| Dulles
Rail Could Extend Into Washington |
By Erick Soricelli
Observer Staff Writer |
| The Metro rail line planned along the Dulles Corridor could
also continue into Washington, D.C., reaching the Stadium-Armory
station near RFK Stadium, a Virginia transportation official
told a group of business leaders and government officials
Friday, May 13. |
| Sam Carnaggio, the extension project director for the Virginia
Department of Rail and Public Transportation, joined local,
state and federal officials at a presentation sponsored by
the Greater Reston, Herndon Dulles, Loudoun County and Central
Fairfax chambers of commerce at the Hyatt Dulles hotel in
Herndon. |
| The Dulles rail project is planned in two phases, with the
first extending west from a point on the Orange line west
of the East Falls Church station through Tysons Corner to
Wiehle Avenue. The second phase is planned to continue west
through Reston, Herndon and past Dulles International Airport
to Loudoun County. |
| A third phase under consideration by Metro and Virginia
would extend the new line into the district. It would run
on the same track as the Orange line to the Rosslyn station,
where the Orange and Blue lines merge. It would then share
the Orange and Blue line tracks into the district. |
| Extending the planned Dulles Corridor line into D.C. for
the first time would put three lines on the same route. |
| Metro operates two lines along several portions of its existing
routes, but not three. |
| Shiva Pant, government relations officer for Metro's Virginia
Office of Intergovernmental Relations, said the agency plans
to alternate northbound Blue line trains from the Franconia-Springfield
station between using the Blue and Yellow lines, which share
tracks from King Street station in Alexandria to the Pentagon
station in Arlington. |
| From the Pentagon station, some Blue line trains would continue
to Rosslyn, while others would be switched to the Yellow line
path toward the district's L'Enfant Plaza station, Pant said. |
| The project's first phase is expected to be complete in
2011 and the second in 2015. "We have a very aggressive
schedule," said Karen Rae, director of the Virginia Department
of Rail and Public Transportation. "All our estimates
are based on federal funding. Every year we delay this project,
the costs go up." |
| For the Wiehle station, Fairfax County issued a joint development
solicitation for developer proposals in March, said Rick Stevens,
the extension project manager for the county Department of
Transportation. Proposals are due in June, with developer
selection expected in February 2006, Stevens added. |
| Preliminary site plans for the Wiehle stop call for nearly
2,330 parking spaces north of the station at the existing
Reston East Park and Ride commuter lot site. The station is
expected to span the Dulles Airport Access Road, with walkways
extending north to parking and bus sites. |
| "When the site gets developed, we'll lose about 850
parking spaces," Stevens said. "What we're doing
now is looking at three alternative parking sites, and they're
fairly close to the station." |
| In an interview, Stevens said the 850 parking spaces would
be lost during construction and replaced with the station
spaces. |
| Three sites are under consideration to compensate for the
lost spaces: the parking lot at the northwest corner of Wiehle
and Sunset Hills Road, the Reston South Park and Ride commuter
lot and the Herndon-Monroe commuter lot. |
| Loudoun County Administrator Kirby Bowers said the Dulles
North Transit Center commuter lot, near Old Ox Road and the
Dulles Greenway in Sterling, would be the site of a Metro
parking garage for the planned Route 606 station. |
| Although eight of the planned 11 stations will be in Fairfax
County, Bowers said Loudoun residents still need Metro as
much. |
| "The vast majority of home-to-work trips will be centered
around the Dulles Corridor," he said. |
| "Since 1995, our commuter bus system has increased
tenfold in patronage," Kirby added. |
