Arlington County Transportation Engineering & Operations (TE&O) works in coordination with the Arlington County Police Department to obtain crash data on roadways in the County. TE&O staff review this crash data in combination with feedback received from Arlington County citizens regarding transportation safety issues. Through this effort, the County identifies “hot spot” areas where there are opportunities to improve the safety and operational conditions.

S Carlin Springs Rd between 7th Rd S and Columbia Pike was identified as one of these “hot spot” locations. There have been over 40 reported crashes as this location since 2010. Four of these crashes involved pedestrians, of which one resulted in a fatality. To create a safer environmental for pedestrian and motorists on this segment of the roadway, TE&O staff have developed a three phase plan to address safety concerns:

• Phase 1: Implementation of increased signage, markings, and bollards at intersection locations to improve crosswalk recognition, shorten crossings, and reduce speeds of turning vehicles.
• Phase 2: Concrete improvements (including curb extensions) at two intersection locations: 8thPl S and 8th Rd S, which will reduce both vehicles speeds and pedestrian crossing distances.
• Phase 3: Additional pedestrian safety improvements, including medians, crossing infrastructure, and access control on the corridor. (Estimated by 2021 – Proposed Phase 3 Concept Plan for Review)

ARLINGTON, Va. – Arlington County has taken a proactive measure in the fight against prescription drug abuse by installing three permanent drug-take back boxes. The public can now safely and securely dispose of unused, unwanted or expired prescription medications 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 day a year. This disposal service is free and anonymous with no questions asked.

The permanent drug take-back boxes are located at:

1. Arlington County Fire Station #2 – 4805 Wilson Boulevard
2. Arlington County Fire Station #9 – 1900 S. Walter Reed Drive
3. Arlington County Police Department – 2000 block of 14th Street N.

Items accepted at the drug take-back boxes are prescriptions, vitamins, prescription ointments, pet medications, prescription patches and over-the-counter medications. Items not accepted are needles, inhalers, aerosol cans, thermometers, lotions or liquids and hydrogen peroxide.

This is a joint public safety project between the Arlington County Police Department and the Arlington County Fire Department.

“Opioid addiction and abuse is a public health crisis affecting communities across our Country and Arlington County is not immune to this issue” said M. Jay Farr, Chief of Police. “Last year, the total number of incidents involving opioids investigated by Arlington County Police rose 27%. That’s why we’re urging residents to take advantage of this potentially lifesaving program by regularly ridding your homes of unused, unwanted or expired prescription medications.”

“The fire department is usually on the reactive end of the addiction epidemic, often called to undue the lethal effects of an opioid overdose” said James Bonzano, Fire Chief. “These collection boxes are a responsible way for the Arlington County community to get rid of unused prescription medications in their homes. Doing so can help prevent the pain and damage brought to those dealing with opioid addiction, as well as their family and friends. Please join us in this effort to reduce addiction in Arlington County by regularly dropping off any unused, unwanted or expired prescription medications you have in your home.”

For additional information on Arlington County’s response to the opioids crisis, visit our website.

All,

Please remember to take the time to provide feedback on the County’s proposed expansion of the Residential Parking Permit program to most households in Arlington Mill and Forest Glen before June 8, 2018.  The survey is available online and contains three possible parking scenarios.  The County wants to know how each of the three would impact each of us and if we would chose to participate (if our current zoning was repealed). Please think carefully about the questions and envision how the scenarios would affect daily life in the neighborhood.

The survey can be found here: www.surveymonkey.com/r/V9S9BPW

The County’s new “Six-Step Public Engagement Guide for Capital Projects” aims to strengthen engagement and communication processes across County government – for hundreds of capital projects both large and small.

Recognizing there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, the guide aligns the level of public engagement needed based on the characteristics, benefits and potential impacts of each project. The six-step process highlights how engagements should be planned, implemented and assessed.

“One of my strategic priorities was to increase the County’s level of engagement and transparency – and this guide affirms that commitment,” says County Manager Mark Schwartz. “Effective engagement helps build trust and makes it easier for residents to work with their government.”

Over the last year, the County Manager’s office worked with both internal and external stakeholders to develop the guide. And in the last month, hundreds of staff across the County have been trained on the new guide. Starting April 2, the guide will be applied to new capital projects just coming online. The County also will incorporate engagement levels into the next Capital Improvement Plan.

The guide identifies four types of engagement that can occur with capital projects:

• Communicate: keep community informed on project updates, changes, regulatory constraints and progress through the lifecycle of the project;
• Consult: keep community informed, listen to views and provide feedback on how the input influenced the project and/or decisions;
• Involve: share how concerns/views were reflected in analyses and/or solutions and designs developed; share how inputs influenced the final decision of project;
• Collaborate: seek community input in partnership with stakeholders.

View a one-page snapshot of the guide or check out the full guide. You can also stay connected other important engagement opportunities by checking out the Engage Arlington webpage.

The Six-Step Public Engagement Guide is only one of several new engagement initiatives, part of a larger public engagement action plan. Recently, County Manager Mark Schwartz and Civic Federation President Duke Banks held a series of conversations with civic and condo association presidents to explore better communication and coordination with their communities.

Watch a video presentation and discussion about the guide from the March 19 Board Meeting: https://youtu.be/CAQtHGlcI8A?t=1h26m42s

Chart from Engagement Guide