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Yesterday, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) broke ground on a $20 million Navy Yard Metrorail station improvement project.

The authority will upgrade and reconfigure the station to serve thousands of additional riders expected to use the facility after Nationals Ballpark, the Washington Nationals’ new home under construction one block south of the station, opens in 2008. Currently, the station can handle about 5,000 passengers per hour; once the stadium opens, officials expect 15,000 people to use the station on game days each hour.

Scheduled to be complete by the start of the 2008 baseball season, the project includes relocating the kiosk, fare gates and fare vendors from the mezzanine to the surface level; adding fare gates and ticket vending machines; and adding elevators.

In conjunction with the project, developer Monument Realty will construct a nine-floor, 275,000-square-foot office building, including 12,000 square feet of retail space, adjacent to the station.