As planning efforts move eastward toward Alexandria, the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) has embarked on a new round of community engagement in its Envision Route 7 effort to upgrade transit options.
Both in-person and online opportunities will be available over the next month, focused on the eastern portions of what will become a 14-mile bus rapid transit (BRT) line running from Tysons to Alexandria’s Mark Center.
NVTC has opened an online feedback form, asking questions about how users of Route 7 bus networks between Seven Corners and Alexandria’s Mark Center/Southern Towers areas currently interact with the system and what they would like to see in the future.
Last October, a community forum was held in Culmore to gather community input on what planners hope will evolve into a bus rapid transit system running for 14 miles between Tysons and Mark Center in Alexandria.
“Last fall, the team asked residents, business owners and visitors along the Route 7 corridor to share their vision for transit improvements,” transit officials said in laying out upcoming opportunities. “Now, we’re back to share feedback results, project updates and gather additional input.”
The form is available in English, Spanish, Amharic and Vietnamese.
Route 7 is home to the highest-ridership bus route in Northern Virginia — Metrobus’s F20 (formerly 28A) service — which currently runs at a 12-minute daytime frequency between Tysons and the King Street-Old Town Metro station.
As a stopgap, the Envision Route 7 initiative is working toward short-term improvements seen as a foundational step toward a full bus rapid transit network. To date, 10 capital projects have been funded with a direct link to improving bus transit service along the proposed Route 7 BRT corridor.
Planning has been conducted in stages, moving west to east from Fairfax County into Falls Church, Arlington and Alexandria. Ownership of roadways along the route is split between the Virginia Department of Transportation and the cities of Falls Church and Alexandria.
Fairfax County’s plan for BRT in the Tysons area extends service north of Tysons on International Drive and would connect the Spring Hill and Tysons Metro stations.
Service also deviates from Route 7 briefly to connect to the East Falls Church Metro station before returning to the corridor. Alexandria will likely provide connecting service between Mark Center and the King Street Metro station.
An open house related to the segment from Seven Corners to Mark Center is scheduled for Tuesday, June 9, from 5–7 p.m. at Ellen Coolidge Burke Branch Library (4701 Seminary Road).
It will be a drop-in format with no formal program, but attendees will have the opportunity to discuss the project with transit leaders and review design options.
“You can review the design options and tell us what you think of them,” NVTC officials said.
Pop-up events and bus-stop chats in the corridor are also planned through June.
