Sidewalk Closed. Private Parking Now Available.

I've always been amazed that Arlington lets construction companies completely close off the sidewalk on one side of the street without providing temporary space for pedestrians to walk. It's not only unsafe, inevitably forcing pedestrians into the street or at least to cross the street outside of a crosswalk. It also flies in the face of the County's well-deserved pedestrian-friendly reputation.

One stretch of Wilson Blvd. in Virginia Square has been shut down for months now. I've just been walking around the fence, but I can imagine it must be troublesome for residents of the Brighton Senior Living Center next door, who are now shut off from Oakland Park. To walk down to the next crosswalk with a signal (Quincy & Wilson) then back to the Oakland & Wilson signaled crosswalk is a half-mile round-trip.

But the problem wasn't blog-worthy until the construction crew rolled out this ballsy move last week:


You see, there's no room for pedestrians here, but there is space for two private parking spots for the construction crew's vans. Those vans aren't there temporarily being loaded and unloaded -- they're parked there every day.

In fact, these might be the only two on-street, unmetered parking spots on Wilson Blvd. from Ballston all the way to Rosslyn. Pretty primo. Just don't try to walk past.