RCA Newsletter: May 2026

Jol Silversmith
May 31
4 min read

The Rosemont Citizens Association is 100% volunteer-driven, but it is readers, members, and donors like you who power it—thank you! Would you consider a gift to the RCA to keep it moving forward?

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A New Option to Connect

The RCA has established an email list to provide an additional means to provide information and updates about neighborhood and city developments, which also can be used for community discussion. To sign up, please visit https://groups.io/g/RCA .

May RCA Meeting

Thanks to all who attended our May 14 meeting. The program included a presentation by VRE, which is one of the stakeholders in the reconstruction of the rail bridges at King Street and Commonwealth Avenue, and by our neighbor Matt Pfeiiffer about Alexandria zoning rules. For more information about the rail project, please visit https://www.vre.org/alexandria-station-project/; the presentation also is available at https://a17392b4-c0c7-4f5f-a031-bf0e341725d9.usrfiles.com/ugd/a17392_92868e46b4ce479bb4693823f0376690.pdf. For a copy of the zoning presentation, please visit https://a17392b4-c0c7-4f5f-a031-bf0e341725d9.usrfiles.com/ugd/a17392_35d1ca60d6d24b119b30035ffebf950e.pptx

Fourth of July

Planning is under way for the resumption of the RCA’s annual independence day event at Brooks Elementary School - 10am to 2pm on July 4. A more detailed agenda will be posted closer to the event date, but we will need volunteers to make it happen - please sign up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0545ABA623A6F94-64043115-4thofjuly#/

Happy Hour

Meet your neighbors at the RCA-sponsored happy hour. Join us 5-7 pm on June 10 (and the second Wednesday of every month) at the Rosemont Cellar, formerly Grape & Bean, 2 East Walnut Street. The first 20 attendees get a free drink!

Braddock Road Project

On May 16, the City Council voted 4-3 to move ahead with the addition of bicycle lanes on Braddock Road, with certain modifications. At the same time, the City also has requested feedback on “Safe Routes to School” along Braddock Road; comments are due by June 10. See https://www.alexandriava.gov/transportation-planning/project/russell-road-safe-routes-to-school-improvement

Neighborhood Businesses

The RCA website includes a list of physical businesses in the neighborhood (https://tinyurl.com/437mu8mx) but we would like to expand it to include home-based businesses, as well as businesses owned by Rosemonters even if located outside of the neighborhood. If you would like to be added, please email us at jol@thirdamendment.com.

PELT Committee

Update on Work to Replace the King and Commonwealth Railroad Bridges

What is going on? Workers have already driven most of the sheet piles into the top of the raised earthen railroad embankment. They have driven them with a compact device suspended from a crane whose rapid, short strokes sound more like a large jack hammer than like the rhythmic ear-splitting booms of a traditional pile driver. The sheet piles will shore up the rest of the embankment when workers dig out a portion of it behind each concrete abutment of the current bridges over King St. and Commonwealth Ave.

Crews have also already installed the first four “jump spans” (short temporary bridges) along the rail line that runs closest to the Rosemont side of the embankment. These temporary spans will carry trains across the portions of the embankment that are to be dug out. The four that are now in place are mostly hidden beneath the reinstalled

railroad tracks, ready for workers to begin removing the earth beneath them.

When excavation behind the current abutments gets deep enough, workers will drill numerous holes in the soil and fill them with concrete. These “drill and fill” piles will support construction of new abutments for the replacement bridges, which will be longer than the current bridges. Unlike sheet piles, drill-and-fill piles do not need to be driven, so they will be less noisy to install. Building new abutments for the replacement bridges while the old abutments and bridges continue to carry rail traffic will simplify the eventual removal of the old girder bridges and installation of their modern replacements, which is expected to take place in 2027.

What about road closures? In order to install jump spans along the rail line closest to Rosemont, all road and foot traffic under the King St. bridges was halted on May 1, and traffic under the Commonwealth Ave. bridge was reduced to a single lane. The schedule called for traffic to return to normal by Tuesday, May 5, but it did not actually resume until the following day. The delay prompted the construction team to cancel the next planned road closure, which was scheduled for May 15-19, to give them time to get a better handle on scheduling. Consequently, the closure to install jump spans along the next rail line did not begin until 6:30 PM Thursday, May 28. It is scheduled to end at 6:30 AM Wednesday, June 3. The closure to install jump spans along the last of the three rail lines was pushed back to mid-June. It is tentatively scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM Thursday, June 11, and end on the morning of Tuesday, June 16.

Road closure outlook for the rest of 2026. Virginia Railway Express (VRE), which is responsible for supervising the bridge replacement work, does not anticipate any more lengthy road closures in 2026, although briefer closures may be necessary from time to time.

Resources from Alexandria Sheriff’s Office

The Alexandria Sheriff’s office offers a house-watching service (https://www.alexandriava.gov/sheriff/away-from-home-check). Additionally, the Sheriff continue to offer “Project Lifesaver” to help track adults and children with special needs (https://www.alexandriava.gov/sheriff/project-lifesaver).