Extending Metrorail to Prince William County will be the focus of a virtual meeting tonight.
The Prince William Conservation Alliance will host an online discussion about the possibility of extending the heavy-rail system, which ferries passengers in and out of Washington, D.C., south from Springfield to Woodbridge.
The alliance says the county’s comprehensive plan does not dot concentrate development of new homes in the suburban eastern side of the county, where a new Metro extension could be built.
Charlie Grymes, Transportation Chair at the Prince William Conservation Alliance, tells Potomac Local News:
Extending Metro to Prince William County will cost $20-30 billion. To compete for state and Federal grants, the county will need to demonstrate that there will be enough potential Metro customers living close to the proposed stations. Current land use plan scatters new development rather than concentrates it near proposed Metro station sites. The 2040 Comprehensive Plan can focus growth and increase potential to get $20-30 billion – or spread new development elsewhere and thus sabotage extension of Metro.
Prince William County Neabsco District Supervisor Victor Angry will provide opening remarks at tonight’s meeting, starting at 7 p.m.
Click this link to join the meeting.
It’s estimated a Metro extension to Prince William County could cost as much as $30 billion, according to the 2021 Springfield to Quantico Enhanced Public Transportation Feasibility Study.
If built, Metro is also expected to drain the county transportation’s budget, sucking at least $100 million — half of the department’s annual budget. Those funds are currently used to maintain the county’s existing road network.
Extending Metro to Woodbridge or Quantico would put the project in the same ballpark as the 23-mile Dulles Corridor Metrorail extension (the Silver Line) to Dulles Airport and Loudoun County, said BeBruhl. That project began in 2009, and the final phase is expected to open soon.
As reported in November 2021, the study showed a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) would be a more cost-effective transportation solution for eastern Prince William County. A map in the study shows the bus serving the North Woodbridge at the Woodbridge Virginia Railway Express Station, over to Potomac Mills, and Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center at Stonebridge (Wegmans/Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center), continuing south on Route 1 to Triangle.
Fairfax County will soon implement BRT on Route 1 in Hybla Valley, south of Alexandria. On Friday, February 25, county leaders revealed the new name of the rapid bus service, aptly calling it “The One.”
