With nearly 90,000 aircraft that fly in and out of the Manassas Regional Airport, which sits on nearly 1,000 acres of land, injecting some $375 million into the local economy each year, officials there say it’s time for the state’s only commuter railroad to recognize its size.
The airport’s operations board has asked Virginia Railway Express to remove the “Broad Run” portion of the name of the commuter railroad station, leaving only the airport’s name, dubbing it “Manassas Airport Station.”
The Broad Run is the creek that flows nearby the stations and often overflows its banks during heavy rains, blocking access to and from the station from Piper Lane.
Here’s the full PDF resolution from the airport operations board. The airport commission will vote on the measure at its Thursday meeting.
If VRE officials decide to change the name, it would come as the agency is spending up to $30 million to add 600 new parking spaces on the opposite side of the track where the current parking lot sits today, and a new pedestrian tunnel under the track so riders can get to the station platform.
The existing parking lot will be razed to make room for new track, providing storage for more trains during middays and weekends when VRE trails aren’t rolling.
The work should be completed by 2022, just in time for the opening of the new E-ZPass Express Lanes on Interstate 66 outside the Capital Beltway.
The private firm that will operate the lanes paid for the station expansion in hopes the new spaces will encourage more people to get off the highway to take the train, making room for more drivers on the road who are willing to pay tolls.
