Firefighters at Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Station 25 shared a cheeky message welcoming the new bridge at the Washington and Old Dominion Trail.
“We Wiehle like this new bridge,” said a note on the message sign outside the fire station.
Construction on the 147-foot-long bridge started in March 2023 and the new pedestrian bridge was installed this weekend over Wiehle Avenue. The new bridge replaced an at-grade crossing over the street.
While the bridge is now in place, it isn’t scheduled to open for use until mid-June.
Photo via Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department/Facebook
A new pedestrian bridge is slated for installation this weekend over Wiehle Avenue at the Washington & Old Dominion Trail, according to the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services.
The installation will prompt the closure of Wiehle Avenue from midnight to 5 a.m. this Saturday (April 13).
The bridge replaces an at-grade crossing at the trail over Wiehle Avenue. Traffic will be detoured to Sunset Hills Road, Reston Parkway and Baron Cameron Avenue.
“The bridge will make it safer for walkers, bikers and drivers moving through this area,” Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn wrote in an email to constituents.
The project kicked off with a groundbreaking in March 2023. The bridge will be delivered in several sections and assembled in the parking lot along the north side of the existing business facilities. Assembly began in early April.
Here’s a breakdown of the planned detours:
Road Closure Hours: 12:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m., Saturday April 13, 2024. Weather backup: 12:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m., Sunday April 14, 2024.
A transportation management plan will be implemented for the total closure of Wiehle Avenue traffic during the bridge installation. Click here to see the Transportation Management Plan.
Police control will be provided at the intersection of Sunset Hills Road and Wiehle Avenue as well as at the intersection of Roger Bacon Drive and Wiehle Avenue.
Traffic from Wiehle Avenue will be detoured to Sunset Hills Road, Reston Parkway and Baron Cameron Avenue.
All necessary traffic control signs for the detour will be installed prior to the road closure.
Appropriate signs will be installed for the closure of the sidewalk along Wiehle Avenue within the work area.
• The crosswalk and curb ramps at the intersection Sunset Hills Road and Wiehle Avenue will be kept open.
Vida Fitness is expected to open its flagship facility in Reston in early May, a company spokesperson tells FFXnow.
The facility is slated to open at Reston Row, the newest district that is part of Comstock’s Reston Station development at the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station.
The 50,000-square-foot Reston facility spans three levels of an office tower at 1845 Reston Row Plaza.
Vida’s gym will include a day spa, a rooftop swimming pool and lounge, a full lobby bar and cafe, hair salon, sauna rooms, locker rooms, facilties for oxygen treatment and recovery strength, and more.
Membership deals for residents within a 10-mile radius are currently being offered through the studio’s website.
The company has six other locations in the D.C. area, though the only other one in Virginia is in Ballston.
Currently under construction, Reston Row will also include a JW Marriott hotel that’s projected to open late this year.
(Updated at 2:20 p.m.) Fairfax County is beginning talks for a pedestrian crossing at a dangerous intersection of Wiehle Avenue at the Dulles Toll Road ramps in Reston.
As part of its plan to redevelop the Campus Commons office complex, developer TF Cornerstones has agreed to give the county $1.65 million to build an alternative crossing for the area after a study group failed to reach consensus on a preferred alternative for the site in 2021.
But before an alternative option is chosen, the county will kick off a Wiehle Avenue corridor study that will evaluate Wiehle Avenue between Sunrise Valley Drive and the Washington & Old Dominion Trail.
An in-person meeting on the study is slated for Monday, Nov. 13 from 5:30-9 p.m. in the Langston Hughes Middle School cafeteria (11401 Ridge Heights Road).
Resounding community concerns about safety at the proposed at-grade crossing prompted the formation of a study group in 2020 that evaluated three proposed options for the site.
But virtually all members voted against the three options proposed by TF Cornerstones. Instead, 71% supported a crossing with an underpass — which comes with a hefty price tag — and 59% supported an enhanced at-grade pedestrian crosswalk with more multimodal improvements.
So far, the Board of Supervisors has emphasized the need for a high-visibility, at-grade crossing in the area — and one that is considered “aesthetically pleasing,” said Freddy Serrano, a spokesperson for the Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT).
A timeline for the implementation of the Campus Commons crossing has not yet been determined. Under its development conditions, TF Cornerstones doesn’t need to give the money to the county until it receives its first occupancy permit for Building C, a 27-story multi-family residential building, according to FCDOT.
“There has been no movement on this project so that timeline is unknown,” Serrano said.
Ultimately, the outcome will depend on the Wiehle Avenue corridor study.
With the study, county transportation officials will incorporate ideas from the public and work with consultant Fehr & Peers to develop three concepts to test in 2030 for the overall corridor. The models will help determine how potential changes will affect traffic operations, accessibility and pedestrian safety.
“We will take these concepts and the resulting future analysis back to the public early next year and will solicit their feedback to arrive at a preferred concept for Wiehle Avenue,” Serrano said.
TF Cornerstone plans to build two buildings with 655 apartments, more than 520,000 square feet of office space and a little over 28,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. A 24-story tower and two small towers are proposed.
Image via Google Maps
Updated at 8:40 p.m. on 11/8/2023 — The community workshop has been relocated to the cafeteria of Langston Hughes Middle School (11401 Ridge Heights Road).
Earlier: Fairfax County is formally launching a new study on how to shift Wiehle Avenue from a car-dominated, suburban road to a multimodal, urban street.
The Wiehle Avenue study kicks off with an in-person community workshop on Nov. 13.
After diving into the background and purpose of the study, the county will open the floor for attendees to brainstorm ideas on how to improve the road between Sunrise Valley Drive and the Washington & Old Dominion Trail in Reston.
The ideas proposed by the community will later be refined into three concepts “to test in future (year 2030) scenarios” by the Fairfax County Department of Transporation and its consultant, Fehr & Peers, FCDOT spokesperson Freddy Serrano says.
“[The scenarios] will give us an overview of how potential changes may affect traffic operations and accessibility and comfort for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users,” Serrano told FFXnow. “We will take these concepts and the resulting future analysis back to the public early next year and will solicit their feedback to arrive at a preferred concept for Wiehle Avenue.”
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors initiated the Wiehle Avenue study as a follow-on motion after approving TF Cornerstone’s Campus Commons redevelopment plan in 2019.
The project prompted vigorous debate on the safety of a proposed pedestrian crossing at the intersection Dulles Toll Road ramps and Wiehle Avenue. An alternative is being explored after the developer offered $1.65 million instead of developing a solution.
The county previously convened a study group to evaluate options for that crossing, but the group didn’t support any of the developer’s proposals.
FCDOT says this new study will take a broader look at the corridor and how it may have been affected by the opening of Metro’s Silver Line extension last year.
“This effort is expected to identify new and improved bicycle/pedestrian facilities and intersection treatments, as well as evaluate the potential reconfiguration of vehicular lanes and/or widths for current and future land use scenarios,” the department said in a news release.
The community meeting takes place from 5:30-9 p.m. in the second floor conference room of 1900 Reston Metro Plaza. A light dinner will be provided. RSVPs are encouraged through an online feedback form.
A new concept for Ebbitt House — a suburban remodel of the District’s Old Ebbitt Grill — and changes in Reston Row — a mixed-use neighborhood near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station — are officially moving forward.
At a meeting last Tuesday (Sept. 12), the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved changes to the project.
Comstock, the developer behind the project, sought to reallocate 280,000 square feet of unbuilt but previously approved office space from its Reston Station neighborhood to Reston Row, increasing the height and number of residential units in a building in Reston Row. Comstock also removed above-grade parking and a private, elevated sport court.
The revised plan includes a new outdoor private dining area outside Ebbitt House, a spin-off of Old Ebbitt Grill and the leading brand of Clyde’s Restaurant Group.
Jeff Owens, chief financial officer for Clyde’s Restaurant Group, said the use of the Old Ebbitt Grill brand was a big move for the company. Clyde’s of Reston closed in Reston Town Center roughly one year ago.
“We’re really anxious kind of get back to Fairfax County again and we wanted to do in a big way,” Owens said.
Jill Parks, an attorney with Hunton Andrews Kirth, said Comstock also reworked the location of some parks and overall landscaping.
The issue of park space drew concern at a Fairfax County Planning Commission meeting in June. Although the commission ultimately recommended approval of the application, members said they worried it doesn’t meet urban parks standards.
Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said the county is in the midst of discussions on how best to calculate the amount of park space required in applications.
“We’re literally moving 280,000 square feet of approved [space], 175 units from here to there,” Parks said, describing the simplicity of the proposed changes.
She said Reston Station and Reston Row represent “two of the most significant mixed-use developments in Reston, resulting in the creation of a dynamic, one-of-a-kind transit-oriented neighborhood.”
At the meeting, Reston Association board president John Farrell restated the board’s concerns about Comstock using amenities managed and owned by RA, like Lake Thoreau, for marketing its residential projects. Farrell also urged the developer to join RA — a move that Parks said Comstock was uninterested in.
Parks noted that Comstock provided $650,000 to Reston Association as part of its development proposals.
Changes to Comstock’s Reston Row neighborhood are moving forward despite concerns about the proposed shift of a public park space into private outdoor dining space for Ebbitt House, an upcoming restaurant.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended on June 28 that the Board of Supervisors approve changes to the project near the Wiehle-Reston Easton Metro station.
Comstock is seeking the county’s permission to reallocate 280,000 square feet of unbuilt but previously approved office space from Reston Station to Reston Row. Specifically, the developer wants to increase the building height of a residential building from 180 feet to 350 feet and from 250 to 350 units.
Other changed elements include increased retail square footage, an elevated sport court, and a shift from two separate garages to a single underground parking garage.
Staff recommended approval of the application even though the project doesn’t fully satisfy the county’s urban parks standards for the area. The total density between the two projects — Reston Row and Reston Station — remains unchanged.
Mary Ann Tsai of the county’s Department of Planning and Development said the decison to approve the application was a “very hard” one.
Even though the application doesn’t meet the urban parks standards, the current plan is an improvement over the previous approval, especially when it comes to additional greenscapes for a corner park at the intersection of Sunset Hills Road and Wiehle Avenue, Tsai said.
“We look at the whole context of the recommendations,” she said, calling staff’s support a “soft” decision.
The outdoor dining area would extend outside Ebbitt House, a spin-off of D.C.’s Old Ebbitt Grill and the leading brand of Clyde’s Restaurant Group.
Jill Parks, an attorney with Hunton Andrews Kurth representing the applicant, said the outdoor dining space is a major placemaking feature of the development instead of a “strip of green.”
“It is more welcoming, it is an amenity and it is a feature to this neighborhood,” Parker said, adding that the applicant “scrubbed every single foot of this project” to improve the urban parks.
Providence District Commissioner Phil Niedzielski-Eichner said Comstock’s significant investment in the project warrants a closer look at the issue.
“The Ebbitt is a significant addition to the development,” Eichner said. “It has a region-wide standing. If the terms of being able to secure them meant there be an outdoors type of arrangement, I can see the logic of that.”
Hunter Mill District Supervisor John Carter concurred that he “actually like[s] the dining space here. This is something for the future.”
Clyde’s Restaurant Group COO Kevin Keller said the outdoor dining space will be a significant amenity for the company’s guests.
“It brings that energy outside and really connects the community,” Keller said.
Overall, the development plan won the approval of the commission. Carter noted that the plan was a hallmark of placemaking that Reston’s transit station areas need.
“Our stations are underperforming. It’s not because of the density. It’s because people can’t get there,” Carter said.
Randall Farran, the Fairfax County Planning Authority’s park planning branch manager, emphasized that failing to meet the urban park standards was seen as a “deficiency,” particularly because supplemental features — like areas fronting buildings — were used to try to meet the 1.2-acre urban park space standard for the development.
“We didn’t feel like it was an equivalent replacement,” Farran said.
Braddock District Commissioner Mary Ann Cortina wasn’t satisfied with the developer’s approach to urban park spaces — even though she understood the need for the private outdoor dining area.
“It does make it difficult to continue to provide what the comprehensive plan expects,” Cortina said, adding that future applicants may argue that the appeal of private amenity space precludes meeting urban spark standards.
The application will go to the Board of Supervisors for a public hearing on July 25.
(Updated at 3:55 p.m.) A shooting in a parking lot near Isaac Newtown Square and Wiehle Avenue in Reston left one individual hospitalized with life-threatening injures last night (Tuesday).
Police believe the individual was shot in an act that does not appear to be random, authorities wrote in a social media post.
“The victim remains hospitalized and there are no apparent threats to the community,” police said.
Though it wasn’t publicized until nearly 2 a.m. today, officers were called to the 1900 block of Isaac Newton Square for the shooting at 11:42 p.m. yesterday, the Fairfax County Police Department said in a news release.
Police believe the shooting occurred inside the victim’s vehicle, according to the release.
That shooting took place just minutes before officers were summoned to a different shooting in the 6300 block of South Kings Highway in Groveton, the FCPD said.
Upon arriving at the scene, officers found an adult man who had been shot in the lower body, according to police. The man was taken to a local hospital, where he remains, as of this afternoon.
“Detectives believe the shooting occurred after a verbal argument and continue to investigate to identify a suspect involved,” the FCPD said.
Police said they continue to investigate both incidents.
Officers are in a parking lot near Isaac Newton Sq & Wiehle Ave, Reston for a victim who was shot by unk suspects. Vic was taken to a nearby hospital for injuries considered to be life threatening. Prelim, this does not appear to be a random act. Avoid area as ofcs investigate. pic.twitter.com/EDL1TiWmyJ
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) April 5, 2023
Officers are in the area of South Kings Hwy/Furman Ln in Groveton for an adult man who was shot by an unknown suspect. The victim was taken to a nearby hospital for injuries considered to be life-threatening. Avoid area as officers investigate. pic.twitter.com/KLvB2apcAk
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) April 5, 2023
Bus stop improvements are proposed at the intersection of Wiehle Avenue and North Shore Drive in Reston.
The Fairfax County Department of Transportation is working on a design for the project, which will include the construction of a bus pad, bench, trash can, and curb-abutted sidewalk at the intersection just west of the Forest Edge neighborhood.
Curb and gutter will be added to both corners of the intersection. A bus pad and a 50-foot-long sidewalk will also connect to the existing sidewalk at North Shore Drive.
The project is located near the Wiehle Avenue overpass.
Reston Association is considering a request from FCDOT for the dedication of a 14-square-foot bus stop easement and 7-square-foot dedication for public street purposes so it can move forward with the project.
“Most of the project will be within the right-of-way,” RA Chief Operating Officer Larry Butler said in a memo. “However, there are parts that will extent to RA property adjacent to the project.”
FCDOT has acquired land rights for one of two properties where easements are needed for the project, according to spokesperson Robin Geiger. A final plan has been approved by the county and RA’s Design Review Board.
The county estimates that the project will cost a total of $105,500.
(Updated at 2:20 p.m.) Fairfax County first responders were sent to an incorrect address during a 911 call for a cardiac arrest incident at the Reston Town Center Metro station yesterday (Tuesday), leading to a delay in the response.
Based on information provided by Metro, the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications dispatched emergency crews to 1901 Reston Metro Plaza — an address next to the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station, reported local public safety watcher Dave Statter.
Personnel then received an address change about 10 minutes later directing them to 12023 Sunset Hills Road, the north pavilion for the Reston Town Center station about two miles away, according to Statter.
A county spokesperson provided the following statement to FFXnow, confirming that there was a mix-up in the address:
On March 21 the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications (DPSC) received a call from the Washington Metropolitans Area Transit Authority (WMATA) via the non-emergency phone line at 09:06:59 reporting a cardiac arrest at the Wiehle Metro Station. DPSC dispatched Fairfax County Fire and Rescue (FRD) to the incident at 09:08:45. The first unit arrived at the dispatched location at 09:13:10. This was identified as the incorrect location by responding personnel. Working together, FRD and DPSC redirected resources to the correct location, Reston Metro Station and arrived on the incident scene at 09:19:29.
The man later died at a hospital, according to the report.
Ian Jannetta, spokesperson for WMATA, said the organization is investigating the incident.
“Metro addresses a number of medical emergencies related to customers daily,” Janetta said. “We are looking into our response to this incident and how we can improve our efforts in the future. Our deepest sympathies are extended to our customer and their family.”
Statter says this isn’t the first time WMATA provided an incorrect address in the past.
WMATA confirmed that its control center initially gave an incorrect station address to the county fire department, noting that Metro workers were administering CPR before emergency responders arrived.
“It was rectified with Fairfax EMS during the response to the incident during which time CPR was being provided prior to their arrival,” Janetta said. “We are verifying all station addresses systemwide to ensure our control centers and jurisdictional partners have the correct information.”
(1) @fairfaxcounty confirms @WMATA gave the wrong address for the Reston Town Center #Metro Station. It delayed fire & EMS getting to a man in cardiac arrest. That man died. How did this mistake occur? #WMATA isn't saying but it fits a pattern. (more) @wmatagm pic.twitter.com/19I8QDdiI3
— Dave Statter (@STATter911) March 22, 2023
