flyer703

Cool! I hope you're right and that a lot of people use it to go into DC/MD. Anything we can do to get traffic off the airport road and beltway is great.

DELee

As one who traverses the roadways of the DMV regularly as a visitor - Ha!

There's two really bad times of day - around 7 to 10 am and 2 to 7 pm. Otherwise I see busy at times and impacts of accidents on the various roadways and beltway but the (busy/rush hours) traffic doesn't continue throughout the day or deep into the night.

There's a whole bunch of y'all who are quite dependent on the Metro as well as the federal workers who clock in at 8 am and crowd the highways and roadways at 5 pm.

Anyway, will the Silver Line have a great impact on traffic reduction. Personally, I don't think so given the build up around its stations in the adjacent NVA suburbs.

David

whlinder

Separate from the metro (please open already!), no real impact but just informational, Runway 12-30 is having some work done and is closed. I can't find official links except this one https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/fi...act_Report.pdf which does not have confirmed dates, but have certainly noticed departure traffic changes this month.

flyer703

I think you're right... in the short term. But as development occurs along the new stations and when/IF WMATA ever gets their sh** together, I think there is a real opportunity to offload traffic from the Airport Road, beltway, and I-66. Let's check back into this post in another 10 years and see what happened

LETTERBOY

You can't possibly believe there's a realistic chance of that.

djp98374

i live less than a quarter mile from Braddock metro station. Ive been using metro regularly during Covid to go to work. I look out my window I’m about 100 yards from the track.

i own a car, but I’ve been living pretty much carless the last 4 years. The car has been paid off for a while. I look at driving the car as taking the dog out for a walk.

i just missed being on the derailed blue line train that caused the shut down of the newer trains. I was on the one before that one.

I’ve lived around DC for over half of the last 25 years. Previously I live near Tysons inside the beltway near falls church.

A coworker of mine, her husband was the manager in building the parking garages for the unopened silver line stations. That has bern completed. They live in the residential area near one of the stations after Dulles in ashburn. All that area is residential. They might have a few small areas zoned to build some condos/ apartment buildings.

silverline going through middle of the toll road really limits the amount of build up near the stations. You might get a few building built right near the station but now with Covid and more teleworking this probably changes potential plans. Near the metro stations you might get more hotels opening near the stations for the tourist industry with easy metro access. For both tourists and locals who do night stays pre/ post flights.

if it was put in without the toll road or the toll road was on one side you could get some development. This isn’t a rural area or urban blight area where there could be a motivation fir development. There might be some small pockets of land bought.

along Dulles toll road west of Reston…you have various corporate office buildings along the local roads that are right next to north and south of Dulles toll road.

that part of silverline just isn’t capable of dense development without major changes that I just don’t see happening. What’s more likely is garage/ parking expansion.



the land between Tyson’s and Reston is the wolf trap area…also not zoned for development

djp98374

there might be some impact for those going to Tysons area who live in the Herndon-ashburn area. The key is how close their building is to metro or the efficiency of bus lines.

other factor is employer coverage in using public transportation. The federal government gives federal employees up to $240 ( I think) a month to use subway/ buses/commuter trains. This is untaxed and not part of income. They also cover things like van pools.

metro to Dulles is mainly for tourists/ traveler traffic. I’m curious in the plan for the new trains if the do some that are custom designed around airport travelers like the first and last cars have luggage areas instead of seats.

my coworker who lives in ashburn has been using the Loudon express buses to DC pre- Covid.

the big unknown is with telework. Do workers stay at home or go into work.



the issue now is the lack of trains with the 7000 not running. When those get back into service I can see Dulles opening.

the metro to Dulles was designed around the international tourists.

blockski

There is a ton of new development planned (and already underway) around the Silver Line stations. It's happening.

At the Reston Town Center station, there's the first phase of the expansion of the Town Center itself, which is just one development of many on that side of the toll road. On the south side, there are a couple of very large development projects next to the station entrance. There are plans for the Herndon-Monroe and for the Innovation station as well, not to mention Ashburn.

I don't see construction of any new park and ride facilities beyond what's already been built.

SandBoxJohn

Silver Line Extension transferred to Metro's control
Press Release
06 23 2022
wmata.com

Metro took control of the Silver Line Extension today at 6:00 a.m. This milestone, known as the "Operational Readiness Date" (ORD), marks the point where provisional care and control of the Extension – including six new Silver Line stations, 11.4 miles of new track, and a new rail yard – is formally transferred from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) to Metro.

The opening date for passenger service will follow an action by Metro’s Board of Directors on the final acceptance of the line from MWAA.

“This milestone enables our team to test the tracks and systems, train and familiarize our workforce on yard operations, mainline and stations and ensure that we provide safe and reliable service for customers on the extension,” said Interim General Manager and CEO Andy Off. “We look forward to opening the new stations soon and delivering high quality rail connections to Dulles Airport and Loudoun County.”

“We are one step closer to extending our service offerings to customers that have long awaited access to Metro,” said Board Chairman Paul C. Smedberg. “While there is still more work to do, achieving this milestone towards opening the Silver Line Extension will create jobs, improve economic vitality and increase ridership for the region. We appreciate the support and understanding of our jurisdictional partners and customers as we work towards project completion.”

The Silver Line Extension will connect the Metrorail system with Herndon, Washington Dulles International Airport and points in Loudoun County, Va. The six new rail stations are: Reston Town Center, Herndon, Innovation Center, Washington Dulles International Airport, Loudoun Gateway, and Ashburn. The Extension also includes a new, 90-acre rail yard with storage capacity for 168 railcars and new maintenance facilities to service, inspect and clean the trains.

Click here for an .

The first phase of the Silver Line opened in July 2014, adding five new Metrorail stations, and introducing Silver Line service to the Metrorail system. Silver Line service currently operates from Largo Town Center Station, through Washington, DC, and terminates at Wiehle-Reston East Station. The second phase, referred to as the Silver Line Extension, will add six stations beyond Wiehle-Reston East, as well as a new, modern rail yard. Both phases of the project were constructed by MWAA and turned over to Metro for operation.

Find additional information about the Silver Line Extension and sign up to receive regular updates on progress toward opening at wmata.com/silverline.

###

silverthief2

Long time coming. Sadly I moved to DEN before the Silver Line extension ever opened, but will use when I visit.

BZRORG

Looks like Dulles is getting $50m for a new concourse from the FAA through a grant.

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/...-improvements/

danib62

Good, the replacement of the windowless box they call concourse C/D is long overdue.

djp98374

Prediction—-Silver line opens the same time Potomac yards opens. Thry update station maps at the same time including the renaming of white flint to something else ( think north Bethesda)

danib62

That would make way too much sense. Clearly we need to go through 3 different iterations of the map!

flyer703

Unfortunately, the grant is to replace the A gates with a new commuter terminal, not replace the box they call concourse C/D. Seems like IAD users will be stuck with that dump for the indefinite future.