Extend Metro's Blue Line Into Prince William County: Lawmakers

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA — Virginia lawmakers inserted a provision in the state budget that would fund a study on extending Metro's Blue Line to Lorton, Woodbridge, Potomac Mills and Quantico, along with enhancing transit on Route 1 in Prince William County. A Blue Line feasibility study would look at the need for the Metro extension for alleviating commuter congestion in the region, Sen. Scott Surovell (D-36th), who represents parts of Prince William, Stafford and Fairfax counties, said Friday in a statement.

The Senate Finance and House Appropriations committees added language to the Virginia budget directing the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation to spend that amount to analyze a Blue Line extension, as well as "other multimodal options," such as Bus Rapid Transit, for the Interstate 95 and Route 1 corridors.

The Virginia Department of Transportation recently conducted a study of Interstate 95 and found that after Washington, D.C. and Arlington, Fort Belvoir is the third most common destination for drivers on the Northern Virginia portion of I-95. More than 82,000 people drive to Fort Belvoir in Fairfax County each day, Surovell said.

Sen. George Barker (D-39th) serves as chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee that wrote the study language into the state budget. "Sen. Surovell and I have worked for years to secure a Blue Line study from the state budget in order to assess the feasibility of a Metro extension through Prince William County," Barker said Friday in a statement. "This study is long overdue, and we are taking a great step forward in alleviating the heavy traffic that is burdensome to Northern Virginia families and residents."

Del. Elizabeth Guzman (D-31st), the chief sponsor of the proposal in the House of Delegates, said the state should not be prioritizing wider roads. Instead, it should be focusing on more mass transit development in the region, she said..

"Studying the expansion of the Blue Line Metro into a county where the majority of residents commute outside of the county for a high-paying job is vital to fixing the traffic crisis we face every day," Guzman said. "This is what the majority of Prince William County residents want."

Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chair Ann Wheeler noted that residents of Prince William continue to experience some of the longest commutes in the nation.

"As the Board weighs options to alleviate traffic congestion and plan for the anticipated population growth, viable multimodal transportation must be part of the conversation," she said. "I commend Senators Surovell and Barker for securing funds to study multimodal transportation options, to include a Blue Line Metrorail extension, along the I-95 and U.S. Route 1 corridors to key employment and commerce centers in our county."

In 2015, Metro officials said building rails as part of an expansion of the system along Route 1 or to Manassas would cost between $100 million and $600 million per mile, with tunneling as the most expensive option. Metro stations would cost $80 million to $300 million each. Eight-car trains, which would be the standard by the time any such expansion might be undertaken, would cost between $17 million and $22 million each.