Alexandria Metro Station Shutdown Planned In Fall For Potomac Yard Metro Work

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Metro's announcement of construction priorities for 2022 will have a significant impact on train service in Alexandria this fall.

The Potomac Yard Metro station on the Blue and Yellow Lines will open in fall 2022, although an exact opening date has not been announced. From Sept. 10 to Oct. 22, Metro will build "tie-in" tracks connecting the new station with the current Metro tracks. That will require a shutdown of rail service south of Reagan National Airport from Sept. 10 to Oct. 22. Other work will include engineering, testing and commissioning to integrate the track, power communications and signal systems. Following the connection, Metro will do additional testing and training before determining when service to the station can begin.

Other work beginning Sept. 10 will be renovations of the Yellow Line bridge over the Potomac River and tunnels between Pentagon and L’Enfant Plaza stations. The Yellow Line bridge and tunnel work will prompt a seven to eight-month shutdown of train service between Pentagon and L’Enfant Plaza stations. Service plans for the shutdown will be released later in the year.

Mayor Justin Wilson said in a tweet the city will work with Metro and transit partners when train service is shut down.

"The scheduled cutover of the Potomac Yard Metro is exciting news," the mayor tweeted. The loss of the Yellow Line for 7-8 months is not exciting news."

The Potomac Yard Metro had a groundbreaking in December 2019 and will be completed this fall. In a Feb. 22 update to City Council, Daphne Kott, a project manager for the city, said the work is about 70 percent complete. "Substantial completion" of the Metro station's buildings is expected in late July, according to Kott.