Manassas Park needs 500 more parking spaces, talks with VRE for garage

MANASSAS PARK, Va. — Commuters are running out of room to park at the Manassas Park Virginia Railway Express station.

Now, Virginia’s only commuter railroad aims to work with the city to build a new parking deck for those who drive to the station and then catch a morning train to Alexandria, Arlington, and Washington, D.C.

From VRE spokesman Paul Dean:

VRE invites the General Public to join us at the Town Hall Meeting at Manassas Park City Hall on November 1, 2016, from 5:30 – 7:00 PM, to learn about the sites being evaluated for the VRE Manassas Park Station Parking Expansion and to provide feedback on the Preferred Alternatives. For more details, see: www.vre.org/projects-plans-facility/plans/manassas-park-station-parking-expansion/

VRE is conducting a study to address the need to expand the existing parking at the Manassas Park station. Approximately 500 more spaces are needed to meet future projected demand, in addition to the 600 existing surface parking spaces currently serving the station.

The study includes analysis of alternatives, environmental documentation, and will determine the location, size, and design of the proposed parking facility, and the type of grade-separated pedestrian access to the existing platform if needed. Cost projections are not available at this time.

The study was initiated in July 2016 and the Manassas Park Governing Body will consider and potentially select a preferred alternative for the site of the parking facility on Nov 15, 2016. Formal public comment is invited at the Governing Body meeting on Nov 1, 2016 at 7:00 PM. Prior to that date, comments may be submitted via mail or email.

Mail: Virginia Railway Express, 1500 King St. Suite 202, Alexandria VA 22314 Attention: Manassas Park Station Parking Expansion Study
Email: [email protected]

Neighboring Manassas City opened a parking deck more than 10 years ago to serve VRE riders, shoppers, and tourists in the Downtown neighborhood. 

“The parking garage is like Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” said Manassas City Councilman Jonathan Way.

Prior to its construction, some people feared the garage would be too empty, that few drivers would use it creating a safety hazard, explained Way. Others feared it would be too tall, creating an eyesore in the historic area. 

Way called the parking deck the first modernization of the city’s downtown. The garage was built to keep the same look and feel of other brick buildings nearby, but expanded the city’s parking capacity, allowing for more events, more commuters, and for more visitors to easily find parking.

Manassas Mayor Hal Parrish said VRE stations on both the system’s Manassas and Fredericksburg lines create hubs where people want to visit.

“Though there are people [that use the parking garage] who will come and go and will not stay or in Manassas, some will come back over the weekend shop if they see something they like,” said Parrish.

There have been failed attempts to incorporate the parking deck into the city’s annual 4th of July festivities. Residents have long wanted to watch the city’s fireworks display — billed as the largest in Northern Virginia — from the top deck of the parking garage.

An effort this year to sell tickets to an event that would have welcomed fireworks spectators to the parking deck failed. Parrish said also police had concerns about too many drivers trying to exit the parking deck at once following the fireworks show. 

Manassas continues to look at other locations to build parking decks, though none are tied directly to VRE, said Parrish. The city won’t be outdone with a nicer parking garage built by its neighbor, Manassas Park. 

“I think we’re not going to let anyone get build taller than we do here in Manassas, in the center of Prince William County,” quipped Parrish.