Steve Burns
WMAL.com
ARLINGTON – (WMAL) While negotiations on a land swap and road realignments are ongoing, Arlington National Cemetery officials are asking for public input as they begin in earnest the process to move forward on the next proposed expansion of the Cemetery on the former site of the Navy Annex, around the Air Force Memorial.
“This is a great opportunity, not just for Arlington Cemetery, but for the region to transform this corridor,” said Col. Doug Guttormsen, the Cemetery’s Engineer. “We’re making progress with all parties. The negotiations are still a work in progress.”
Both Cemetery and Arlington County officials declined to elaborate on any potential hangups in the negotiating process, but all pointed to a desire to see the process through.
“The southern expansion and the associated road realignment is intended to extend the life span of the cemetery beyond the 2030s, hopefully to the 2050s,” Guttormsen said. “We are really at the preliminary planning stages of this effort.”
Poster boards showed a proposed road realignment of Columbia Pike, the County’s busiest transit corridor. A cloverleaf interchange at South Washington Boulevard (VA-27) and Columbia Pike would be eliminated, turned into a 4-way intersection.
“This is the connection. This is it,” said Arlington County Director of Environmental Services Doug Emanuel. “This is where our transit is. This is where all of our critical connections are. We have to get this right for the long term.”
Emanuel maintained negotiations are moving in the right direction, with a belief that all parties are on the same side, but the critical nature of road alignment decisions is leading them to be even more meticulous.
“Right now, it’s the highest ridership core for transit in Arlington County,” he said. Transit riding numbers are expected to keep rising, “so maintaining this in its adequate capacity through the construction and well into the future is critical.”
Guttormsen estimates a $274 million cost for the cemetery expansion, none of which has been appropriated yet. Assuming all parties agree to a resolution in the near future, Guttormsen said, he anticipates construction to begin in 2018 with an estimated completion in 2022.
Copyright 2016 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: Steve Burns/WMAL)
