Local Legislators Call For Extension Of Blue, Yellow Line

Local legislators called for the extension of the Metro’s Blue line to Fort Belvoir and the Yellow line into Woodbridge in letter addressed to the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority director on Wednesday.

In their two-page letter, Senator Toddy Puller and Delegates Scott A. Surovell and Luke Torian argued that residents living along the Route One and I-95 corridor already suffer from over-congested roads, which will only get worse with

“The reality is they are taking thousands of employees off the metro line and throwing them onto roads,” said Surovell in an interview Thursday morning.

Their letter did not highlight potential revenue streams to fund an extension but Surovell, said he thought the federal, state and county governments should be financially involved as well as some of the major landowners along the Route 1 corridor.

“Getting something like that done is probably a 10 to 20 year process. From my point of view the federal government needs to be a big part of this,” he said.

The legislators wrote that when the Huntington Station opened first opened in 1983, it was never meant to be the last station on the Yellow line.  They said extending the Blue line is currently under consideration. 

Legislators said extension of the Blue line would be a welcome development as the National Defense Facility at the Engineer Proving Grounds (EPG) plans to move 9,000 new employees from Crystal City to the I-95 area. It would also serve those living around the former Lorton prison site.

The Virginia officials cited broad community support for the extension of the Metro including from Mount Vernon Supervisor Gerry Hyland's recent Visioning Task Force.

The letter comes at the heals of a Washington Post story on Saturday which reported that the transit authority plans to redesign the Metro map to accommodate the proposed split in the Blue Line and the.

“If they are going to redesign the map they need to think about us,” said Surovell. “Every time the metro has to redo its map it’s incredibly expensive. When they do this map they have got to do it right.”

A spokesperson from the transit authority was unavailable for comment.

Earlier this year the McDonnell Administration agreed to fund ain coordination with Virginia agencies to examine possible public transportation projects.