Brady PieperThe Arlington County Board in Virginia has adopted a $5.2 billion Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) that will address community-prioritized infrastructure upgrades. The plan focuses on community facility infrastructure, environmental resilience, parks, transportation, stormwater management and utility initiatives over the next 10 years.
The CIP is Arlington County’s planning tool for building, maintaining and renovating county facilities and infrastructure. Amended every two years, the plan schedules funding allocations for the next decade.
“Arlington has and will continue to be a wonderful place to live, work, and recreate, and that’s largely due to the major investments we have made in our infrastructure,” Chair Libby Garvey said in a press release. “I have been a part of over a dozen CIP processes now, and it is always so rewarding to see the “seeds” we planted years ago mature to meet the growth and needs of our community.”
In developing the CIP, Board members received public input on which initiatives to invest in. Residents’ top priorities in the analysis showed an emphasis on maintaining and fixing current infrastructure over investing in new designs, furthering public safety through enhanced public safety technology and increasing energy efficiency in county facilities.
The recently adopted CIP will distribute $2.25 billion to Metro and transportation initiatives. Some of the highlighted projects set to receive funds are the Columbia Pike Multi-Modal program, bridge renovations, Metro station entrance improvements and numerous public safety and accessibility initiatives. Of the allocated funds, almost $400 million will also be invested into the Metro.
More than $1.2 billion has been committed to water and sewer utilities and stormwater management. Projects focusing on maintenance capital, wastewater treatment improvements, and drinking water resiliency are set to receive $880 million. The remaining funds will be distributed to projects to improve capacity, stream enhancements and water quality projects.
Arlington Public Schools is set to receive $691 million for kitchen and security improvements, entrance and vestibule upgrades and adding synthetic turf at Kenmore Middle School.
Arlington Neighborhoods Program and Economic Development projects will secure $100 million for neighborhood beautification, traffic management, park enhancements, street lighting and landscaping projects. More than $2 million will also be invested into maintaining the county’s public art program.
Local parks and recreation will see $300 million for trails and bridge modernizations, synthetic turf, capital maintenance and park master plans.
Other projects addressed in the CIP include:
- Solar installation on county buildings.
- Electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
- Renovations for the Police/Court building.
- A new fire station in Columbia Pike.
- Modernization of record keeping and data collection systems for first responders.
As part of the CIP’s adoption, the County Board also approved a $272 million bond referenda. This referenda will allocate $174 million for County projects, $14 million for utilities fund projects and $84 million for Arlington Public Schools. If approved by voters in the November elections, the County Board will issue general obligation bonds to projects such as the construction of new parks, paving and road maintenance, sewer projects and Arlington Public School’s own CIP program.
Photo by APK
