The Alexandria City Council and Arlington County Board have voted to move forward with a streetcar project for the Route 1 corridor that connects the two jurisdictions.
The Arlington Board voted Saturday to complete an environmental assessment and begin preliminary engineering for their portion of the proposed streetcar line, which would run from Crystal City to Four Mile Run via Potomac Yard.
Meanwhile, under the current plan, the Alexandria Board would begin an alternatives analysis and environmental feasibility studies to assess their planned section of the streetcar line. The alternatives analysis is required for the project to be eligible for federal funding, which Alexandria has chosen to seek. Arlington, for its part, plans to pay for the project via local and state funds.
Alexandria is currently working on completing a new Metrorail station at Potomac Yard and as a consequence, it would not begin the alternatives analysis until 2014.
“The City of Alexandria values its partnership with Arlington County, and we will continue to coordinate the City’s transportation network--including streetcar options--into our collective, long-term plan,” Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille said in a statement. “However, our immediate attention and funding is focused on completing work toward a new Metrorail station at Potomac Yard.”
The Arlington line is expected to open to the public by 2019 at the latest. Should Alexandria decide to adopt its own proposed section of the line, it would be operable two years later.
