Absent a major change to the street network, passengers on foot would either face a long walk to Duke Street, or force buses along Duke into a lengthy detour. Adding a north/south street would be a big (and contentious) investment. Almost all travel in the area is east-west along either Eisenhower Ave or Duke Street. The alternative location is approximately 2,000 feet as the crow flies from the existing Eisenhower Yellow Line station.Ĭonnections: Here’s the rub – without a much larger project, there aren’t many good connections here. Eisenhower Valley is nearly two route miles from Van Dorn Street and 4/5ths of a mile from King Street/Old Town. Additionally, the warehouses immediately south of this location are owned by WMATA and potentially redundant facilities, as WMATA finishes work on their new Alexandria office building nearby.Įither location fills a lengthy gap on the Blue Line. Screenshot from OpenRailwayMap, indicating the alternative location.Īdding side platforms along the outer tracks should be relatively simple. This site is located along a four-track WMATA section – the two outer tracks serving the Blue Line, and two inner tracks feeding the Yellow Line from the Alexandria Yard. Alternative location for Eisenhower Valley infill station. The existing site has the right geometry for an island platform station – even the third rail is already positioned to the outside edge.Īn alternative site is available closer to Telegraph Road, which offers better connections to existing development south of the tracks, as well as existing access to development in the Eisenhower East area of Alexandria via Mill Road. Planned location for an Eisenhower Valley infill station. Eisenhower ValleyĮisenhower Valley is one of the areas where WMATA planned for a potential infill station from the start, preserving an area with sufficient space for a station, located near the eastern edge of the Alexandria rail yard.
Likewise, if there’s a need to minimize vertical circulation to save cost, you could arrange to change the track geometry here to fit an island platform in. Test fit of side platforms at Franconia Road.Īdditionally, having platforms straddle Franconia Road’s overpass allows for headhouses along both the Eastbound and Westbound travel lanes, creating a chance for easy and direct bus connections.Īlternatively, the platforms could be entirely on one side of the overpass or another there’s plenty of space. Adding side platforms to the existing rails ought to be a simple design. The WMATA tracks are straight as an arrow, with plenty of space between the CSX/VRE right of way and adjacent development. However, with modest suburban retrofits, this area could be transformed.Įase of Construction: One potential benefit is that a station here ought to be easy (and cheap) to build. The existing streetscape along Franconia Road itself isn’t friendly to walking. Assuming that the residential uses are unlikely to change, the remaining areas offer only modest redevelopment potential.
Land use: The area is surrounded by mostly single-family residential uses (a combination of detached houses and townhouses), with a mix of auto-oriented retail and institutional buildings. There is limited existing bus service across this stretch of Franconia Road, but adding a station here (and the potential connections it can offer) would open the door to a rider range of services. Existing east-west travel in the area along Franconia Road provides potential for connecting transit and last-mile trips. VRE launched service in 1992 and added a station at Franconia-Springfield in 1995.Īside from the Capital Beltway, the only street to cross the tracks between Van Dorn and Franconia-Springfield is Franconia Road, reflecting the age of the corridor.Ĭonnections: Franconia Road sits more than a mile from Franconia-Springfield station and more than two miles from Van Dorn Street. Today’s transit services are much newer – the Blue Line was extended to Van Dorn Street in 1991 and to Franconia-Springfield in 1997. The Blue Line follows the existing RF&P railroad corridor, first built in the 1870s. Today’s Franconia-Springfield Station hyphenated after the system’s original plan to serve each location with a separate branch fell through. The Virginia portion of the Blue Line features several long stretches without stations. Diving into some details about infill station locations, starting with the Blue and Yellow Line.
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