Current Happenings at Long Bridge Park

Long Bridge Park Has Gone Out to Bid! 

Arlington County has recently advertised for bid the first parts of construction for the County’s new state of the art park complex.  The bid is expected to be advertised to general contractors for six weeks.  After a successful bidder has been determined, an award of contract for construction services is anticipated to go before the Arlington County Board in December.  These actions would mean that construction is expected to start in the beginning of the New Year. 

The work that is expected to start in early 2010 is the infrastructure and outdoor park components of Long Bridge Park.  The construction will transform the site into a distinctive showplace of environmentally sound redevelopment, with a central expanse of attractive public green spaces, high-quality outdoor recreation facilities and environmentally conscious structures. This work will significantly improve the immediate area surrounding the park and create many new recreational opportunities for people of all ages and abilities.  The bidding of the work for Long Bridge Park is the realization of many years of hard work by Arlington’s residents and staff.  Long Bridge Park is expected to be under construction for eighteen months with the park opening mid-2011.

The construction package specifically includes: 

Three rectangular, lighted, multi-use fields with synthetic in-fill turf surfaces which will allow for intensive organized sports throughout the seasons.

Landscaping, picnic areas, and an observation hill will be created to complement the active recreation.

A 2,350-foot long, raised Esplanade will be constructed that connects all sections of the park and its recreational facilities. For most of its length, the Esplanade will consist of two parallel pedestrian surfaces composed of an accessible surface and separated by planting areas and seating. The Esplanade will accommodate strolling, casual bicycling, train spotting, plane watching and small festivals, and will feature small flowering trees and landscaping that shade grass panels and benches that offer both water views and playing field views.

A three-quarter acre Rain Garden will infiltrate runoff from the park’s parking lot and sports fields into a planted garden of native shrubs and perennials.

Three buildings will be constructed in the first phase, situated along the western edge of the fields and providing frontage to Old Jefferson Davis Highway.  These include two restrooms and one storage facility for park maintenance and various leagues.

Approximately 2,750 feet of Old Jefferson Davis Highway and 6th Street will be reconstructed to complement the recreational facilities and amenities and provide gateways from the south and the north into the Long Bridge Park area. Enhancing the roadway improvements will be bicycle lanes on OJDH, wide sidewalks, landscaping strips with street trees and pedestrian-level roadway lighting, landscaped medians, driveway aprons, and the addition of three separate bus stops and shelters.

Utility duct banks will be installed with the roadway reconstruction to support the relocation of existing utilities (both overhead and underground) and the installation of new underground utilities to support Long Bridge Park.

The Long Bridge Park project will be developed on two environmentally impacted parcels which will be remediated through various means as dictated by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP).

Long Bridge Park In The News

• NewsChannel 8 Video Clip
• Washington Post Article - June 25, 2008
• Washington Post Article - June 26, 2008
  

Long Bridge Park Overview

Long Bridge Park, formerly known as the North Tract Project will be a new state of the art aquatics, health and fitness facility and park on the north end of Crystal City in Arlington. Its concept was approved in February 2004 by the Arlington County Board. Currently, plans are underway for a swimming and exercise venue set within a dynamic recreational complex that will feature four full-size athletic fields overlooking premier views of Washington D.C. Read more about Concepts and Plans >>

Long Bridge Park is being built in response to Arlington residents’ desire for more opportunities to recreate. In a June 2002 Parks and Recreation Resident Survey, trails and indoor swimming pools were the number 1 and 2 items respectively out of 54 possible choices that Arlingtonians felt were needed most in the County. In fact, 46 percent of the respondents felt it was very important to develop and maintain a new indoor fitness/aquatic center. And the demand continues. Read more about the Long Bridge Park background >>

Reclamation of the Land
Trees and plantings will utilize native species and interpretive displays will explain the park’s transformation from an industrial brownfield to a premier urban park. Visitors will find a number of significant plant communities that were recently discovered in the County. Read more about the Long Bridge Park site history >>

Serve All Abilities and Incomes
Maximum consideration will be given to ensure that the recreational facilities meet, and where possible, exceed current standards for handicapped accessibility. Moreover, outside facilities and walkways will be built to ensure maximum accessibility. Likewise, the park’s fee and usage structure will make certain the park is accessible to all Arlington residents, regardless of income. Read more about Community Involvement >>

Paying Homage to our Heritage
The park’s location is rich with history, including early Native Americans who settled the land, the Long Bridge (known today as the 14th Street Bridge), which British troops used to cross during the War of 1812, and the settlement of Federal troops during the Civil War in 1861. The area also housed a brickyard in the 1830s that helped rebuild many of the historic homes and buildings in Alexandria after the war. By the 1900s the land was used as a major staging area, mainly because of the brick factory and the Washington Southern Railroad. Construction of the Pentagon began in 1939 just down the road. Soon after, the Twin Bridges Marriott was built, along with a Hot Shoppes restaurant. Yet by the 1980’s, the area was mainly industrial and in 1993, as part of an environmental clean-up plan, Arlington County acquired the land for recreational and open space use. Read more about the Heritage behind Long Bridge Park  >>