New, cheaper design
In an effort to cut $380 million in costs, Alexandria announced last May that they were scaling back the design of the Potomac Yard Metro station, without consulting the public which became something of a scandal. Among the items cut were the pedestrian and bicycle bridge.
In April, city officials announced that bids received for the project had significantly exceeded its initial budget of $268 million, and said changes to the design were necessary to bring down the cost. Even with the scaled-back design, the project is estimated to cost $52 million more than the initial budget.
The old design had the bridge on the south side and the question at the time was whether or not to keep it open 24/7 or not.
Old design
The new station design, as seen at the top, has no separate pedestrian and cyclist bridge. This despite being adjacent to the Potomac Yard Trail and a short distance (though unreachable) from the Mt. Vernon Trail.
The station will continue to have entrances from both sides of the rail tracks and allow pedestrians and bicycles to cross without entering faregates (although I'm not sure if that is 24/7 access or not). On the west side, they'll either use a ramp, an elevator, an escalator or stairs to get up to the bridge (that they're now calling a pedestrian/bicycle bridge), then cross over, where they can then find their way to the ground and a nice cycletrack (for some reason) to take them to the Potomac Greens neighborhood, but that's a definite step down in service.
East side/Potomac Greens entrance with a cycletrack up to the door.
On the east side, there are options for either a ramp to a spot near the trail or farther in a tower with an elevator and stairs. Obviously the ramp is better for cyclists.
Construction of the station, once slated to open in 2016, has been delayed multiple times in recent years, frustrating residents and city officials. Metro now says construction will begin in the spring and the station will open in early 2022.
Alexandria is expected to hold public hearings on the design changes this fall and address plans to improve access from the south to the station’s north entrance.
The next meeting of the Potomac Yard Metrorail Improvement Group is next Monday, scheduled for Monday, October 29 from 7 to 9 p.m., at the Charles Houston Recreation Center, Preschool Room (901 Wythe Street).
Could you invert one of the photos so they are both oriented the same way. This would make it easier to see/evaluate the proposed changes.
Posted by: KC | October 26, 2018 at 08:17 AM
I'm waiting for the final design, when they announce there are actually no entrances to the station at all.
Posted by: Bill | October 26, 2018 at 08:30 AM