Angela Woolsey | FFXnow

W&OD Trail temporarily closed in Dunn Loring for electrical project

Published July 8, 2025 at 11:45AM | Updated July 9, 2025 at 9:41AM

Washington & Old Dominion Trail detour for Clark-Idylwood reconductor project phase 2 (via Dominion Energy)

Pedestrians and cyclists who frequent the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail will need to find an alternative route through the Dunn Loring area this week.

The trail closed yesterday (Monday) between Gallows Road in Dunn Loring and Shreve Road in Idylwood to give crews room to install a new electric transmission line as part of Dominion Energy’s Clark-Idylwood reconductor project. The closure will remain in place on Friday (July 11).

Around Town

Shake Shack announces opening date at Reston Town Center

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 8, 2025 at 10:20AM

Burger from Shake Shack (courtesy Shake Shack)

Shake Shack has settled on an opening date for its new restaurant at Reston Town Center.

The chain will start serving its signature burgers and shakes at 11922 Democracy Drive on Wednesday, July 16, Shake Shack communications manager Kate DeMarco says. The initial “wave” of customers to arrive when doors open at 11 a.m. will receive Shake Shack stickers.

News

Fireworks unleashed inside Reston McDonald’s on Fourth of July

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 7, 2025 at 2:50PM | Updated July 7, 2025 at 4:03PM

McDonald's on Roger Bacon Drive in Reston (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Though fireworks are a traditional staple of Independence Day celebrations, they tend to be less welcome even on that occasion when unleashed without warning.

Such was the case last Friday (July 4) at a McDonald’s in Reston. Multiple people reportedly set off fireworks inside the fast-food restaurant, sparking havoc as patrons and employees fled the quickly smoke-filled scene.

News

Police: Drivers killed in wrong-way crash on I-495 near Dunn Loring

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 7, 2025 at 1:15PM

Virginia State Police vehicle (photo by John Calhoun/JC Photography)

The Virginia State Police is investigating a two-vehicle crash in the Capital Beltway (I-495) toll lanes near Dunn Loring that killed two people yesterday (Sunday).

Police and Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department (FCFRD) units responded to the northbound I-495 Express Lanes around 2:34 a.m. south of Leesburg Pike (Route 7) for a “crash with injury [and] vehicle on fire,” according to scanner traffic.

News

A decade after approval, plan for Leesburg Pike hotel treads water

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 7, 2025 at 10:00AM

Rendering from 2015 of the proposed Marriott Residence Inn at 7799 Leesburg Pike in Idylwood (via Gordon & Greenburg Architects/Fairfax County)

Though Marriott is no longer coming, the developer behind Tysons II is keeping its hopes alive for a new hotel on Route 7 (Leesburg Pike).

On behalf of Lerner Enterprises, the law firm Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh has requested a three-year extension of the deadline to start construction on a hotel greenlit by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for 7799 Leesburg Pike in Idylwood in 2015.

News

Cornerstones head plans exit after nearly 25 years at Reston nonprofit

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 7, 2025 at 9:15AM

Cornerstones is based at 11150 Sunset Hills Road in Reston (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The woman who has guided Cornerstones for close to half its lifetime is stepping away.

Kerrie Wilson announced last Wednesday (July 2) that she will retire early next year after serving as the Reston-based nonprofit’s CEO for nearly 25 years.

News

Fairfax nonprofit to launch mobile services, including showers, for homeless people

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 3, 2025 at 11:45AM

Rendering of Pathway Homes' planned Mobile Outreach Unit (courtesy Pathway Homes)

A supportive housing nonprofit based in Fairfax City plans to hit the road with a new mobile unit that will enable it to bring services directly to the people who need them.

Pathway Homes is aiming to launch the Mobile Outreach Unit (MOU) in the fourth quarter of 2025 after securing nearly $300,000 in grant funding for the program, CEO Sylisa Lambert-Woodard announced in a June press release.

News

Temporary Vienna library opening delayed by permitting issues

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 3, 2025 at 9:15AM | Updated July 3, 2025 at 1:45PM

Temporary Vienna library coming soon to Cedar Park Shopping Center (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Vienna residents will have to wait a little longer than expected to check out library books without leaving town.

Previously expected to launch in June, a planned temporary library has encountered permitting delays and now likely won’t open at the Cedar Park Shopping Center until late July, according to Fairfax County Public Library.

News

Smithsonian committed to keeping space shuttle in Chantilly despite relocation proposal

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 3, 2025 at 8:30AM

Space Shuttle Discovery on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum has no intention right now of shipping off a centerpiece of its Chantilly facility to Texas.

The federal budget bill that squeaked through the Republican-led U.S. Senate on Tuesday (July 1) includes a provision directing NASA to transfer the Discovery space shuttle from its longtime home at the Udvar-Hazy Center to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, allocating $85 million toward transportation and construction costs.

News

CoreSite moves to expand Reston data centers, alarming some residents

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 2, 2025 at 3:45PM | Updated February 23, 2026 at 7:58PM

CoreSite's Reston data center campus (staff photo by James Jarvis)

Data center provider CoreSite is powering up the next phase of its planned expansion in Reston.

Fairfax County staff are currently reviewing a site plan for a three-story data center facility that would replace a one-story, vacant office building on the company’s 21.7-acre campus at 12369 Sunrise Valley Drive, just east of Fairfax County Parkway.