At Four Mile Run, Restoring Nature
Plan to Tranform Waterfront Comes With Sticker Shock

By Kirstin Downey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 23, 2007

Is it possible to turn back the clock? And how much should be spent to do it?

About 250 years ago, the stream known as Four Mile Run, the waterway that divides Alexandria and Arlington, was at the center of a broad flood plain, a wetland with an abundance of plant and animal species.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the waterway was a popular area for recreational boating and fishing.

But as development brought office buildings, railroad lines and residential subdivisions to the area, the stream became polluted, and asphalt and cement replaced the natural surroundings and tidal pools. In the 1960s and early 1970s, the area was racked by flooding, attributed largely to urbanization. In 1972, Hurricane Agnes caused $14 million in damage and devastated the Arlandria area. Residents had to be plucked out of the rising waters by rescue boats.

Arlington and Alexandria officials looked for a technological solution to the flood threat. A $63 million project, completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1980, eliminated the flooding danger. It has been a success on that front.

The flood abatement was accomplished, however, by clearing vegetation from the area and turning the river into an unsightly concrete drainage ditch. Since then, trash and debris dumped alongside the waterway have made the vista even more unattractive. A bike trail winds along Four Mile Run from the Arlington Water Pollution Control Plant near South Eads Road through Potomac Yard, passing under decrepit-looking railroad bridges and highway overpasses.

"Aesthetically, it's pretty challenged down there," said Aileen Winquist, an Arlington County planner.

Now, with the flooding danger gone, politicians and community activists hope to restore the stream's natural beauty. They envision the return of native plants and wildlife and the addition of basketball and tennis courts and community gardens. The waterway could be made beautiful, and should be, they say.

"It's our waterfront," said Judy Guse-Noritake, an Alexandria resident and co-chairman of the city-county Four Mile Run task force.

The problem is that it will cost more than $260 million to complete the work, according to government officials. In March 2006, Arlington and Alexandria officials adopted a plan that would allow them to undertake the project, and they produced a colorful brochure that laid out the concept to help residents visualize what Four Mile Run could look like. But even as they approved the project, many of the elected officials blanched at its cost. Alexandria Vice Mayor Redella S. "Del" Pepper quipped that the price had knocked her unconscious. More than a year later, officials are still mulling the cost.

"The price tag is huge," said Jim Pebley, an Arlington planning commissioner. "Right now, it's not the prettiest thing in the world, but with all the expenses we've got, is this the best thing? The little man in the green eyeshade in me says, 'Ouch! Where will we get that money?' "

The money is trickling in. Last month, Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) announced that his proposal to appropriate $700,000 for a federally funded project review by the Corps of Engineers had been approved. That brings total federal spending on the Four Mile Run restoration to $6.7 million.

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.