At Four Mile Run, Restoring Nature

Alexandria and Arlington have pledged about $1.3 million but will be asked to contribute more, which will be considered during debates over the jurisdictions' capital improvement budgets next year.

Arlington County, meanwhile, is pushing ahead with plans to erect a scenic fence along the trail to block the view of the Water Pollution Control Plant, which is being reconstructed.

Last month, the state awarded $400,000 to the Northern Virginia Regional Commission toward designing a bicyclist and pedestrian bridge over Four Mile Run, between South Eads Street in Arlington and Commonwealth Avenue in Alexandria, east of the wastewater treatment plant and near the site of a baseball diamond. A request for design proposals will be circulated within a month or two.

Guse-Noritake imagines Arlingtonians strolling across the bridge to go to a movie at the Potomac Yard shopping center, or Alexandrians ambling over to Shirlington for a leisurely night on the town. She sees it as a visual focal point for the stream.

That site was selected because it will be "highly visible" along Route 1, and "it's equally on both sides -- Alexandria and Arlington," said Neal Sigmon, an Arlington representative on the task force.

The stream restoration effort is assuming additional urgency because thousands of residents are beginning to move into Potomac Yard, the massive new subdivision on the site of the former railroad yards, straddling Alexandria and Arlington.

For these residents, a usable riverfront will be an important amenity. At the Eclipse, a new condominium project, newly planted trees, bushes and other landscaping will enhance the view of Four Mile Run, officials said.

The riverfront project has been one of the best examples of Arlington and Alexandria officials working together to accomplish something, participants said.

"It's the first project that has been completely cooperative, completely a joint venture," Moran said. "Four Mile Run is a psychological divide that has been bridged by this project."

Pebley wonders whether the proposed changes will increase the risk of flooding.

"What I want to know is 'Will we be less safe from floods?,' " he asked.

Winquist, the county planner, said she does not think the final cost will be as high as projected, noting that the restoration work probably will go forward a bit at a time, as money comes available, over 15 to 20 years. She said officials will proceed only if they can be sure that "the current level of flood protection" is retained.

The pilot project, focusing on the tidal portion of the river from Mount Vernon Avenue to where Four Mile Run enters the Potomac, is expected to be completed by fiscal 2010 at an estimated cost of $5 million. The work on the stretch of the river from Shirlington to Mount Vernon Avenue is expected to cost $15 million to $25 million and be completed by fiscal 2011, officials said.