[Archived] City of Alexandria Seeks Feedback on Draft Mitigation Plan for Metrorail Summer Platform Work

For Immediate Release: March 5, 2019

The City of Alexandria is requesting input from residents, businesses and commuters on its draft mitigation plan to address a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) project that will close Alexandria Metrorail stations this summer. The Platform Improvement Project will significantly impact travel throughout the region, and the mitigation plan outlines transportation alternatives, such as expanded local bus, trolley and water taxi service; improved management of traffic flow; an emphasis on rideshare, pedestrian, bicycle and mobility device use; and encouragement of telework and alternate commuting schedules.

Both the draft mitigation plan and a feedback form are available at alexandriava.gov/GOAlex. The form will be open through Wednesday, March 20, and the Alexandria City Council will discuss the plan and community feedback at its regular meeting on March 26. The current draft incorporates feedback from an initial round of public input and outreach in November, including a survey that received nearly 3,000 responses.

WMATA, which operates the Metrorail, Metrobus and MetroAccess system in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, is closing all Metrorail stations south of the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Station between May 25 and September 2. This includes the Braddock Road, King St-Old Town, Van Dorn Street, and Eisenhower Avenue stations in Alexandria, and the Huntington and Franconia-Springfield stations in Fairfax County. The work will allow WMATA to address necessary reconstruction of outdoor station platforms, and the unprecedented station closures will be significantly faster, safer and less expensive than performing the equivalent work only overnight or on weekends.

The City of Alexandria understands the need for investment in the Metrorail system to get it back to a state of good repair, but also recognizes that station closures will be challenging for riders. Using lessons learned during WMATA’s shorter station closures and schedule changes during the SafeTrack initiative in 2016 and 2017, the City is working on measures to mitigate the impact of this summer’s work on Alexandria riders and provide transportation alternatives.

For updates and information about the Metrorail Platform Improvement Project and how the City is working to minimize disruption and provide transportation alternatives during this work, visit alexandriava.gov/GOAlex.

For media inquiries, contact Craig Fifer, Director of Communications and Public Information, at craig.fifer@alexandriava.gov or 703.746.3965.