Plans to bring a major new sports arena to Northern Virginia would transform a neighborhood – and bring more traffic to a place where it already can be tough to get around.
About 25,000 vehicles per day use a stretch of Route 1 in Alexandria close to where the Capitals and Wizards would relocate. Over 50,000 vehicles per day use nearby George Washington Memorial Parkway.
Transportation sources with direct knowledge of the arena project tell News4 that any major transportation plans for the project are in the very early stages of development. No major, concrete plans to address traffic have been announced.
After Virginia’s governor and the owner of the Caps and Wizards confirmed on Wednesday that plans for the arena are in the works, officials in two jurisdictions said different things about the traffic situation in Potomac Yard.
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“I believe the plan is, it’s going to get better,” Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said about traffic.
Across the river, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said, “The traffic is notorious.”
The National Landing area between Arlington and Alexandria is getting some big transportation upgrades, including new bridges, better-timed traffic signals and fast-moving buses with their own lanes. Youngkin touted the progress.
“There’s substantial resources that are going to be brought to bear to open up the area. Second of all, we’ve already had major advancements in multi-modal access like the opening of the Metro stop, which is right here – you can see it right here,” he said. “On top of that, the new VRE station is going to be right here. It’s going to stop about a mile up the road. And on top of that, there’s a big plan to open up access to all the major thoroughfares.”
As part of the arena plan, $200 million in transportation improvements were announced, along with a large underground parking garage.
The Potomac Yard Metro station will be the only station to handle the crowds near the proposed arena. In the District, it’s possible to use multiple Metro stations and walk the rest of the way to Capital One Arena.
Bowser described Metro access as a big asset of the teams’ current home.
“We know how important Metro is and our transportation infrastructure is, and we believe we have the best setup to move 20,000 or 30,000 people in and out 80 to 100 times a year. And so I think that will be a big part of the conversation,” she said.
Side roads off of main roads in the area go through densely populated neighborhoods. Arena traffic would likely go through neighborhoods as well.
