Future multi-modal bicyclist and pedestrian improvements along Haycock Road near the Fairfax-Falls Church border may be dependent on obtaining regional grant funding.
At its meeting next Monday (July 14), the Falls Church City Council is expected to formally request up to $15 million from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) in support of the upgrades, which is jointly sought with Fairfax County officials.
A mix of high temperatures, humidity and potentially heavy rain will likely result in a volatile afternoon today (Tuesday) for Fairfax County.
The National Weather Service has issued a Heat Advisory for the D.C. region that will remain in effect until 7 p.m. A Flood Watch is also scheduled to be in place from 2 p.m. until midnight tomorrow (Wednesday).
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).
The median rent of an apartment in two urban areas of Fairfax County is drawing close to $3,000 per month, according to new data.
Should Tysons and Merrifield, including the Mosaic District, reach that figure in the second half of this year, they will join Arlington in the $3,000-per-month club.
ICE Arrests Soar in Virginia — “Arrests in the state by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are up more than 350 percent since 2024, one of the steepest increases in the country … Nearly 3,000 people were arrested by ICE in Virginia in the first five months of 2025, on par with numbers in a much larger state like New York.” Fairfax County has seen “roughly twice as many arrests” as any other county in Virginia, a rate attributed to both practical and political factors. [New York Times]
Miyares Centers Schools in Reelection Campaign — “[Virginia Attorney General Jason] Miyares has revisited the issues of diversity and gender identity in schools in recent months, grabbing the attention of the Trump administration and resulting in two federal investigations. His focus on the way the state’s school systems operate has rankled school officials in Fairfax and Loudoun counties, two of the state’s largest districts.” [Washington Post]
Coffee Shop Opens in Penn Daw — “A taste of the French Quarter has arrived in Fairfax County with the opening this week of PJ’s Coffee‘s first Virginia location at the South Alex development on North Kings Highway. The New Orleans-born coffee brand will open its doors Tuesday (July 8) at 6220 N. Kings Hwy.” [ALXnow]
N. Va. Office Construction Stalled — “There are at least 33 companies scouring the Northern Virginia office market for 50,000 square feet or more, according to CBRE’s second-quarter office report, but their options are severely limited regionwide and there’s literally nothing under construction that would fit their requirements.” There are, however, completed office buildings with available space, including the recently renamed Boro Central in Tysons and Comstock’s Reston Row offices. [Washington Business Journal]
Stabbing Suspect Lived in Storage Unit — “The man charged in the June 10 fatal stabbing of 32-year-old Marvin Waters at a Huntington Metro station bus stop was living in a storage unit in Alexandria, according to the Alexandria Police Department.” Charged with second-degree murder and drug possession, the man “is being held without bond and is scheduled to appear in court on September 3.” [ALXnow]
Metro Station Gets New Escalators — “Brand-new Franconia-Springfield Station escalators are here 41 weeks early … The escalator replacement project is on track to be completed in Spring 2026, two years ahead of schedule.” It’ll be a couple weeks before the escalators see real use, though, with track work suspending train service at the station through July 26. [WMATA/Bluesky]
Falls Church Considers New Parking Requirements — “A work plan from City Manager Wyatt Shields includes a possible rewrite of existing rules for how much parking new development projects must include, plus possible changes to the city’s tree canopy ordinance and towing ordinance.” [ARLnow]
Great Falls Vet Seeks to Add Dog Runs — The Seneca Hill Animal Hospital, Resort, and Spa in Great Falls is looking to add three outdoor dog runs to support the up to 120 dogs that can be housed in the facility at any given time. “The veterinary hospital had been operating an outdoor dog run at its 11415 Georgetown Pike location” until November 2022, when Fairfax County notified it that the amenity wasn’t allowed under the site’s current zoning. [Patch]
It’s Tuesday — Expect showers and thunderstorms after 5pm, with increasing clouds and a high of 93°F. The heat index may reach 103. There’s a 60% chance of rain and a possible quarter to half-inch of rainfall. At night, thunderstorms persist mainly before 8pm, followed by mostly cloudy skies and a low of 73. [NWS]
With the odds in favor of Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw moving on to Congress, the race to replace him on the Board of Supervisors has quietly kicked off.
Ilryong Moon, a veteran of the Fairfax County School Board, intends to pursue the Braddock Supervisor position if Walkinshaw wins election to the U.S. House of Representatives, Moon confirmed to FFXnow.
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.
There are over a dozen venues across Fairfax County to enjoy live music, from spacious town greens to university concert halls and high-rise rooftops.
Here are the nominees for “Best Music Venue in Fairfax” as part of our FFXnow Readers’ Choice Awards. See your favorite place below? If not, write them in!
Voting will close in two weeks. Be sure to cast your vote before 9 a.m. Friday, July 18.
Voting for the Best Sandwich Shop in Fairfax is still taking place. Be sure to cast your vote before voting closes next Friday at 9 a.m.
Two weeks ago, we voted on the Best Barbecue Restaurant in Fairfax. The results are now official:
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.
Damages Awarded in Fatal Oakton Crash Lawsuit — “A Fairfax County jury has written a final chapter to the horrific car crash that killed two Oakton High School students as they walked away from school in June 2022, awarding $2.4 million to the parents of 15-year-old Leeyan Hanjia Yan in a civil suit. The case pinned responsibility on both the unlicensed 18-year-old driver and his father, who gave him a new BMW.” [Washington Post]
Tysons Office Vacancies Still Elevated — “CBRE quarterly office data for the submarket, hot off the presses, indicate a 26% vacancy rate. It’s not the highest among Northern Virginia submarkets — that honor goes to Herndon, at 29.8% — and it’s a tick down from Tysons’ recent high of 27.2% in the third quarter of last year.” CBRE’s rate is higher than the CoStar one (19.7%) used by the Tysons Community Alliance, which points to recent office building acquisitions and increased employee visitations as encouraging trends. [Washington Business Journal]
Youngkin Supports ICE Courthouse Arrests — “Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Wednesday doubled down on the controversial use of courthouse arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, brushing off criticism that some of the individuals detained were simply in court to pay fines for traffic infractions and had no criminal record.” [Virginia Mercury]
County Revisits Mount Vernon Master Plan — “Fairfax County officials and members of an architectural and engineering team met with community members June 24 to discuss preliminary work on the Mount Vernon Master Plan project. The project, which is still in its early visioning and planning phase, aims to shape the future of the Mount Vernon Governmental Center near the corner of Sherwood Hall Lane and Parkers Lane.” [On the MoVe]
Chantilly Consultant Plans Expansion — “Stratos Solutions Inc., an employee-owned professional technical services company supporting the U.S. intelligence community, will invest $1.58 million to expand its headquarters operations into a newly-acquired 5,000-square-foot space at 14840 Conference Center Drive, Chantilly. The project will create 28 jobs.” [Fairfax County Economic Development Authority]
Signage Proposed for Bailey’s Crossroads — “Residents of Bailey’s Crossroads and Seven Corners had an opportunity last week to indicate how they want their communities presented on gateway signage … At a recent meeting of the Crossroads + Corners Coalition, representatives from Ashton Design, the county’s consultants for the project, presented the findings from a public survey” before asking attendees to share their thoughts on proposed concepts. [Annandale Today]
New State Historical Marker Unveiled — “The process took some time, but a new state historical marker was unveiled June 29 at Little Hunting Park Pool and Tennis Club in Bucknell Manor. The sign commemorates the 1969 U.S. Supreme Court case of Sullivan vs. Little Hunting Park, which set the stage for ending segregation at community recreational clubs across the nation.” [On the MoVe]
It’s Monday — Showers and thunderstorms are expected throughout the day, with some storms potentially producing heavy rainfall. The weather will be partly sunny with a high near 89. There is a 70% chance of precipitation. For Monday night, there’s a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms mainly before 7pm, followed by partly cloudy skies and a low around 75. [NWS]
