U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, and Interim Metro General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Jack Requa hopped the Silver Line to Wiehle-Reston East on Friday to talk about more money for the Silver Line and other transportation projects.
The officials held a news conference in the Metro station to stress the need for continued federal investment in public transportation to ensure safety and reliable service for Metro riders.
“There is no scenario where we can cut funding and expect our transit system to meet the needs of a growing country,” said Foxx. “It belies math, belies physics and the growing demographics of our growing country.”
“Cutting the funding that we need to grow america’s transit systems can slow down the pace of Metrorail repairs that are supposed to enhance safety,” he added. “Cutting funding for WMATA, as has been proposed, would disrupt the phasing in of more than 500 new rail cars that are on the books to come online.”
Comstock (R-Va. 10th) recently broke with Washington, DC-area Republicans and joined with the Democratic leaders in expressing disappointment proposed big funding cuts to the Metro.
The cuts, announced last month, will reduce federal funding to the Metropolitan Area Transit Authority by half in 2016.
The federal government usually provides about $150 million annually to Metro. A $55 billion funding bill will reduce funding to $75 million.
“We have had a bipartisan consensus,” said Comstock. “We are very united in making sure the money for Metro is restored, that Metro gets the $150 million it has been getting since 2009.”
The Democratic Party of Virginia released a statement Friday stating the fact that it is odd that Comstock is now supporting the Silver Line after voted against the line when she was in the Virginia General Assembly representing McLean.
“If Barbara Comstock had her way, the Silver Line would have never been funded in the first place,” said Del. Ken Plum (D-Reston). “Our bipartisan transportation plan, which I’m proud of supporting, passed without Comstock’s vote. To show up for a photo op having done nothing but oppose the Silver Line is misleading.”
Photo: US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx (left) and U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va. 10th) at Wiehle-Reston East Friday.
Parts of Reston Station Boulevard will be closed to traffic for several days beginning Saturday in order to remove the giant crane that has been in place to build the BLVD Apartments.
The closure starts Saturday, April 25 and run through Wednesday, April 29, Metro officials said.
Customers who use the Park-and-Ride, the Kiss-and-Ride, or Fairfax Connector bus service at Wiehle-Reston East may be affected.
Here is what you need to know:
Park-and-Ride and Kiss-and-Ride patrons should enter and depart the Metro station site from Sunset Hills Road and Metro Center Drive. Access to the main Park-and-Ride entrance and exit, and the Kiss-and-Ride will not be available from Wiehle Avenue.
Access to the auxiliary Park-and-Ride entrance and exit will be available from Wiehle Avenue; however, the work zone will be positioned from the auxiliary entrance to the Kiss-and-Ride and primary Park-and-Ride entrance, and no access will be available through the work zone.
Fairfax Connector routes that travel via the western portion of Reston Station Boulevard will operate on a detour during this project:
- RIBS 2 buses will bypass Metro Center Drive and Kaiser Permanente. Buses will serve stops along Sunset Hills Road and at the Wiehle Metro station for access to Kaiser Permanente.
- Route 505, 952, 981, 983, and RIBS 4 buses will detour via eastbound Reston Station Boulevard and Wiehle Avenue in the direction of westbound Sunset Hills Road and Reston Town Center.
Fairfax Connector riders should anticipate delays on all routes serving the Wiehle Metro station (north side).
Reston Station Boulevard/file photo
Fire coming from under an empty Metrorail car temporarily closed the Wiehle-Reston East Station on Thursday night.
Metro staff noticed flame under the out-of-service inbound railcar at the station about 8:30 p.m. and alerted fire officials.
During Fairfax County Fire Rescue’s fire response, a fire stand pipe burst and water flooded the station platform.
Authorities shut down power at the station. Firefighters found residual smoke coming from an electrical compartment under the car, officials said.
The station was closed for about an hour.
Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said Metro is investigating the cause of the fire.
“I would like take this opportunity to express our thanks to Fairfax Fire and Rescue for their response, ” said Stessel. “And also Fairfax Connector, which was prepared to send buses should they have been necessary.”
Metrorail car at Wiehle-Reston East/file photo
The Stock Market @ Reston Station is looking towards its future as a retail and restaurant destination by searching for some of the staff to make it happen.
Developer Comstock announced in December that the 11,000-square-foot space adjacent to the Wiehle-Reston East Metro stop will become an “urban, hip marketplace and retail space” with between 10-25 vendors.
The Stock Market is a being developed by Michael Holstein. Holstein is an area entertainment lawyer and businessman who founded (and recently sold) Rockville’s Quench restaurant.
Holstein says he is looking for two spots to fill to get going. A Business Development/Sales & Marketing Manager and a Marketing Manager. Click through to see the hiring criteria for both positions. Read More
The dedicated bike room at Wiehle-Reston East’s Silver Line Metro station is getting a new name. The facility will be named in honor of Charlie Strunk, Fairfax County’s first Bicycle Program Manager who retired from the post last month.
The honor was suggested by Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins at the county Board of Supervisors Meeting Jan. 12. and unanimously approved by the supervisors.
The station’s bike room was the first such secure bike facility in the county. Hudgins said Strunk led not only the design efforts, but coordinated with other county departments, stakeholders, and advocacy groups to ensure all voices and concerns were heard.
The Wiehle Reston-East Bike Room currently has 300 members and is the prototype for other rooms being planned at the Stringfellow Park-and-Ride Lot, the Rolling Road VRE Station, Route 1 Transit Center; as well as the Herndon and Innovation Center Metrorail Stations.
Strunk was named county bike coordinator in 2006 and received the Fairfax Advocates for Better Biking Award of Recognition in 2012. He also received the 2009 Transportation Achievement Award from the Transportation Advisory Commission.
Some of Strunk’s impact on the Fairfax County bike program include bike racks on the front of all Fairfax Connector buses; bike storage lockers at several park-and-ride lots; and a bike map with on- and off-road routes across the county.
He was also instrumental in organizing the county’s first bike master plan, which was approved by the supervisors in October.
The supervisors will dedicate a plaque renaming the bike room at a future date.
Photo: Charlie Strunk/Credit: Fairfax County
Two months after opening, Metro’s Wiehle-Reston East Silver Line station has already surpassed first-year ridership projections, Metro officials said on Wednesday.
Wiehle-Reston East has 8,400 boardings (or 16,800 weekday entries and exits), Metro says. When planning the Silver Line, 8,244 boardings were expected after one-year of service, a Metro spokesman said.
The station — which will be the end of the Silver Line until at least 2018, when Phase II stations are scheduled to open — accounts for about half of the Silver Line’s ridership.
Wiehe-Reston East also the only Silver Line station with significant parking. There are 2,300 spots in the Fairfax County-owned garage, as well as 1,000 more in the Comstock-owned part of the garage. Additionally, there is a 200-space bike room.
The Wiehle-Reston East numbers have been up around 17,000 daily trips since it opened July 26.
In total, the Silver Line is already performing at 60 percent of its projected ridership for the end of the first full year of service. As of last week, an average of 15,000 riders are entering the system at the five new Silver Line stations on weekdays for a combined 30,000 trips to or from the new stations. Metro said.
Before the line opened, Metro had estimated that Silver Line ridership was expected to reach 25,000 boardings at the five new stations after the first full year of service.
Metro estimates that the Silver Line is currently adding about 6,000 new riders — making roughly 12,000 trips — to the Metro system each weekday. The rest, about 9,000 riders, are primarily former Orange Line riders who have switched to the Silver Line.
Tysons Corner Station is one of the few stations on the Metrorail system where ridership is higher on Saturday than weekdays. The station is the second-busiest new station on weekdays with about 5,300 entries and exits, but Saturday’s ridership is higher — partly due to people riding to Tysons Corner Center for weekend entertainment and shopping. Last Saturday, there were 7,449 entries and exits at the station.
Reston Now asked readers last week how Metro’s Silver Line is working for them.
As of Sunday evening 345 people answered our poll. Here is what they had to say:
- 161 voters (48 percent) said it has improved their life
- 94 voters (27 percent) said it has had no impact
- 64 voters (18.5 percent) said it made their commute more complicated
- 21 voters (6 percent) said none of the above
Plenty of readers chimed in with their thoughts on the new Metro line, the first line addition since 1991.
Here is what some of them had to say:
Lightcommuter: I commute just 15 minutes to Tysons but still thought leaving the car at home would be nice. That short trip by metro took 1 hr (with bus) and cost $8, compared to my free parking at the office. I haven’t used the silver line since. But it does seem to be lightening traffic – will see if that continues after school starts back up.
Jon: I ride with Daily commuters and we have nicknamed this line “The Silver Long”. It’s awful for commuters. Thankfully they still run the Crystal City/Pentagon Express bus. It only takes 25 minutes.
Restoncommuter: For me, it has added time and money to my commute to downtown. I used to take the bus to West Falls Church then Metro to Foggy Bottom. Now I pay the same bus fare to take me further west to get onto the Reston station which extends the metro trip which adds time and money. Bummer, it probably helps people west of Reston, but not for the residents who were already taking public transit.
JJSKI: Pros — Previously drove to Vienna station from South Lakes, so I’ve shaved about 10 minutes off each way. Cons — Paying more to commute by bus/rail. 551 and RIBS2 are never on schedule in the afternoon.
Steve: The only complaint I have is with the Metro and Fairfax Connector employees who are parking their official vehicles in the Kiss&Ride lot instead of the main garage. By taking five or more spaces a day away from people dropping off and picking up commuters, these employees are creating needless traffic congestion in the Kiss & Ride lot.
Freeway1: Who rides FROM the Silver Line? Meaning who lives close enough to walk there? Not many really and not for years yet. What a waste of tax payer money. Also, why is it above ground? Its the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen and has made Rt. 7 as wide a I-495 defeating the purpose of making Tyson’s “walkable.” No logic went into this project at all.
To see more comments or take the poll, read the original story on Reston Now.
Photo: Jennifer Heffner, Vita Images
Metro’s Silver Line has been open for nearly three weeks now. Have you taken it for a ride?
Maybe you are a daily commuter with thoughts on how your day has changed, for better or worse. Perhaps you have taken a train ride downtown or to Tysons Corner to see how rail in Reston can change your life.
Maybe you are reading this right now at the light at Wiehle Avenue and Sunset Hills and lamenting for the “time before transit.”
Whatever the case, take our poll and add your thoughts in the comments.
Close to 20,000 daily trips are starting or ending at the Silver Line’s Wiehle-Reston East station, making the end-of-the-line spot the busiest of the five new stations, Metro says.
The Silver Line is “off to a solid start, with nearly 220,000 trips taken to or from the five new stations during the first week of service (noon Saturday, July 26 through noon Sunday, August 3),” said Metro spokesman Dan Stessel.
Prior to the opening of the Silver Line — Metro’s first new rail line since 1991 — the agency said its goal was to have 25,000 daily boardings after the line had been operating a year. Traffic is two-thirds of the way there already, says Stessel — on average, 15,942 passengers boarded a Silver Line train at one of the five new stations each weekday last week.
Metro says between 8,000 and 9,000 of the boardings at Silver Line stations were existing Metrorail customers who switched from the Orange Line to one of the five new stations. Approximately 6,000 boardings represents new ridership.
Weekday ridership totals (entries/exits) for the five new stations — McLean, Tysons Corner, Greensboro, Spring Hill and Wiehle-Reston East :
Total Weekday Trips to/from the Five New Silver Line Stations
Monday: 30,846
Tuesday: 33,287
Wednesday: 32, 939
Thursday: 34,364
Friday: 33,118
Weekday Entry/Exit Breakdown by Station
Greensboro
Monday: 1,614
Tuesday: 1,678
Wednesday: 1,773
Thursday: 1,865
Friday: 1,605
McLean
Monday: 2,668
Tuesday: 3,045
Wednesday: 3,012
Thursday: 3,222
Friday: 2,870
Spring Hill
Monday: 2,681
Tuesday: 2,879
Wednesday: 2,862
Thursday: 2,858
Friday: 2,718
Tysons Corner
Monday: 6,658
Tuesday: 6,959
Wednesday: 6,811
Thursday: 6,803
Friday: 7,699
Wiehle-Reston East
Monday: 17,225
Tuesday: 18,726
Wednesday: 18,481
Thursday: 19,616
Friday: 18,226
How has your Silver Line experience been so far? Tell us in the comments.
(Correction: An earlier version of this post said a 170,000 square foot office building was part of this project. That was incorrect. The project has been approved for up to 421 residential units and 10,000 square feet of retail)
Plans are underway to relocate some of the commercial tenants of the 11400 block of Sunset Hills Rd. in order to make room for the construction of 421 apartments.
Chuck Veatch, owner of the property, says construction will begin this fall on the mid-rise residential building with 421 units. The five-acre property was approved for the residences in 2013.
The location is currently home to Reston Mini-Storage, as well as several retail stores. Veatch says Reston Mini-Storage customers have been notified that the business will be closing Nov. 1.
The parcel is adjacent to Reston Station, the mixed-use development being constructed on top of the 3,300-space parking garage at the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station. Reston Station is approved for 1.2 million square feet of commercial, office, residential and hotel space. Comstock’s 22-story, 450-unit BLVD apartments are currently under construction.
The proximity to Wiehle-Reston East makes Veatch’s property a prime location for transit-oriented development, says Veatch.
Veatch and Bozzuto Development, whom he is teaming with on the project, got the land rezoned from Industrial to Planned Mixed Use Residential in 2010. See the county staff report for more details on the project.
At least one major tenant, Home Escapes Spa & Patio, is relocating with Veatch’s help. The store will move this fall to Sunset Park Drive in Herndon, to the space occupied by Gymini Gymnastics for 30 years. Veatch says his company purchased the space on Sunset Park and will lease it to the patio store owners.
“We are hoping to help relocate as many [tenants] as we can,” said Veatch.
Crews will begin tearing down the one-story retail section and the former mini storage lot late this fall, said Veatch.
Photos: Top – Retail stretch that will be demolished to make way for apartments. Bottom – Reston Mini Storage, with Reston Station BLVD apartments under construction nearby.
Reston’s first Silver Line Metro station at Wiehle-Reston East opened on Saturday with much fanfare.
The mixed-use development at Reston Station, which sits atop the seven-level underground garage adjacent to the Metro station, is still a work in progress. Eventually, there will be more than 1 million square feet of office, hotel, retail and residential space, says Comstock, the developer of the project.
One part of Reston Station is ready to go though: the 10,000-square-foot retail building (which will eventually be the hotel lobby when it is constructed).
What do you thing would make a good business (or businesses, as it can be divided) there? What could the plaza really use as its first restaurant or store?
Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
With the first rush hour in the books, Metro officials can now get a clearer picture of how daily traffic will be at the five new stations, as well as the Silver Line’s impact on existing stations.
As of 10 a.m. Monday, Wiehle-Reston East — which will be the end of the Silver Line until 2018 — was the 12th-busiest entry point to the system, says the transit agency. Metro says 4,727 riders boarded trains at Wiehle-Reston East, putting it on par with Columbia Heights and busier than Rosslyn or Ballston.
Reston is the only Silver Line station with parking, and riders made good use of the 3,300 available garage spots, as well as 300 free spots in the county-owned former Park and Ride lot on Sunset Hills Road. Wiehle-Reston East is also the new bus drop off for Fairfax and Loudoun connector buses that used to travel to Orange Line stations.
“We are off to a really good start at Wiehle,” said Metro spokesman Dan Stessel.
Stessel said there were no big surprises from the morning commute. Most commuters said their commute went smoothly once they understood new info such as where to park or where to pick up their connector bus. Read some of their stories in this Reston Now story.
“We spent a lot of time preparing for today,” said Stessel.
Metro says there were 9,715 total trips from or to a new Silver Line station Monday morning.
Here is the breakdown:
- Greensboro: 185 entries, 332 exits
- McLean: 568 entries, 442 exits
- Spring Hill: 559 entries, 432 exits
- Tysons Corner: 507 entries, 1,063 exits
Meanwhile, the drop in Orange Line riders was noticeable. Most Silver Line riders formerly took feeder buses or drove to Orange Line stations at Vienna and East and West Falls Church.
Metro said morning rush hour boardings were down 66 percent at West Falls Church.
“The last four stations of the Orange Line saw morning rush hour drop from 23,000 boardings two weeks ago to 15,000 today,” Stessel said. “Those boardings have shifted to the Silver Line.”
However, the total number of overall Metro riders did not grow much on Monday. Stessel said 240,000 rode the train in the morning, which is was within a few hundred of last Monday’s numbers.
Photo: Metro passengers at Wiehle-Reston East turnstiles Monday morning/Credit: Ken Plum
Thousands of Metro riders checked out Metro’s new Silver Line over the weekend.
The new rail line — Metro’s first since 1991 — opened at noon on Saturday and immediately had hundreds of curious riders ready to check out the station and the five-stop line from Reston’s Wiehle Avenue through Tysons Corner.
Some riders made a short hop to Tysons Corner. Others took it all the way downtown. A Washington Post reporter rode the Silver Line from Wiehle-Reston East all the way to Largo Town Center, the Eastern End of the line, and reported it took roughly 75 minutes. A bunch of Restonians tried it out by heading to the Billy Joel concert at Nationals Park Saturday night.
On Sunday, a steady stream of pedestrians, bikers and cars entered and exited Reston Station Boulevard — just as though the Silver Line had always been there.
Metro says Silver Line ridership for the weekend was about 51,000 trips to or from the five new stations (about 32,000 Saturday and 19,000 Sunday).
It was busy again Monday morning. More than 7,000 riders entered or exited at Wiehle-Reston East, making it the 12th busiest of Metro’s 91 stations.
After years of anticipation, months of delays and a weekend full of grand opening festivities, commuters boarded Metro Silver Line trains in Reston Monday headed to the same jobs in a new way.
Gone were the excited children and curious transportation nerds of Saturday and Sunday. In their place were Ashburn, Reston and Herndon residents, among others, hurrying to where they needed to be on a Monday morning.
The first commuting day seemed to go without incident. The intersection at Wiehle Avenue and Sunset Hills Road was not clogged with cars. Trains ran mostly on schedule. Buses, by commuter reports, were a bit inconsistent — some of the new routes were early and some were late. The parking garage at Wiehle Avenue was nearly full by 9 a.m.
There were some backups, but that was mostly commuters trying to get the lay of the land. Where is the elevator in the parking garage? Which way to the 505 bus? Is this the private parking or the county parking? There were lots of Metro and Reston Station personnel to answer questions.
James Mosley of Herndon has tried a variety of ways to get to his IT job near Metro Center in D.C. — driving, getting a ride through the slug line, buses from Herndon-Monroe to the East Falls Church Metro Station and an Orange Line train.
Monday morning, he was dropped off at Wiehle-Reston East’s Kiss and Ride.
“It’s not so convenient for the driver,” he said of the Kiss-and-Ride lanes. “When you are in the garage, you have to make a three-point turn to come out.”
Mosley said the Silver Line will be a good test. He had his stopwatch set to see whether the new method would save any time.
“I started out at 7:44 a.m.,” he said. “My goal is to make it to my office by 8:20.”
Mosely later emailed he got to work at 8:38 a.m.
“In general, the commute time was definitely longer than if I had commuted via other methods from Herndon Monroe. “The commute to wait on the train was definitely longer than if I had traveled to the Herndon-Monroe. Access to that garage is a lot simpler.”
Mosley’s Eastbound train was packed — as were most others during morning rush hour — as it traveled towards Tysons Corner before 8 a.m. Coming West from Tysons shortly after, there were only a handful of passengers.
Diego Aguilar formerly traveled from his home near West Falls Church to Reston Town Center on the Fairfax Connector 505 Bus. Now he will pick up the Silver Line at East Falls Church and take Metro to his job at Davelle Clothiers.
“This is really nice,” he said of his first day on the new route. “We have been waiting for this to happen and the time has come.”
Sashi Goli of Ashburn stopped and took a selfie in front of the Silver Line sign. He has been making the commute to his office near Chinatown for nearly five years. The travel time via Silver Line will be about the same as when he parked at Herndon Monroe and took a bus to West Falls Church. That route has been eliminated, so Goli says he has no choice but to take the Silver Line now.
“Fifty minutes is still a long time [to get downtown],” he said. “When Phase II opens, that will be really awesome.”
Metro said that 5,089 people boarded trains at the five Silver Line stations between 5 and 9 a.m. Monday. Wiehle-Reston East was by far the busiest with 3,496. Other Silver Line station numbers: Tysons, 455; McLean, 508; Spring Hill, 481; Greensboro, 149.
Monday morning, we will see how if Reston is ready to be a transportation hub.
Metro’s Silver Line opened on Saturday to much fanfare, with state, local and national stakeholders thanking each other for a long (20+ years including a six-month opening delay) and expensive ($2.9 billion, not including a $150 million overage) job well done.
In case you missed Reston Now’s weekend coverage:
Silver Line Opens New Era For Reston
You Said It: Social Media Roundup of Silver Line Opening Day
Now the real work begins, as commuters who previously drove downtown or to the Vienna Metro Station or boarded Fairfax Connector buses to the Orange Line Station at East Falls Church will instead flock to Wiehle-Reston East to board the train.
Will Reston’s roads be able to handle more drivers? Will newbies to Wiehle-Reston East be able to swiftly enter and exit the parking garage? These are some of the many questions that will be answered as weekdays unfold.
The good news is that late July and into August are generally light traffic days, with many commuters on vacation or working a more flexible schedule. The real impact may not be known until September.
If you are planning to take the Silver Line to Tysons Corner, Arlington, D.C. or other points Monday, here are some things to know:
- Metro opens at 5 a.m. Monday.
- Allow extra time. You haven’t figured out your routine yet and neither have the other commuters.
- If you are taking a Fairfax Connector bus to the station, double check your route on the Connector website.
Fares:
- Peak SmarTrip fares (weekdays from opening to 9:30 a.m. and 3-7 p.m. and weekends midnight to closing):
- $2.15 minimum, plus a $1 surcharge if a paper Farecard is used; $5.90 maximum, plus a $1 surcharge if a paper Farecard is used.
- Off-peak SmarTrip fares (all other times): $1.75 minimum, plus a $1 surcharge if a paper Farecard is used; $3.60 maximum, plus a $1 surcharge if a paper Farecard is used.
- It is easier to buy a plastic SmarTrip card. You will need to reload it less often and will save the surcharge.
Parking: Wiehle-Reston East’s garage has 3,300 parking spots. The majority are owned by Fairfax County. About 1,000 or so are ParkX, owned by developer Comstock.
If you are coming down Reston Station Avenue from Wiehle Avenue, the first left into the garage will take you to two places: private ParkX and public Fairfax County parking.
There are 1,000 spots. Daily rates are $4.85 (or $4.75 if you use Colonial’s prepaid debit card. ParkX also offers monthly reserved parking: Gold, $105 (will be $155 after Oct. 1 ); Platinum, $145 ($195 after Oct. 1). Both include daily rate.
Platinum parking features assigned spots. Gold features assigned spots if you get there prior to 10 a.m.
The ParkX lot does not feature free weekend parking. Payment is cash, credit or debit card.
The 2,300-space county lot is the second left off of Reston Station Boulevard. There are several entrance/exit gates, so entry here may go quicker during rush hour.
Parking is $4.85 a day weekdays; free on weekends. Payment is by credit card or SmarTrip card.
Monthly reserved parking is $65. This does not include daily parking fee. There is no assigned parking.
This lot is also where Kiss-and-Ride and bus drop-off will be located.
Park and Ride Lot
The 270-space, VDOT-owned Park-and-Ride lot on Sunset Hills Road near the station will remain open. That lot is free, but is likely to fill up quickly.
Walking and Biking
There is pedestrian access to the station from both the South and North sides of the Dulles Toll Road. There is a secure bicycle parking area for 200 bicycles.
Ready to commute by Silver Line? Share your strategy with your neighbors in the comments below. And be sure to send (n[email protected]), Facebook or Tweet your Monday Silver Line experiences to us.
