Work begins on phase 2 of McLean affordable housing development
Construction has started on the second phase of the two-phase Somos at McLean Metro, an affordable housing development backed by Amazon.com, SCG Development, a Tysons real estate developer, announced last week. Work on the 231-unit first phase began in April. Phase B will add 225 new units, a mix of studio and one-, two- and […]
Metro passes $4.8B budget for FY25
Metro’s board of directors on Thursday passed a $4.8 billion capital and operations budget for fiscal year 2025, which avoids massive service cuts, although fares will increase by 12.5% beginning July 1. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which oversees the Metrorail and Metrobus public transportation systems, had warned of “catastrophic” cuts to service because [...]
Potomac Yard-VT Metro station opens in Alexandria
In its heyday during World War II, Potomac Yard handled freight for six different railroads and employed 1,500 workers to keep trains moving, until it succumbed to economic pressures. On Friday, after decades of planning, the transformed former rail switching yard opened as Metro‘s 98th station, serving the Yellow and Blue lines between the Braddock […]
Potomac Yard Metro station opening May 19
Potomac Yard Metro station will open May 19, Alexandria’s mayor and Metro’s CEO announced Wednesday. Metro’s 98th station, it will be located near Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus and Amazon.com Inc.’s Arlington HQ2 East Coast headquarters. “Our team is working hard to put the finishing touches on the station, and we look forward to welcoming customers [&hellip[...]
Potomac Yard Metro station set to open in May 2023
After more than two decades of planning, Alexandria’s Potomac Yard Metro station has a finalized opening date — May 2023 — according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which announced its plans Tuesday. The station, Metrorail’s 98th in the Washington, D.C., region, was originally set to open in spring 2022. It will serve the […]
Metro opens $3B Silver Line extension
As a cold rain fell around noon Tuesday, leaders from Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority cut the ribbon on the $3 billion second phase of Metro‘s Silver Line, extending rail service 11.4 miles to six stations and stretching into Loudoun County. Minutes later, they crowded onto a 7000-series train […]
Silver lining
As the long-delayed phase two opening of Metro‘s Silver Line extension is set for later this year in western Fairfax and Loudoun counties, a development boom is following on the train’s wheels. Reston and Herndon, as well as eastern Loudoun, have already attracted big corporate tenants to millions of square feet of office space, retail […]
Metro bringing back first group of 7000-series trains
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority announced Wednesday that it will return eight 7000-series trains to service on Thursday, months after all 748 railcars were taken off track due to a wheel malfunction that caused a derailment near Arlington National Cemetery. The return of eight trains — with eight railcars each — to service comes […]
Metro CEO, COO resign, effective immediately
Paul J. Wiedefeld, general manager and CEO of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, is stepping aside, effective immediately instead of June 30, as he had planned, according to a statement he released Monday night. “I have decided to make my retirement effective today to provide a more timely transition to Interim General Manager Andy […]
Metro announces next general manager, CEO
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s new general manager and CEO is Randy Clarke, the current president and CEO of Austin, Texas’ Capital Metro. The board of the authority, which runs Metrorail and Metrobus, announced Tuesday that Clarke will assume the position in late summer. Metro’s current general manager and CEO, Paul J. Wiedefeld, announced in […]
Metro releases 10-year strategic plan for development
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which runs Metrorail and Metrobus, released its first-ever strategic plan for joint development on Thursday, announcing an ambitious initiative to bring in 26,000 new housing units in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. The document says that 40 Metro stations — including six in Northern Virginia — have more than […]
Metro delays create hassles for businesses, workers
Metrorail delays played a factor in Danielle Romanetti’s decision at the beginning of the year to close fibre space, her Old Town Alexandria yarn and knitting supplies shop, an hour earlier each day. “We now close at [7 p.m.] instead of [8 p.m.], just so staff can get home in time to eat a proper […]