The Arlington County Board has approved a Memorandum of Agreement to expand the acreage of Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
The move provides more burial space for U.S. service members.
The immediate impacts of the plan requires a partial removal of the cemetery’s blue granite boundary wall, which dates back to 1897, and will require the cemetery to convert about 1.7 acres of the Air Force Memorial to burial and pedestrian space.
Overall, the project would add 70 acres to the south, adjacent to the Pentagon and near Southgate Road, and ensure additional burial space until 2050. It will add 60,000 burial plots.
The project will also require a realignment of Columbia Pike. Additional visitor parking will be built south of the road, as well as a new cemetery maintenance facility.
Arlington National Cemetery clarified that the MOA represents Arlington County’s concurrence that measures being taken to mitigate negative impacts on cultural resources have no impact on Arlington County. This is not an agreement on land acquisition necessary for the Defense Access Road (DAR) and Southern Expansion projects. Discussions on that are ongoing.
A public hearing and information session on the project will be held Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Pentagon City located at 900 South Orme St. in Arlington.
