Ghosts of the Accotink

(Or at least a temorary ghost town)
Some ghosts spotted elsewhere in our watershed
Yet another big redevelopment project begins in the Accotink Creek watershed, turning a neighborhood into a ghost town. A former neighborhood of single-family homes is now deserted and boarded-up, awaiting its end before the blades of bulldozers. Many such projects, related to BRAC or VDOT, or HOT lanes have filled Accotink Creek with construction sediment due to poor erosion control practices and have permanently removed tree cover and habitat. We may expect BRAC to continue to attract more. The world is tilted, it seems, causing all this asphalt to flow toward the Accotink.

Local blogger Hired Pen has written a great story about the history of this "ghost town", once known as Lewin Park and another, much older, community being lost to development, Accotink Village

This project, Liberty View at Springfield Metro, is 750,000 sq ft of office space in four buildings plus a hotel by Monument Realty. Monument's website refers to possible LEED Silver certification, so perhaps we may hope for a similar standard of care in construction erosion control and final stormwater control features. It would not hurt if some of us took the opportunity to inquire of Monument what their plans are and remind them of their responsibilities.

A nearby project has already taken down another neighborhood. The bulldozers have already scraped away the houses and trees for Fosters Crest , 30 townhouses by Stanley Martin . This project appears to be using a good standard of erosion control during construction (late 2011) and their website promises a final enhanced stormwater management pond incorporating BMP (Best Management Practice) features.

Other recent/current/planned large projects in the Accotink Creek watershed include:

      Metro Park,
      National Geospatial Agency,
      I-95 widening,
      Fairfax County Parkway extension,
      Lake Accotink Dam repair,
      I-495 HOT lanes,
      Metro West,
      Mosaic District & Merrifield,
      Springfield Town Center,
      National Museum of the U.S. Army.

Protect your watershed! - When construction projects large or small fail to properly control sediment runoff, report the problem by calling Fairfax County or online through Potomac Riverkeepers

Redevelopment may have its upside when the stormwater control practices improve upon what existed before without reducing tree cover, enhancing the quality of water reaching Accotink Creek.

The "ghosts" of this neighborhood, of course, just moved away.
Not so when development takes wooded areas
without mitigation or degrades our streams.


Then there are true ghosts of all the flora and fauna -
whose habitat is gone for good without compensation and without anywhere to go.


An earlier "ghost town" already scraped away by bulldozers.
A positive side of redevelopment?
A patch of permeable paving amidst the asphalt at a new Metro Park building.


This is a static screen capture of the site before development.
Lets see how it compares to the map below as Google updates its imagery

Ghost Town Location in Accotink Creek Watershed
Live Google map - Watch for updated images as construction progresses.

Zoom in or out using + and - boxes at left.

Drag map to move the map.

Double-click to re-center the map.

Roll over red markers for descriptions.