Southern Transitway Extension (Potomac Ave to City of Alexandria)
StatusIn Design
Planning and preliminary base concept design for this project was completed in FY2022.• 15% Concept to 60% Concept - FY2023 into FY2024• 90% to 100% Design – FY2024• Construction – FY2025
About the Project
This project involves planning, designing, and constructing the portion of the Crystal City Potomac Yard Transitway "Segment C" between the Arlington/City of Alexandria border at Four Mile Run and South Glebe Road. The length of the extension in Arlington is approximately 600 feet.
The remainder of Segment C falls within the City of Alexandria. The project consists of repurposing the existing travel lane(s) on Potomac Avenue as transit-only lane(s). The project also includes drainage improvements, paving and pavement marking, bike and pedestrian connections, lighting, and signal modifications.
Project History
Planning for improved surface transit in the Crystal City/Potomac Yard corridor began in earnest in the early 2000s. This early work examined bus and rail improvements connecting the Braddock Road Metro Station area through Potomac Yard to Crystal City, Pentagon City, and the Pentagon. The Transitway serves local travel demand within the corridor, enhances connections to Metrorail and improves connections to Columbia Pike. The extension will provide the necessary transportation capacity to support the infill development in Arlington and the City of Alexandria.
Project Timeline
- 2005: Interim Transit Improvements Plan for Crystal City/Potomac Yard corridor recommends a Transitway, and Crystal City/Potomac Yard Corridor Transit Improvements Project identifies 12th Street South for the alignment of the northern extension of the Transitway from Crystal City to Pentagon City.
- 2009: Crystal City Multimodal Transportation Study, as part of the Crystal City Sector Plan process, studies transitway alignments and identifies 12th Street South as the corridor for future extension of the Transitway to Pentagon City.
- 2010: County Board adopts the Crystal City Sector Plan, which identifies the alignment of the Transitway.
- 2012: Crystal City Potomac Yard Transitway Operations Plan completed.
- April 2016: Crystal City Potomac Yard Transitway opens.
- 2016: County Board adopts the FY 2017-2026 Transit Development Plan and Capital Improvement Plan, which include the Transitway extension project with its alignment via 12th Street South.
- 2018: County Board adopts FY 2019-2028 Capital Improvement Plan, which includes the Southern Transitway Extension to the City of Alexandria.
Public Process
Residents, business owners, building managers and bus riders were involved in the Transitway project’s environmental analysis and the design and locations of the Transitway stations. For more information about this public process, visit Crystal City Potomac Yard Transitway.
- September 2019
- March 2022
Funding
Arlington County’s FY2022 – FY2023 Capital Improvement Plan approved a budget of $8.5 million for this project. The Southern Transitway extension is funded primarily by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT).
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