NVTC urges Washington Metro to relieve congestion at Rosslyn Tunnel
Written by David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief
WMATA
In a recent letter, Canek Aguirre, chair of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, urged Paul Wiedefeld, General Manager/CEO of WMATA to move "swiftly to design a solution to relieve train congestion at the Rosslyn Tunnel ahead of any broader Blue Line, Orange Line or Silver Line rail expansion desires."
Aguirre argues that “by doing so, WMATA will be able to focus resources and talents on fixing this long-standing core system capacity issue and poise itself to leverage the near-term investment opportunities of the new Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” adding that “we are at an important moment in time when it is necessary for WMATA to be strategic in its approach to major transit investments – and the next steps for improvements to the [Blue/Orange/Silver] lines are no exception.”
The letter further states that “Changes to travel behavior compounded with future operational funding concerns do highlight the need for WMATA to approach future infrastructure investments with a more refined approach.To this end, NVTC strongly encourages WMATA to approach investments in the BOS Corridor in phases and to focus first on fixing the Rosslyn tunnel. Adding tunnel capacity at Rosslyn is the single most important element of the BOS Study that will prepare the Metrorail system for long term growth and success.”
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