Alexandria Unveils Capital Bikeshare Station Locations

The City of Alexandria will open its Capital Bikeshare network later this year with eight stations in the Old Town area.

The city hosted a Wednesday night open house at where citizens were able to ask questions about the program, which will debut in the spring or summer. Citizens were also able to suggest potential station locations when the city aims to extend its bikeshare network later in the year or in 2013.

The eight station locations that will form Alexandria’s pilot program include:

• King Street Metro station
• Braddock Road Metro station
• Intersection of King and West streets
• King Street between N. Patrick and N. Henry Streets
• Intersection of King and N. Royal streets
• Intersection of N. Union and Cameron streets
• Near at the Intersection of Pendleton and N. St. Asaph streets
• Near the Henry building at Pendleton and N. Henry streets

“The idea is to create a network small enough for success and then to grow from there,” said Sandra Marks, a division chief with Alexandria’s Department of Transportation and Environmental Services.

Station locations are determined by a long list of general and technical criteria, including keeping stations a quarter-mile apart and in an area that receives four hours of sunlight per day to charge the solar-powered stations.

The city has already targeted nine locations for expansion, including Eisenhower Avenue Metro station, three stations in the Carlyle neighborhood, three stations on the south end of Old Town, one near the corner of Queen and Washington streets and one station near the that will be built in the 700 blocks of N. St. Asaph and N. Pitt streets.

For its short-term expansion, the city did not target stations in Del Ray, Arlandria or the far West End.

Charlie Denney, senior associate with Alta Planning and Design, which oversees Capital Bikeshare, said Arlington County is looking to add about 20 more stations to its existing network in the next year. He mentioned the potential for a station at Arlington Ridge Shopping Center just inside the county’s border with Alexandria, but that Arlington staff seems poised to put most of the new stations along the Wilson Boulevard corridor.

Connectivity is an important criteria in determining station locations, and establishment of stations in south Arlington could help spur expansion into the north side of Alexandria.

Councilman Frank Fannon, who attended Wednesday’s open house, said as many as 300 city residents have already signed up for the bikeshare program.

If you’d like to suggest a future Capital Bikeshare station location in Alexandria, click here.