Upcoming Metro Shutdown Draws Concern From Fairfax Supervisors

HUNTINGTON, VA — After Metro announced a plan for a seven to eight-month shutdown of train service over the Yellow Line bridge, Fairfax County supervisors are seeking answers from the transit agency.

The Board of Supervisors passed a board matter Tuesday to write a letter to Metro expressing concerns about the planned shutdown. Starting Sept. 10, Metro will shut down Yellow Line service between Pentagon and L’Enfant Plaza stations for seven to eight months. Crews will be renovating the Yellow Line Bridge over the Potomac River and repairing tunnels. That will have an impact especially at stations served by only the Yellow Line — Eisenhower Avenue in Alexandria and Huntington in Fairfax County.

In addition to the Yellow Line bridge project, Metro will shut down all train service south of Reagan National Airport from Sept. 10 to Oct. 22 to connect the new Potomac Yard station to Metro tracks on the Blue and Yellow Lines. That will affect all Alexandria area stations on the Blue and Yellow Lines.

The board matter from Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay highlights concerns about the length of the Yellow Line bridge shutdown and impact on Fairfax County riders. In a letter to Metro, supervisors will request a review on whether the project timeline could be shortened.

"It seems like an excessive period of time, and I'm not convinced it can't be done in a much shorter period of time," said McKay.

Another request will be for Metro to provide more reliable bus service and look into mitigation methods like fare reductions and parking fee reductions. McKay also called on Virginia Railway Express to help Metro riders through the shutdown through measures like fare incentives.

McKay noted the impact of Metro rehabilitation projects was lessened during the COVID-19 pandemic when more people were working remotely and not commuting. But as more people return to jobs in person, the chairman stressed the need for a reliable public transportation.

"Clearly, we all know that safety must be the highest priority when it comes to our transit system," said McKay. "However, the seemingly endless stream of shutdowns, delays and missed completion dates is making Fairfax County commuters increasingly frustrated and hampering Metro's ability to rebound from pandemic ridership numbers."

Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck represents the area where commuters use the Huntington station on the Yellow Line.

"My shock when I first received their notice was hard to even put in words, because I think most of us had thought we'd been through the worst of it just a year or two ago when we closed the stations for long periods of time," said Storck, referring to the summer 2019 shutdown of Alexandria stations.

Metro plans to release service information for the Yellow Line bridge shutdown later this year.