Angela Woolsey | FFXnow

New funds boost effort to remove invasive plants from Oakton’s Blake Lane Park

Published January 9, 2023 at 11:00AM | Updated January 9, 2023 at 11:49AM

Blake Lane Park (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The Fairfax County Park Authority has some new financial muscle behind its efforts to clear invasive plants from Blake Lane Park in Oakton.

A $20,000 grant from the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation will enable the agency to clear an additional 1.2 acres of land and replant it with native shrubs and trees, the FCPA announced last week.

News

Tractor-trailer catches fire, shutting down Beltway in McLean

By Angela Woolsey

Published January 9, 2023 at 9:30AM

A tractor-trailer crashed and caught fire on I-495 at Georgetown Pike on Jan. 8, 2023 (courtesy Virginia State Police)

A single-vehicle crash involving a tractor-trailer brought the Capital Beltway (I-495) in McLean to a standstill yesterday (Sunday) afternoon.

The tractor-trailer was traveling south on I-495 when it crashed near the Georgetown Pike exit, the Virginia State Police said. The impact of the crash caused the vehicle to catch fire.

Around Town

Annual ‘Polar Plunge’ to boost Special Olympics returns to Mosaic District

By Angela Woolsey

Published January 6, 2023 at 2:15PM

Participants line up for the 2022 Polar Plunge at the Mosaic District (courtesy Sean Wallach/Special Olympics Virginia)

Special Olympics Virginia is ready to make another splash at the Mosaic District.

The nonprofit’s annual Polar Plunge fundraiser will return to the Merrifield community for a fourth year on Saturday, Jan. 14. As in previous years, participants will jump into a pool of icy water to raise money for the organization’s more than 18,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities.

News

McLean group urges county to fund West Falls Church Metro pedestrian upgrades

By Angela Woolsey

Published January 6, 2023 at 10:15AM

Haycock Road bridge over I-66 (via Google Maps)

A proposed shared-use path on Haycock Road over I-66 is among several pedestrian and bicycle projects in the West Falls Church Metro station area that the McLean Citizens Association believes Fairfax County should prioritize for funding.

The organization, which routinely weighs in on issues affecting the greater McLean area, approved a resolution on Wednesday (Jan. 4) endorsing 19 projects recommended by an advisory group that the county convened to study the West Falls Church Transit Station Area’s (TSA) active transportation infrastructure.

News

Police: Bicyclist runs into box truck in Annandale, taken to hospital

By Angela Woolsey

Published January 6, 2023 at 9:30AM | Updated January 7, 2023 at 11:23AM

Fairfax County police car (file photo)

(Updated at 11:25 a.m. on 1/7/2023) A collision involving a box truck and a bicyclist on Columbia Pike in Annandale last night (Thursday) sent the latter to the hospital.

The crash occurred near the John Marr Drive intersection around 6:52 p.m. It was initially reported to Fairfax County’s dispatch center as a large box truck hitting a motorcycle, but that was later corrected to “a box truck versus a bicyclist,” according to scanner traffic.

Countywide

Covid hospitalizations jump over holidays, briefly putting county’s community level at ‘medium’

By Angela Woolsey

Published January 5, 2023 at 3:15PM

All Fairfax Health District COVID-19 cases, as of Jan. 3, 2023 (via VDH)

Fairfax County ended 2022 with a “medium” level of COVID-19 in the community, the first time it reached that level since August.

Continuing an upward trend that began around Thanksgiving, the county is averaging 291 cases per day for the past week, the highest weekly average since Aug. 13, per Virginia Department of Health data.

Around Town

NEW: Paul French Bakery and Cafe coming to Vienna

By Angela Woolsey

Published January 5, 2023 at 2:15PM

Paul French Bakery & Cafe at Tysons Galleria (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

In the future, Vienna residents will no longer have to brave Chain Bridge Road traffic to get a taste of Paul Bakery’s bread and macarons.

The 133-year-old French bakery and cafe is planning to expand right into the heart of the town in Jades Shopping Center, replacing Al Nakheel Lebanese Cafe & Market, which closed last year.

Around Town

Burlington clothing store coming to Springfield Town Center this year

By Angela Woolsey

Published January 5, 2023 at 11:45AM | Updated January 5, 2023 at 12:41PM

Burlington will open a store in the current, temporary H&M space at Springfield Town Center (courtesy PREIT)

(Updated at 12:40 p.m.) Springfield Town Center is gearing up for a big 2023.

Burlington will open a 30,000-square-foot store at the mall this year, property owner PREIT announced today.

News

DEVELOPING: Motorcyclist seriously injured in Seven Corners crash

By Angela Woolsey

Published January 4, 2023 at 5:50PM

Fairfax County police car lights (file photo)

A motorcyclist has been taken to the hospital with serious injuries after crashing on Route 7 in Seven Corners.

The westbound lanes of Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) at Patrick Henry Drive have been closed, as Crash Reconstruction Unit detectives investigate the crash, the Fairfax County Police Department said.

News

Developer requests more density for future townhouses by Tysons-Pimmit library

By Angela Woolsey

Published January 4, 2023 at 1:30PM

Elm Street Communities is seeking more density for a proposed townhouse development at 7600 Leesburg Pike in Pimmit Hills (via Fairfax County)

The brick office complex at 7600 Leesburg Pike is destined to be eventually replaced by housing, but the amount of housing that will be allowed may still be up for negotiation.

Developer Elm Street Communities is seeking to double the residential density currently recommended in the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan for the 442,718-square-foot property adjacent to the Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library.