By Ann Gutkin, Public and Government Affairs Specialist
The next four years will bring dramatic changes to the regional landscape, as Metro Rail travels through Tysons to Dulles Airport and beyond, leaving a revitalized Tysons Corner in its wake. On Wednesday, April 22, more than 90 Realtors® gathered at NVAR’s Herndon center to learn about these developments from James Bennett, President and CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and the Honorable Stuart Mendelsohn, former Fairfax County Supervisor and a member of the Tysons Land Use Task Force.
Phase One of the Metro expansion, anticipated to be in service by the end of 2013, will include a transfer point at the East Falls Church Metro Orange Line station and will include five new stations, four of which will be in the Tysons Corner area. Phase One will end at a new Wiehle Road station in Reston, which will have a large parking garage similar to the one at the Vienna station. Ultimately, the entire two-phase project will include a 23-plus mile extension of the Metro system, with a total of 11 new stations, including the much-anticipated Dulles Airport station. Phase Two is slated for completion in 2016.
“The [rail] project does not go down the middle of Route 123!” Bennett stressed, dispelling one common myth about the Metro extension. The line will run down the side of Route 123. Bennett also described planned changes to Route 7. The service roads will be removed, and Route 7 will be transformed from three to four lanes in each direction, with wide sidewalks on each side. The Metro trains will run on elevated tracks in the median.
In other MWAA news, Bennett noted that the new Dulles AeroTrain system, which will take passengers underground between the main terminal and the concourses, will open later this year. Also, a new security mezzanine is scheduled to open this year.
The expansion of Metro Rail to Tysons Corner plays an integral role in the area’s transformation. The Tysons task force was charged with converting 1,700 acres of urban office park to mixed-used space. “If we’re successful, it will be completely walkable, with rail helping to spur this,” said Mendelsohn. The plans call for a new grid of local streets, and eventually, 168 acres of park and recreation space.
The redeveloped acreage will be divided into eight distinct districts, four of them to be built around Metro stations. Each district will have its own character, with the districts closest to the perimeter planned to be predominantly residential. “We want it to be a workable Tysons, but we also want to be good neighbors,” said Mendelsohn, explaining that density would be concentrated around the Metro stations, and stepped down towards the surrounding residential areas.
Mendelsohn remarked that Tysons Corner would be developed in a manner that will work for the entire community. “For those of you in real estate,” Mendelsohn concluded, “this [redevelopment] will have an incredibly positive effect.”