An Alexandria City Council member has a way to convince downstate lawmakers of the importance of funding Northern Virginia transit.
Councilman Canek Aguirre wants to take them for a ride.
transit
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is giving more time for developers to express interest in bringing a mixed-use project to the Braddock Road Metro station.
Metro extended its request for proposals deadline to Jan. 29, 2027 from the original Dec. 15 deadline. The proposals are sought for a developer to construct a “new mixed-use, transit-oriented development” on the Metro-owned kiss-and-ride lot.
Virginia’s renewed efforts to win regional support for the contentious I-495 Southside Express Lanes project will focus more aggressively on minimizing negative consequences along the 11-mile route, the state’s top transportation official says.
“We will always look to reduce any of those types of impacts,” Secretary of Transportation Nick Donohue said at a meeting last Wednesday (Oct. 21) of the region’s Transportation Planning Board (TPB).
Alexandria leaders have joined counterparts from across the region in voicing reservations about a proposed consolidation of local bus systems in Northern Virginia.
If enacted, the proposal would roll Alexandria’s DASH system into a broader future operation spanning two counties and two cities that would have a service area totaling about 450 square miles and a population of more than 1.5 million.
As DASH Bus reels from a $3.3 million overspending error in the last fiscal year, the Alexandria transit agency is considering service changes to mitigate current budget challenges.
On Wednesday (Oct. 14), the DASH Board of Directors pre-authorized a package of service cuts. The changes are intended to address a $2.4 million shortfall in the current operating budget.
A key Alexandria leader wants the planned Route 7 bus rapid transit (BRT) network to serve as a statewide transportation blueprint.
Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley said the Tysons to Alexandria BRT initiative represents a “landmark project” others will be able to learn from.
Alexandria Metro riders looking for that Yellow Line shortcut into D.C. won’t find it this weekend.
Metro announced Yellow Line service will be shut down Saturday, Sept. 19 and Sunday, Sept. 20. That’s due to planned bridge and track rehabilitation, according to the transit agency.
As the state studies a potential consolidation of several Northern Virginia bus systems, year-over-year data showed Alexandria’s DASH continues to see ridership growth.
The data presented to the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission on Sept. 3 focused on transit providers in Northern Virginia — Arlington Transit, City of Fairfax CUE, Alexandria DASH, Fairfax Connector, Loudoun County Transit, Metro and Virginia Railway Express.
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Alexandria Union Station will be busier than usual for nine days in October as it replaces D.C.’s Union Station for some Amtrak trips.
Amtrak announced Monday that it will be replacing aging track components for nine days, prompting a service suspension at the control point between D.C. and Virginia. Work will start after service ends on Friday, Oct. 16 and be completed before morning service on Monday, Oct. 26.
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An IndyCar in the Freedom 250 Grand Prix will be making its way from the King Street Metro station in Alexandria this morning (Aug. 20).
Metro said the IndyCar will make its way through the Yellow Line between the King Street Metro and D.C.’s Mount Vernon Square. The trip will happen between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m., and there will be brief stops at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and L’Enfant Plaza stations. A return trip from Mount Vernon Square is expected to end by 12 p.m.
The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, on Thursday (July 9) unanimously approved a $15 million allocation toward the Duke Street Transitway Project.
With the allocation, NVTA has funded $102 million for the $102.5 million project, which will add more than four miles of bus rapid transit lanes along Duke Street between the King Street-Old Town Metro station and the city’s border with Fairfax County near the former Landmark Mall site. The project has been in the works for years and is in the design phase. The estimated completion date for the new lanes is Dec. 31, 2029.