Streamlined Metro Proposals Could Result in New Stations in Georgetown and Union Market

• September 7th 2021

by Nena Perry-Brown

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In 2019, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) released a study floating some ambitious proposals to alleviate congestion on the Blue, Orange and Silver lines.

Now, six more streamlined iterations of those proposals — most starting with a second Metro stop in Rosslyn and an underground Metro stop in Georgetown — are moving forward for a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in hopes of identifying the best option to implement over the next decade or two.

The Blue Line to Greenbelt option would take the Blue Line from Arlington Cemetery Metro station to a second Rosslyn station with a pedestrian link to the existing station. The route would then go to Georgetown and continue down M Street, connecting at Mount Vernon Square and Union Station, then adding additional stops at Union Market and Ivy City. The line would then add stops at Port Towns and Hyattsville in Prince George's County before connecting to new stops at College Park and Greenbelt.

The Blue Line to National Harbor option would begin identically to the above proposal, then after Union Station, the route would turn south, connecting with Navy Yard Metro and continuing to create new stops at Buzzard Point, St. Elizabeths, and a few stops later, National Harbor. The line would then cross the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and end up in Alexandria around Huntington.

The Silver Line Express option would construct a separate tunnel for the Silver Line at West Falls Church station, creating an express route that goes to the second Rosslyn station, then more or less following the Blue Line to Greenbelt route through Georgetown, to Ivy City, and bending north to new stops in Prince George's County.

The Silver Line to New Carrollton option would split the Silver and Orange lines at Clarendon Metro station, again creating a second Rosslyn station, going through Georgetown to Union Station, Union Market and Ivy City. Then, after the route goes to a new Port Towns station in Prince George's County, the line would roughly follow Annapolis Road to join the Orange Line at the existing New Carrollton Metro station.

The other two alternatives are the "Lower Capital Cost Alternative", which would increase bus network capacity and improve rail scheduling to alleviate congestion on the BOS lines, and a no-build option.

The CBA ranks the Blue Line to National Harbor option as having the highest benefit, ostensibly producing 180,000 new weekday trips compared to 139,000 for the second-highest benefit Silver Line Express option. The Lower Capital Cost Alternative is the most cost-effective and the Blue Line to National Harbor is the second most cost-effective. Both the Blue Line to National Harbor and the Silver Line Express would cost $20-25 billion to construct.

The CBA will be presented to the Metro Board this week and is expected to be open for public feedback this fall in order to identify the "locally-preferred alternative" (LPA). The Board would then vote on whether to pursue that LPA in winter 2022.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/how-new-metro-proposals-could-result-in-stations-in-georgetown-and-union-ma/18667.