Draft map – 2013 Alexandria CaBi expansion

[PotomacCyclist]

In Potomac Yard-Arlington news, it looks like the empty National Gateway buildings (empty except for the LA Fitness gym on the bottom floors) will finally get its first tenant. The law school plans that I posted about earlier in the thread fell through. Now Germany-based discount grocer Lidl seems to be moving in. Their real estate affiliate signed a deal for a majority of the space in National Gateway I. Other than the LA Fitness gym, the entire two-building complex has been empty ever since it opened in 2010.

While this doesn’t have a direct effect on cycling, it will have a positive effect on County tax revenue. I also wonder if the new Metroway bus rapid transit line helped to pull in Lidl. That block is kind of far from the Crystal City Metro station. Far enough that most people wouldn’t walk from the Metro on a regular basis. There was an old Metrobus line near that area. I never took that route because it was always such a hassle to figure out exactly where it went and what the operating hours and schedule were. (There’s also the fact that it’s pretty easy to bike over there, but not everyone bikes.)

The new Metroway line runs more frequently with longer operating hours. It’s not as important to know the exact schedule. In recent months, I’ve seen the blue Metroway buses very frequently throughout the area. I took the bus a couple times myself. Metroway runs between the Crystal City Metro station, Crystal City, Potomac Yard-Arlington, Potomac Yard-Alexandria, Rte. 1 and the Braddock Road Metro station. (The line will expand to the Pentagon City Metro station by this summer.)

Maybe Lidl saw that there would be a convenient transit system right next to the building and that helped them to go for the deal.

I think it’s good for the County to fill up all that empty office space, especially since those are the first office buildings people see when they drive into Arlington on Rte. 1. Metroway and the new office deal have some interest for cyclists in that it can be another example of how Arlington can continue to grow and prosper without relying on single-occupant car driving. While many of the employees will probably still drive to the new office, many may choose to rely on Metro and the Metroway bus line. Capital Bikeshare is an option too. There are two bike stations within a block of National Gateway. I believe they usually empty out on weekday mornings and fill up on weekday evenings, because nearby residents use the bikes to travel to the Crystal City Metro station. Lidl employees would follow a reverse pattern. This would help with rebalancing of the Potomac Yard-Arlington bike stations. That in itself could provide a benefit to CaBi users in the nearby residential buildings.

There will be more demand for restaurant options in that immediate area. Some of the restaurants near National Gateway have struggled to survive with the lack of a customer base of nearby office workers. Melody Tavern, the Asian (pricey) buffet and the Subway all closed. New restaurants/bars might open up once Lidl occupies the building. (The Melody Tavern space is now a daycare center, I believe. But the other spaces are still empty.)

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/breaking_ground/2015/04/international-discount-grocer-lidl-to-establish.html?page=all

[PotomacCyclist]

Alexandria might cut back its bike budget this year, which would delay any expansion of the bikeshare system in the city. But if they reject those funding cuts, then there could be as many as 16 new bike stations in Alexandria. If not this year, then whenever they get around to restoring bike funding.

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/26525/alexandria-has-identified-locations-for-its-next-16-bikeshare-stations/

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[chris_s]

Bike to the Birchmere! I needs it!

[lordofthemark]

CaBi funding restored.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/no-tax-rate-increase-but-more-spending-in-alexandria-budget/2015/05/07/23658b1e-f4f2-11e4-b2f3-af5479e6bbdd_story.html

Council members agreed to put $1.85 million into the transportation-improvement program in its capital budget to operate 16 new bike-sharing stations, buy another local bus and set aside money for future projects.

[lordofthemark]

Alexandria is moving forward on this. The first new ones will be the developer funded ones, which will be in Old Town and at the Eisenhower Ave metro, and if I remember rightly what I heard at BPAC, will be installed this fall. The remainder use VDOT funding, and there is more paperwork that needs to be done, and will be going in shortly after that.

[PotomacCyclist]

Two new bike stations in Alexandria today!

Madison St & N Henry St (two blocks east of the Braddock Rd Metro station)
St. Asaph St & Madison St, next to the Harris Teeter

The St. Asaph station moves the CaBi network closer to Old Town North. There are office buildings, apartment buildings, waterfront parks and the Mt Vernon Trail in that area. The new station is four blocks away from Oronoco Bay Park.

https://www.facebook.com/CapitalBikeshare

[chris_s]

@PotomacCyclist 135086 wrote:

Two new bike stations in Alexandria today!

Madison St & N Henry St (two blocks east of the Braddock Rd Metro station)
St. Asaph St & Madison St, next to the Harris Teeter

The St. Asaph station moves the CaBi network closer to Old Town North. There are office buildings, apartment buildings, waterfront parks and the Mt Vernon Trail in that area. The new station is four blocks away from Oronoco Bay Park.

https://www.facebook.com/CapitalBikeshare

There goes my waist line. Sugar Shack Donuts has a bikeshare station.

[PotomacCyclist]

Well, you do have a straight line from Sugar Shack to the MVT. Time for some out-and-backs to Mount Vernon. One trip for every donut.

[PotomacCyclist]

New bike station at the north end of the King St. Metro station today:

https://www.facebook.com/CapitalBikeshare/photos/a.138245472875449.17856.134700293229967/1158522324181087/?type=3&theater

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