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On Alexandria's Wish List: 2 New Metro Stations

METRORAIL RIDERS who head through Alexandria might someday have to stop at two new stations being proposed for the Blue and Yellow lines at Potomac Yard and in the Eisenhower Avenue corridor. The city council has given approval to a plan that would have developers near the proposed sites help finance the construction of the two stations, as the Examiner reported on Monday:

City Council members have instructed staff to add language to Alexandria's draft master transportation plan that would bar the city from approving development ... unless the development clearly contributes to the funding and building of a Metro station.
Blue and Yellow Line trains run through stretches of track where stations can be miles apart, as is the case with Eisenhower Avenue, King Street, Braddock Road and Reagan National Airport.

But don't expect stations to materialize in the near term: They cost about $100 million a piece and would take years of planning to make a reality.

Over the years, a section of Potomac Yard, once the largest rail complex on the East Coast, has been transformed into campus of Big Box retailers and other businesses. But planners in Alexandria and Arlington County, where Potomac Yard ends at Crystal City, have a vision for denser development that is slowly coming together. In recent years, new mixed-use development has gone up in Arlington's section of Potomac Yard, while Alexandria has been rebuilding infrastructure to accommodate new development. Last fall, Route 1 was realigned over a new viaduct at Monroe Avenue.

A bus rapid transit link connecting Metrorail's Braddock Road and Pentagon City stations via Crystal City and Potomac Yard, has been proposed, serving new development in the corridor.

While a new Metrorail station at Potomac Yard has been previously proposed, Alexandria's new effort to finance the new stations is the strongest attempt to add a so-called "in-fill" station in many years.

In 2004, Metro opened its New York Avenue-Florida Avenue-Gallaudet University station on the Red Line, the system's first in-fill station, which has helped spark new development north of Union Station, including the new fortress-headquarters for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

» "Alexandria Officials Tie Development to New Stations" [Examiner]

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COMMENTS (3)

  • awesome! i've always said that the big-box hell there on route 1 should have a metro station. the enormous number of cars with DC plates there could have been cut down with a lot of people taking the train to get there.

    of course, as DCUSA comes online in columbia heights, the need for us wahingtonians to head over there will become less and less...

    By IMGoph , Posted February 5, 2008 11:53 AM

  • Why would it cost 100 million dollars to build a station similar to King street station? 100 million buys a lot of material all the infastructure (track) is already there, could someone tell us how the cost breaks down.

    Thank you

    By Jonathan , Posted February 6, 2008 11:26 AM

  • I can't answer the cost question in detail but the New York Avenue-Florida Avenue-Gallaudet University in-fill station on the Red Line, which opened in 2004, cost $109.9 million, which was financed through a public-private partnership. When you consider the physical construction — which involves realigning track — plus mechanical upgrades, escalators, elevators and everything else, it's not dirt cheap to build new stations.

    By mgrass , Posted February 6, 2008 11:39 AM
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