Metro (WMATA)

Opening of Metro's Potomac Yard Station Delayed; Closure of 6 Stations South of DCA Extended

The closures of six Blue & Yellow line stations south of Reagan Washington National Airport in Northern Virginia will continue an extra two weeks

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Metro is announcing new delays involving the future Potomac Yard station in Northern Virginia.

The new station was expected to open this fall; however, Metro announced Friday that Potomac Yard will not open this year.

In addition, Metro is prolonging the closure of six stations south of Reagan Washington National Airport "due to unexpected site conditions" discovered as crews worked to connect the new station to the transit system, Metro said in a news release.

The six currently closed stations — Braddock Road, King Street-Old Town, Eisenhower Avenue, Huntington, Van Dorn Street and Franconia-Springfield — were shuttered in early September to allow crews to perform work to tie in existing tracks to the new station. Those stations were originally expected to be closed through Oct. 22. The closures now will continue for an additional two weeks, through Nov. 5.

Free shuttle bus service will continue to be available for riders, Metro said. Travel alternatives are available on Metro's website.

The Potomac Yard station will be located between the Reagan National Airport and Braddock Road stations on Metro's Blue and Yellow lines.

Potomac Yard's opening has already been delayed at least once before. Metro announced in summer 2021 that it would not make the target opening date of April 2022. It pushed back the opening until this fall, but now it's been delayed again.

Metro attributed this latest delay to problems with soil beneath the tracks.

In early September, crews began a "complex process" to integrate signals, build and connect new tracks to Potomac Yard and perform other necessary work, Metro said. However, once work was underway, crews discovered issues with the underlying soil that "affected the structural stability of the ground beneath the tracks," Metro said.

"This work was beyond the initial scope of the tie-in work," Metro said in its release Friday.

That process was paused to develop and execute a remediation plan, Metro said. The tie-in work has now resumed.

This is not the only project to face delays. The opening of Metro's long-planned Silver Line extension, which will include six new stations in Northern Virginia, has been pushed back several times.

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