PREPARING FOR THE NEXT QUARTER-CENTURY Arlington County Board Work Session June 28, 2017 1
TODAY S PRESENTATION VRE Overview VRE in Arlington County VRE System 2040 Plan Future Vision for Crystal City VRE Projects Potomac Crossing Corridor L Enfant/4 th Track Long Bridge Expansion Atlantic Gateway/4 th Track Crystal City Station Location options Next steps 2
WHO WE ARE A commuter rail system Running on existing railroad tracks Serving Washington DC and Northern Virginia Carrying long-distance commuters to DC, Arlington & Alexandria Two lines, 96 miles Adding peak capacity to I-95, I-395 & I-66 corridors* 20,000 daily trips Commuters that would otherwise drive alone in cars* * Source: Texas Transportation Institute, Virginia Railway Express Congestion Relief Contribution; 2014 3
WHO WE ARE A commuter rail system Running on existing railroad tracks Serving Washington DC and Northern Virginia Carrying long-distance commuters to DC, Arlington & Alexandria Two lines, 96 miles Adding peak capacity to I-95, I-395 & I-66 corridors* 20,000 daily trips Commuters that would otherwise drive alone in cars* Origin Ridership Destination Ridership * Source: Texas Transportation Institute, Virginia Railway Express Congestion Relief Contribution; 2014 4
WHO WE ARE A commuter rail system Running on existing railroad tracks Serving Washington DC and Northern Virginia Carrying long-distance commuters to DC, Arlington & Alexandria Two lines, 96 miles Adding peak capacity to I-95, I-395 & I-66 corridors* 20,000 daily trips Commuters that would otherwise drive alone in cars* Trip Origin * Source: Texas Transportation Institute, Virginia Railway Express Congestion Relief Contribution; 2014 5
On a typical weekday VRE draws ridership from 39 Virginia Jurisdictions * Winchester Manassas Washington DC Crystal City Charlottesville Fredericksburg Richmond * Source: 2015 Master Agreement Survey 6
CRYSTAL CITY TRIP DESTINATIONS VRE Trip Destinations VRE Crystal City Station Other VRE Stations WMATA Metrorail Stations STATION EGRESS MODE 69% 7% 6% OTHER BUS METRORAIL WALK 18% Source: 2016 Virginia Railway Express Master Agreement Survey Destinations 7
WHAT WE ARE KNOWN FOR Safe Operations High Customer Satisfaction Quality Service Reliable Service Strong Partnerships with Host Railroads 8
WHERE WE OPERATE VRE operates on tracks owned and controlled by its three host railroads : CSX Transportation (CSXT) Norfolk Southern (NS) National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) 9
OUR IMPORTANCE TO ARLINGTON COUNTY Part of a balanced transportation system Cost-effective means of adding peak capacity State investment in passenger rail yields a 350% return in General Fund revenues* Reduces peak traffic to & thru Arlington County Take cars off of I-395 & US1 Maximize Arlington County economic competitiveness * Source: Economic Value of High Capacity Transit (Preliminary Findings), Northern Virginia Transportation Commission; 2017 10
Peak Hour Trips from Virginia to DC across the 14 th Street Bridges (6:30 to 7:30 AM) OTHER 11% 1% 13% 17% BUS VRE METRORAIL AUTOMOBILE 58% 21,934 TOTAL TRIPS Source: MWCOG Transportation Planning Board 2013 Central Employment Core Cordon Count 11
POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH System Plan 2040 Goal: more than double VRE ridership 12
VRE SYSTEM PLAN 2040 Provide capacity improvements for ridership growth PHASE 1: Run Longer Trains More railcars More station parking More train storage tracks Second & longer platforms PHASE 2 & 3: Run More Trains Earn additional slots through capacity improvements Long Bridge Corridor Additional CSXT tracks More parking, railcars, yards 13
FUTURE VISION FOR CRYSTAL CITY Enhance commuter rail service More and longer VRE trains Bi-directional/reverse peak service Commuter rail as Metro alternative Most direct route to Capitol Hill and Union Station area (NoMA) MTA/MARC service to Alexandria Improve intermodal connectivity VRE-Metro Link New Metro entrance closer to VRE Better on-street experience Potential tunnel beneath Crystal Drive Better pedestrian linkage to Reagan National Airport 14
POTOMAC CROSSING CORRIDOR PROGRAM CSXT RF&P SUBDIVISION Virginia (VA) to AF LENGTH: 7.9 miles PRESENT WEEKDAY TRAFFIC: 21 CSXT Freight Trains 34 VRE Commuter Trains 20 Amtrak Trains TRAFFIC SPLIT The Eight-Mile Bridge Corridor RAILROAD OWNERSHIP CSX Transportation AMTRAK (WTC) Norfolk Southern Passenger Stations Controlled Points 15
LONG BRIDGE EXPANSION PROJECT Expand capacity from two to four tracks Between LE (L Enfant) to RO (Rosslyn) interlockings Six separate bridges spread over 1.4 miles Benefits commuter (VRE), intercity (Amtrak) and freight (CSXT) Necessary for more commuter train service (VRE & MARC) Preliminary Engineering/NEPA funded through USDOT TIGER grant Engineering funded through Atlantic Gateway FASTLANE grant 16
CRYSTAL CITY STATION & FOURTH TRACK 23 rd St Crystal Drive 18th St 15th St ❸ ❷ ❶ N Existing CSXT tracks New fourth CSXT track Existing platform WMATA Metrorail track WMATA Metroway lane Three location options under consideration Expand and extend the existing platform Add fourth track between RO and AF interlockings A second track serving Crystal City Station platform Improve regional intermodal connectivity Metrorail, Metroway, local bus, shuttles (31%) Improve local connectivity Bicycle and walk access (69%) 17
CRYSTAL CITY STATION OPTION 1 15 th Street S Capital Bikeshare Station N Crystal City Water Park Ramp Tunnel Tunnel Stairs Ramp Existing Culvert Existing Culvert Stairs Elevator Ramp 18
CRYSTAL CITY STATION OPTION 2 Metroway Stop Crystal Drive 20 th Street S Capital Bikeshare Station 18 th Street S N Proposed New Metrorail Entrance Metroway Stop Ramp Crystal City Water Park Track 3 Track 2 Bridge Ramp Tunnel Existing Bicycle/Pedestrian Underpass Elevator Stairs George Washington Memorial Parkway 19
CRYSTAL CITY STATION OPTION 3 23 rd Street S Capital Bikeshare Station N Metroway Stop Existing Vehicle Underpass Bridge Elevator Stairs Bridge Stairs Elevator 20
POTENTIAL AIRPORT LINK (BY OTHERS) ❸ ❷ ❶ Pedestrian tunnel at Chicago s O Hare Airport Reagan National Airport Proposed bridge in Chicago All proposed Crystal City options provide the opportunity for a tunnel or a bridge to Reagan National Airport (By Others) 21
SUMMARY OF RANKINGS EVALUATION FACTOR OPTION 1 OPTION 2 OPTION 3 Local Transportation Connections Regional Transportation Connections Community and Environmental Impacts Major Cost Elements OVERALL RATING Legend: High Medium Low 22
PROPOSED SCHEDULE PROJECT TIMELINE 23
PUBLIC PROPOSED OUTREACH SCHEDULE / NEXT STEPS March 2017 June 2017 June 16 Evaluation of options presented to VRE Operations Board June 28 Evaluation presented to Arlington County Board July 21 VRE staff will recommend a preferred alternative to VRE Operations Board Sept 13 Arlington County Board meeting Sept 16 VRE Operations Board action item 24
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