Dulles Metrorail construction update

Dulles Corridor Metrorail construction is visible all along the 11.7-mile alignment of Phase 1 of the 23-mile extension of Metro's existing Orange Line. By early fall, construction of all five stations between East Falls Church and Reston will be under way. Crews are building aerial bridges to carry tracks across the westbound lanes of I-66 near the Dulles Connector Road (Route 267) where the rail extension will tie into the Orange Line. There is ongoing bridge construction at Pimmit Run and Magarity Road. Pile driving activities will continue through September all along the Connector Road as tracks are built at grade level in most areas.

As the Connector Road
approaches Route 123, a 400-ton truss is being used to erect bridge spans
between piers to carry the tracks from the Connector Road to the northwest side
of Route 123 and to the Tysons East Metrorail Station, already under
construction near Scotts Crossing Road.

Pier construction continues
along Route 123. In July, another erection truss will be assembled in a
cloverleaf of the Capital Beltway at Route 123. Later this fall, it will be
used to erect bridge spans to carry the rail tracks above the Beltway.

Behind a green fence that
encompasses the main construction site bordered by Route 123, Tysons Boulevard,
Galleria Drive and International Drive, crews have started the Tysons Central
123 Station near Tysons Corner Center and the Galleria at the corner of Route
123 and Tysons Boulevard.

At Route 123 and
International Drive are the entrances to the inbound and outbound tunnels that
will carry tracks from Route 123 to Route 7 and the Tysons Central 7 Station in
the median of Route 7. Tunnel miners have now completed approximately 1,150
feet of the outbound tunnel and more than 890 feet of the inbound tunnel.

Earlier this summer,
eastbound Route 7 from the Best Buy area to Route 123 was widened significantly
as the roadway shifted 40 feet south. This was necessary to provide space for
the Tysons Central 7 Station where preliminary construction work is taking
place.

Later this summer, a
similar shift will take place from the Best Buy area west to the Dulles Toll
Road/Route 7 interchange. When that happens, construction will begin on the
Tysons West Station in the median of Route 7 between Spring Hill and Tyco
Roads. Meanwhile, drivers can expect multiple lane closings in this area day
and night.

Crews have also started
work on the aerial bridges that will carry tracks from Route 7 to the median of
the Dulles International Airport Access Highway and the Dulles Toll Road.

For several months, crews
have been working on the Wiehle Avenue Station in the middle of the Airport
Highway just west of Wiehle Avenue. This station is the last station in Phase
1. Also in the Reston area, work continues on the rail bridge over the W&OD
Trail.

Prep work for tracks
continue all along the corridor and crews continue to work to complete bridges
for rail tracks at several locations. Crews are now building platform walls and
installing water lines and drain lines for the station. But the most intense
construction efforts are taking place at the site of the Wiehle Avenue
Metrorail Station in the median of the Dulles Airport Access Highway and the
Dulles Toll Road where the station platform is increasingly visible every day.

This work is causing
significant lane shifts in the eastbound and westbound lanes of the
Airport Highway to create a sufficiently large construction zone to build this
station. It will be the last stop in Phase 1 of the 23-mile extension of the
existing Metro system. 

This design for the Wiehle
Avenue Metrorail Station is the prototype for stations in Phase 2 of the Dulles
Rail Project except for the station at Washington Dulles International Airport.

Pier construction impacts
on southbound Route 123 are scheduled to last approximately another three
months near the Dulles Connector Road between McLean and I-495. Lanes have shifted
to the right on southbound Route 123 at the Connector Road overpass to create a
work zone for pier construction. Left lane closures are also expected in this
area as the work continues.

Meanwhile, the ramp from
southbound Route 123 to the eastbound Dulles Connector Road (toward eastbound
I-66) will remain closed through October. When the ramp first closed in March,
it was expected to have reopened this summer. However, VDOT agreed with the
Rail Project’s recommendation to leave the ramp closed until additional pier
construction is completed.

Intermittent closings will
take place along the W&OD Trail as it passes under the Dulles Airport
Access Highway/Dulles Toll Road in the coming weeks as crews continue to build
the bridge that will carry the rail tracks over the trail.