ARLINGTON, Va. – The need for more burial space at Arlington National Cemetery may change traffic patterns along Columbia Pike over the next few years.
The Army reopened a land swap deal with Arlington County so that the cemetery can keep the land just down the hill from the Air Force Memorial in exchange for land closer to Interstate 395.
“What it will do, hopefully, will allow the county to realign Columbia Pike, a benefit to the cemetery of maximizing their contiguous burial space,” says Brian Stout, Arlington County’s federal liaison.
He says the deal comes as the Navy Annex is being torn down to make more burial room.
Stout says the county has been trying to get lane on the other side of the cemetery to straighten out Columbia Pike.
Currently, no timetable has been set.
More information and updates on the planned demolition of the Navy Annex can be found on the Department of Defense’s Washington Headquarters Services website.
WTOP’s Hank Silverberg contributed to this report. Follow Hank and WTOP on Twitter.
(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
