A Metro study that looked at extending rail service in the Washington region recommends expanding the Blue Line to National Harbor and creating a long-mentioned station in Georgetown.
Metro board members Thursday will discuss the results of a two-year study they commissioned before the pandemic to evaluate six options to dealing with crowded stations on the Blue, Orange and Silver lines. Trains and stations on the three lines, which share one set of tracks through much of the District, have exceeded capacity during peak hours for years, Metro said.
Cities and counties along the lines predict the corridor will add 37 percent more people and 30 percent more jobs by 2040, according to the study.
The Metro study identified a preferred route that would align the Blue Line from Arlington Cemetery to a second Rosslyn station. The line would then continue northeast through a new Potomac River tunnel into Georgetown to Union Station. From there, it would extend south to the Waterfront and Navy Yard, drop down to National Harbor in Prince George’s County, before crossing the Woodrow Wilson Bridge to Alexandria and north to the Pentagon.
It would cost between $20 billion and $25 billion to build and between $175 million and $200 million annually to operate, according to a report Metro staff prepared for board members. Of all options considered, it would create the biggest ridership growth — an estimated 180,000 new weekday trips — as it would create new rail access to areas where development is booming, such as Buzzard Point, near St. Elizabeths Hospital and National Harbor.
“As evaluated, the new Blue Line to National Harbor would deliver the highest level of benefits relative to the other options,” Metro planners said in the report. The line “would include new rail stations in areas targeted for growth and development, has the greatest impact in terms of expanding access to jobs” and would bring rail service to lower-income “Equity Emphasis Areas,” the report said.
Transportation planners say Metro can’t account for growth along the Blue, Silver and Orange line corridors without an expansion because the lines are often at capacity.
To develop a solution, the transit agency has held nearly 30 meetings or workshops with elected officials, business owners and residents since summer 2019. That process whittled down ideas to six alternatives that included doing nothing, enhancing commuter and bus rapid transit service and creating tunnels and tracks that would run to destinations in suburban Maryland and Virginia.
Metro officials said the study is ongoing, and various options continue to be evaluated.
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“Following extensive outreach and input from the community, local and government stakeholders and others over the past two years, Metro has identified six alternatives for further evaluation,” Metro spokeswoman Sherri Ly said. “No final decision has been made.”
Metro Board Chairman Paul C. Smedberg did not return a request for comment.
District officials are eyeing a site that Georgetown leaders hope could allow Metro to expand. The D.C. Council set aside $10 million in its 2022 budget to buy a former Exxon gas station property across from the Francis Scott Key Bridge at 3607 M Street NW, where District officials envision a landing spot for a proposed cable-propelled transit system between Rosslyn and Georgetown.
Business leaders say the site could also house a long-coveted Metro station. Joe Sternlieb, president and chief executive of the Georgetown Business Improvement District, said last month the property “might be in the near-term for a gondola, but it will certainly be in the longer-term for Metro.”
The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, the union that represents most of Metro’s workers, supported an expansion of the Blue Line, saying it would alleviate traffic congestion. The project would also result in scores of new jobs.
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“Local 689 strongly supports expanding Metrorail and hopes that proposals for its expansion prioritizes the underserved parts of D.C. and Maryland,” Local ATU President Raymond Jackson said in a statement. “We understand that it takes valuable time, energy, and resources to expand rapid rail transit, but a failure to expand the system now will only lead to future generations of this region’s residents stuck in total gridlock.”
After settling on a route and getting necessary approvals — a process that would take years — such a project could then take about two decades to build.
Concerns that the coronavirus pandemic has permanently altered transit patterns — with lower demand stemming from more office workers teleworking — is something planners say Metro can watch for while moving forward with a long-range project that could be discontinued before the start of expensive construction.
“The pandemic has changed ridership patterns making it more challenging to forecast future transportation demand,” Metro staff planners wrote. “However, because an effective solution to the challenges in the corridor could take 10 to 20 years or more to deliver, project development work will continue … unless and until it becomes clear improvements will not be necessary.”
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