I Think I'll Park Riiiiiiight ...

Here:

Yes, the middle of the sidewalk on Wilson Boulevard will do just fine.

New Staples Coming to Virginia Square

Was on my way to work a couple of weeks back when I saw this at Wilson Boulevard & Oakland Street ...

OK, so as usual my cell phone camera sucks, but the red sign says "Staples Coming Soon." That strip used to be home to a doggy daycare, dance school, and flower shop. I'm assuming this Staples will replace the one in Ballston as development continues at the former Bob Peck site.

When taken in the larger context of the new tennis shop going in at Wilson & Pollard and the new stores going in at "Liberty Plaza" on Wilson across from the Metro bus lot, the new Staples is a sign of progress. Right now, there are virtually no retail storefronts on Wilson all the way from the Ballston Common Mall to Lincoln Street the east end of Virginia Square -- a full seven blocks of blankness.

I wonder if the new Staples will come with an upgraded sidewalk. That stretch is one of the last narrow sidewalks left on a major road in Arlington. It's so narrow that if you're walking with a friend and someone's coming the other way, you have to go single file to let them pass.

And when buses and trucks fly by at 40 miles an hour just a couple of feet away from your head ... well, who needs King's Dominion? They should have a camera set up that snaps your picture at that instant like they do on rollercoasters.

Pedestrian Upgrade on Wilson Boulevard

Almost a year ago, The Green Miles blogged about the danger of crossing Wilson Boulevard at Oakland Street:

There's a crosswalk at Wilson & Oakland, but in a bizarre sequence of events, the county, drivers, and pedestrians all ignore it:

• The county hasn't fixed the broken flashing yellow pedestrian warning in at least a year, and rarely does any kind of pedestrian or traffic enforcement there
  
  
• Because of that, drivers may or may not stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk (usually not)
  
  
• Because of that, pedestrians rarely bother to use the crosswalk -- if you're just standing there waiting for all traffic to go by so you can run across, then the crosswalk is no safer than any other spot in the road

All that means I have two options for crossing Wilson Boulevard on the way home:

• Walk up to the corner of Wilson & N. Monroe, which has a traffic light but adds a minute or two to the walk
  
  
• Try to cross at the dreaded Wilson & Oakland crosswalk, where cars fly by at 30-40mph

But recently, a new light went up:


It's not a perfect solution (what is?). Now cars never stop for pedestrians unless the light is red, so you can either wait a minute for the light to change or take your chances beating traffic.

But from an overall safety perspective, it's a major upgrade. Less-nimble pedestrians don't have to take their chances in a crosswalk. And cars can't fly from Monroe to Quincy without having to at least keep an eye on a light.

Nice job, Arlington County!