Last Night for Magarity Road Closing

MCLEAN, VA – Just a reminder: This is the last night that Magarity Road  closes  between Olney Road and Great Falls Streets at 9 pm.  It will reopen 6 am. Saturday morning.

The closing is necessary while steel is erected on a new bridge that will carry the Silver Line Metro tracks for the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project in the median of the Dulles Connector Road across Magarity Road.

Magarity Road runs north/south parallel to Route 123 from Great Falls Street to Route 7. All side streets south of the Connector Road along Magarity will be open. Magarity Road from Olney Road south toward Route 7 will not be affected.

Residents of Pimmit Hills, the Commons and other residential areas along Magarity seeking to travel northbound on Magarity Road toward Great Falls Street in McLean will be detoured to make a left turn on to Anderson Road, to a right on Chain Bridge Road to return to Great Falls Street at the first traffic signal.

Drivers from the McLean area who use Magarity Road to access Route 7, Pimmit Hills and commercial developments off Anderson Road can use Route 123 south to a left turn at Anderson Road to return to Magarity beyond the work zone or use Chain Bridge Road to a left turn on Anderson Road to a right on Magarity.  Drivers northbound along Magarity toward McLean will be rerouted to Anderson Road to Chain Bridge Road or Route 123.

Motorists should exercise caution and be alert to signs and detours in these areas.  Police will be on site to help ensure safety.

For all work performed during overnight hours, construction crews operate under a Noise Variance from Fairfax County.  There may be intermittent periods of construction noise associated with equipment movement and placing and securing the steel girders.  For construction-related emergencies including noise, please use the project HOTLINE at 877-585-6789.

For further information about the project, please visit the project website at http://www.dullesmetro.com or call 703-572-0506

McLean Giant First to Offer Valet Parking to Customers

McLean Giant General Manager Rick Makely (left) with Valet Attendant James Williams

By Bobbi Bowman, The McLean Ear

MCLEAN, VA – The McLean Giant is the first Giant supermarket in the Washington area to offer its customer valet parking, store manager Rick Makely said yesterday.

“We’ve always had a tight parking experience here. . . We wanted to offer an alternative to our customers to parking themselves,”  he said.

Makely spoke as he orchestrated the  official reopening of the newly renovated Giant today. The store is larger having taken over the space occupied by the CVS. McLean residents recall that the shopping center looked musical chairs a few years ago as stores moved to accommodate a larger Giant.

The valet parking is designed to help moms with kids, senior citizens and any other customer that doesn’t  want to spend time looking for parking in the sometimes crowded lot.

“It’s for anyone who doesn’t want to go through the hassle of parking. It (parking) is the biggest complaint of our customers,” Makely said. “It’s a huge problem.”

Shopper Beth Mortman, of McLean, agreed as she held her toddler. “I think its great because you need a second hand and you don’t have it.”

Another shopper Deborah Jett, also of McLean, said, “I think it’s a good idea. It’s very helpful to people with mobility issues and mothers with children.”

The valet service is now free and it’s unclear when they will start charging for the service.

Valet-parking cars will always be parked behind the store, Makely said. They will not take up customers spaces in front of the store.

Why are they following me to my car?

More elevated service at the store. It’s called a carry out service. No tipping is allowed, Makely said.

“We pay our associates enough,” he said. And yes he has told his associates they must follow customers to their cars.

Mortman finds this new service very helpful. “It’s helpful to have someone to take the cart back for you,” she said. She put her groceries in the car, then  asked the nearby Giant associate to take her basket. “They stand at a respectful distance so you don’t feel rushed or pressured,” she said. She liked that she’s didn’t have to leave her small daughter to return the cart.

The  McLean Giant also scored another first: Selling the ultra-expensive Kobe beef. It’s $40 a pound. That’s right — $40 a pound. You’ll find it in the meat section under beef.

More testimony to McLean’s upscale tastes and incomes:

—There are now more than 100 varieties of organic foods, Makely said.

—An  expanded flower section includes fresh roses regularly flown in directly from Columbia, the country in South America.

“This is a higher quality rose. More robust. More colorful,” he explained.

As for new local products, Giant now sells Chicoteague neck clams, and oysters shucked or still in the shell.

Mostly importantly for residents — the very popular Community Bulletin Board is back — on the wall just opposite the Starbucks.