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Silver Line (Washington Metro)

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 This article or section contains information about expected future buildings or structures.
It is likely to contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change as the building approaches completion.

Lines of the
Washington Metro
  Red Line
  Orange Line
  Blue Line
  Yellow Line
  Green Line
  Silver Line (Planned)
The future Silver Line will be an extension of the Washington Metro subway system that will consist of 29 subway stations from Route 772 in Loudoun County to Stadium-Armory in the District of Columbia. The line will have stations in Loudoun County, Fairfax County, Arlington, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Eighteen stations will be shared with the Orange Line, including all thirteen shared between the Orange and Blue Lines from Rosslyn to Stadium-Armory.

The primary goal of the Silver Line is to link the Washington D.C. proper by rail to Dulles International Airport and the growing suburbs of Tysons Corner, Reston and Herndon.

Contents

History

Local residents and officials had idly talked of a Metro extension to Dulles ever since the Washington Metro began service in 1976, but a significant plan was not developed until 2000. The Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit Project "scoping" process began in April 2000 with a series of meetings with local and federal officials, designed to collect the necessary authorities for the project. Local and federal law required extensive analysis of alternatives -- the two most likely being bus lanes or inaction -- and of the environmental impact. The rail-only line won over the other alternatives. Initial environmental hearings, which closed on August 28, 2002, were positive. The project received formal approval on June 10, 2004. Although construction was set to begin in 2005, delays in funding have pushed back the start date for construction to late 2006.

The extension will run in its own right-of-way on a route similar to that of the Dulles Toll Road, running above-ground at-grade. The only significant diversions from the Toll Road route are for the stops in Tysons Corner and at Dulles International Airport, where the Metro will alternate between subway and elevated track to maintain the exclusive right-of-way.

Service on the Silver Line is expected to begin in 2011 between Wiehle Avenue and Stadium-Armory, with five new stations being added to the existing network west of East Falls Church. The full line to Route 772, including a station at Dulles International Airport, is expected to be completed in 2015. There will also be a provision made for a future in-fill station at Wolf Trap, between Wiehle Avenue and Tysons West.

Tunnel controversy

Much debate has been held concerning the method of construction through the Tysons Corner area. Early plans called for a tunnel running from before Tysons East to beyond Tysons West with all four stations in between being below ground. When the contractor hired to design the Silver Line, a consortium of Bechtel and Washington Group International, found the costs to be too high the design was changed to use a short tunnel between Tysons 123 and Tysons 7 stations with all four stations being at or above ground. In March 2006 the contractor was ordered to examine an alternative tunnel digging technique with the potential to lower costs. The contractor found that there would not be a significant cost reduction and proposed staying with the longer tunnel option. In April 2006 the long tunnel concept was revived after allegations that the design contractor had inflated costs for the tunnel in order to avoid sharing the job with an outside tunneling contractor. The allegations led to calls for an outside cost estimate to determine more realistic tunnel costs. On May 15, 2006 Virginia Transportation Secretary Pierce R. Homer announced the creation of an advisory panel headed by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The panel will have 60 days to evaluate options for completing the line through Tysons Corner.

List of planned stations, west to east

See also

References

External links

News articles

 

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