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5/9/2022
The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission is calling on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to come up with a strategy to relieve train congestion at the Rosslyn Tunnel ahead of any broader rail expansions.
In a May 6 letter to WMATA General Manager and CEO Paul Wiedefeld, the commission asked that the authority to move “swiftly” to resolve the Rosslyn bottleneck of trains ahead of broader plans to expand Metrorail service along the Blue, Orange and Silver (BOS) line corridor.
At a meeting held last month, members of the NVTC’s WMATA Committee raised concerns that solutions proposed in a BOS study included Metrorail expansion beyond the need to relieve congestion and crowding at the Rosslyn Tunnel.
The committee’s recommendations include: • prioritizing improvements that address the bottleneck at Rosslyn; • taking a phased approach to capacity improvements; and • strategically pursuing federal funding opportunities provided by the new Infrastructure and Jobs Act and other federal programs.
The letter acknowledges that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to changes in travel patterns across the Washington, D.C., region, including commuting behavior, while stressing that "adding tunnel capacity at Rosslyn is the single most important element of the BOS study that will prepare the Metrorail system for long-term growth and success.”