Metro (WMATA)

Metro Considers Building Blue Line Loop to Ease Crowding at Rosslyn

A Blue Line Loop would run from a new, second Rosslyn station to new stations in Georgetown and National Harbor

NBC Universal, Inc. Metro just started running the Silver Line extension and already the transit agency is eyeing potential future extensions. Transportation Reporter Adam Tuss explains the concept of a Blue Line Loop and where it would run.

With Phase 2 of the Silver Line recently up and running, Metro already is eyeing a potential future expansion.

A Blue Line Loop would run from a new, second Rosslyn station through Georgetown, cut across D.C. to Union Station, make a turn south for Navy Yard and Buzzard Point, run down to National Harbor, go across the Wilson Bridge, and link back up with the existing Metro system at Huntington.

There’s a crowding problem at the Rosslyn station with three lines trying to get through. Building a second Rosslyn Station and splitting off the Blue Line creates a loop down to National Harbor that could solve the problem.

But the project is not funded and could cost billions of dollars.

During a recent Metro Board meeting, General Manager Randy Clarke said federal money for these types of transit projects is available now, but that money is not guaranteed to be around in the future.

“And without federal money, we probably have no chance of ever doing this line,” he said. “So, that’s why there’s a little sense of, as a region, if we're going to do this, we have the biggest generational amount of money ever at the FTA. The time is now if we're going to do it.”

Metro expects to have a final design available for the possible extension next year.

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