Public Invited to Potomac Yard Metro Station Meeting

Alexandria is inviting the public to learn more about the proposed Potomac Yard Metro station and the environmental planning process on Monday, June 10 at City Hall.

The Potomac Yard Metrorail Implementation Group meeting, to be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Council Workroom, is open to the public and will offer an update on the project.

• Check out the Del Ray Patch topic page concerning Potomac Yard

Last month, the city announced the process of determining the location and type of Metrorail station at Potomac Yard had suffered a delay after two of the agencies participating in the project—the Federal Transit Administration and National Park Service—recommended changes and amendments to the draft of an environmental impact study. The draft statement assesses everything from sound and noise issues to air quality and wetland impacts related to a station.  

• See: Potomac Yard Metro Station Project Receives Delay

The additional work pushed back a series of planned public meetings to the fall. Project planners did not want to hold the outreach over the summer, when fewer residents would be in town. The workshops will allow community stakeholders to ask specific questions about the draft statement and the process of building a station. Following the workshops, a public hearing will be held.

Prior to the announced delay, the city had planned to begin construction on the station in 2014 with it opening in early-to-mid 2017—if all went according to plan.

“We’re hoping [the delay] won’t have a big impact,” Sandra Marks, acting deputy director of the Alexandria’s Department of Transportation and Environmental Services, told Patch in May. “It’s a couple of months and, if this is the only delay, it’s not going to be critical.”

The city will likely determine a locally preferred alternative between three station designs and locations later this year. A no-build option remains in play, but City Council has made the construction of a station one of its top capital improvement priorities over the next two years.

• See: Euille Touts Transportation Investments at Potomac Yard

Projected costs vary between the three station alternatives—two at-grade stations east of the CSX tracks and a third aerial station to the west of the tracks. Early projections are currently between $195 million and $462 million, with the aerial station carrying the higher price tag.

City officials said last year that the high cost of the aerial station—which could balloon to $538 million—would likely push it out of consideration.