Starting Monday morning, parts of Va. Route 244/Columbia Pike in Arlington, Virginia, will be closed as part of the Arlington National Cemetery Southern Expansion project.
In a news release, Arlington National Cemetery announced a portion of Columbia Pike — between South Joyce Street and the Virginia Department of Transportation facility immediately east of South Oak Street — will be closed to allow development on a new section of the cemetery.
“This closure is necessary to straighten the road to make room for more contiguous land in the new southern portion of the cemetery,” said ANC Director of Engineering Thomas Austin.
“We understand the level of inconvenience and disruption this construction causes to the residents who live along Columbia Pike and those who travel it every day. We are doing what we can to minimize those impacts and keep the community informed.”
The eastern portion of Columbia Pike is expected to remain closed until summer 2024. However, detours will allow vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians to access the area.
Here is a list of detours released by Arlington National Cemetery:
- Eastbound traffic on Columbia Pike will be rerouted onto South Nash Street. This street flows onto Southgate Road and routes eastbound drivers to the intersections of Columbia Pike, South Joyce Street and Southgate Road.
- Westbound traffic on Columbia Pike will turn right onto Southgate Road at its intersections with Columbia Pike and South Joyce Street. Then, drivers will turn left onto South Nash Street in order to flow back onto Columbia Pike going westbound.
- Northbound traffic from South Joyce Street will continue straight onto Southgate Road at its intersections with Columbia Pike and South Joyce Street. Drivers will then turn left onto South Nash and flow onto Columbia Pike.
In addition, the main entrance to the Air Force Memorial from Columbia Pike will be closed. The memorial itself will remain open to the public during its regular hours.
“While we understand that this closure will impact many in our Arlington community, we are looking forward to the improvements in infrastructure that it will bring to those who drive, bike, and walk along the soon to be south entrance of the cemetery,” said Superintendent of the Arlington National Cemetery Charles Alexander.
During the closure, a temporary access road will be available off Southgate Road, between South Oak Street and South Joyce Street.
Starting at 10 p.m. Tuesday, a separate project will close the ramp from southbound Interstate-395 to westbound Boundary Channel Drive (Exit 10A) until mid 2023, according to a news release from VDOT.
Drivers who use that route will be able to access the westbound Boundary Channel Drive via the southbound I-395 Exit 9 (Clark Street) ramp, where there will be a temporary stop sign for left turns onto westbound Boundary Channel, according to the news release.
