some highly competitive blow pong on the patio bar. Some pool tables are inside. A separate room from the inside bar has a stage. This is a good arrangement, because then if the band is crap, everyone there isn't forced to listen to it. But they have had some excellent bands, and I remember some good Halloween parties. Every Wednesday night, Dr. Dremo's hosts open mic comedy. In short, Dr. Dremo's has been a pillar of the Arlington community. Quite sad to see it close.

Bardo Rodeo preceded Dr. Dremo's at this location. Bardo Rodeo operated at a bigger scale and drew larger, more up-market crowds. The ground-floor level showroom displayed the brewing equipment and steel vats, had fantastic graffiti on the walls, and a huge television showing free movies in the main downstairs seating area. When I took a video production class at Fairfax Public Access, I shot a Kafka-inspired short video there. Alas, that was in the primitive past before Youtube, and the video has been lost.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

new convenience store opens by Jan. 14

A new, independently owned convenience story will open at 1210 Ft. Myer Drive by January 14. It replaces the 7-11 that was previously there.

Update 1/16: The store, called the Fort Myer Market, is not yet open. But it looks ready to open any day now.

Update 2: The hours of Fort Myer Market are 6am to 12pm, Monday through Saturday, and 7am to 12pm on Sunday.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

New Year's Day cycling around Hains Point

Roughly 50 happy cyclists celebrated the beginning of a new year with some laps around Hains Point. Local clubs represented included the Potomac Pedalers, DC Velo, NCVC, Squadra Coppi, Artemis, Snow Valley, Rockville Harley Davidson, perhaps a few others, and the DC area's most distinguished cycling team, Lanterne Rouge. If you weren't there, you missed some glorious winter cycling in beautiful Washington, D.C.