Approximately fifteen people attended the Civic Association meeting on Tuesday evening 30 April at Firehouse 9.

The agenda included:
Shannon Early, Landscape Architect for Arlington County’s Department of Parks and Recreation reviewed the current status of the Doctors Run Park Trail lighting project.
This project was approved by the County Board in February 2011 using funds from the Neighborhood Conservation Program. The project will install 6-8 LED lighting fixtures along the trail from the rear of Randolph Elementary School to South George Mason Drive, to enhance the safety of children walking between the school and Barcroft Apartments. In addition the project will:

• Realign parts of the trail, especially to reduce the grade descending to and from South George Mason Drive.
• Widen the existing trail, replacing the current asphalt surface with the County’s softer bike path paving.
• Remove existing asphalt swales and install bioswales.
• Install concrete steps on the approach to Randolph Elementary School.
• Remove one tree.
• Install a wood pedestrian bridge along the branch of the trail connecting to South Randolph Street.

The anticipated timeline:

• Finalize plan and contracting draft (2 months)
• Review and approval by various County departments (2-3 months)
• Bid process (two months)
• Construction (two months)

Completion is currently scheduled for Spring 2014.

No changes are contemplated to the trail between Randolph Elementary School and its eastern terminus at South Quincy Street and 12th Street South.

The Civic Association members present at the meeting were in general support of the project with a few reservations:

• The ‘lights out’ time on the trail is currently set for 6.00p. A time of 6.30p or 7.00p is requested due to after-school programs, including extended day-care which runs through 6.00p.
• No time was given as to ‘lights on’ in the morning.
• Concern was expressed that the project be reviewed by the Arlington Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB) as the site was once a Civic War campground.
• A request was made to remove the curbing at the South Randolph Street junction of the trail to facilitate bike use. Staff advised that the request was outside the current project scope.

A PDF overview of the project may be found here.

 

We discussed possible cleanup projects around the neighborhood. Suggestions included:

• Weed/replant islands along South Highland Street
• Continued cleanup around neighborhood entrance signs
• Investigate repainting the information kiosk in Douglas Park
• Increase participation in Marty Neilsen’s invasives removals in Douglas and Monroe Parks
• Gauge the feasibility of a neighborhood cleanup day where residents could dispose of junk not normally picked up by regular refuse collections (Al Fox to investigate)

We discussed redoubling our efforts to update Douglas Park’s Neighborhood Conservation Plan. The current plan was approved in 1998. We have been working on the revision intermittently since the end of 2009. Two volunteers have stepped forward to update three sections of the document; we could still use assistance on other sections. To learn more or to volunteer, please contact any board member. An updated Neighborhood Conservation Plan is essential to participate in funding for various neighborhood projects such as the Doctors Run Trail Lighting project. Our goal is to complete our revisions by the end of the year and receive County Board approval early in 2014.

Douglas Park resident and Phoenix Bikes Executive Director Henry Dunbar presented a preliminary overview of new facilities for Phoenix Bikes. Phoenix Bikes is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that teaches youth teamwork, hard work and entrepreneurship through bike maintenance and education programs. The bike shop is currently located in Barcroft Park. The new facilities are proposed for the northeast corner of South Walter Reed Drive and South Four Mile Run Drive, just across from our neighborhood in Nauck. Further details will be forthcoming as plans are developed.

The next Civic Association meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, 18 June 2013 at 7.30p in the basement meeting room at Firehouse 9.