MANASSAS — The green light is lit for $128 million in improvements the Virginia Railway Express Manassas line.
Three stations — Manassas Park, Manassas, and the Broad Run terminus station — are all set to receive overhauls on everything from parking lots to pedestrian platforms.
When complete in 2022, riders will see longer trains, platforms, and more parking spaces for drivers on Interstate 66 to park their cars to take the train. The funding will also be used to purchase and install electronic signs on the highway that will show the number of available parking spaces at VRE stations in the corridor.
The idea — if traffic is backed up, get off, and take the train.
The funding for these improvements come from a larger $579 million concessionaire’s payment made to the state from Express Mobility Partners, the private consortium of companies partnered to build high-occupancy toll lanes on I-66 outside the Beltway.
The free money was part of the deal inked last fall to add HOT lanes to I-66 between Gainesville and Dunn Loring. The funds will go to fund transit projects that take drivers off the road, making room for more toll-paying drivers, and improve traffic flow on I-66.
The commuter railroad was already eyeing improvements to the line before the cash being awarded to the state.
“When the funds became available, it fit right into our plans,” said VRE CEO Doug Allen.
Broad Run
The majority of the improvements will come to the Broad Run station at Manassas Airport. The railroad will purchase 10 new coaches to expand the length of their trains on the line form four and six cars to all eight-car trains.
It’ll need a place to park the new coaches, and that’ll be at Broad Run — the end of the Manassas line. The rail yard will be expanded with new storage track that will be laid in the general area of where station platform and parking lot sit today.
The station platform and parking lot will both be relocated and expanded. The railroad is considering relocating its parking lot on the northern side of the tracks, making it accessible by Residency Road, just off Route 28. A bridge or tunnel could be built to allow passengers to safely cross the tracks to walk from the parking lot to the station.
VRE’s Christine Hoeffner said the transit agency is working closely with Prince William County’s Department of Transportation to identify potential improvements to the station like these as the county works to improve Route 28.
Additionally, relocating the parking lot to Residency Road would take the pressure of the narrow, winding Piper Lane that today serves as the main access path to the Broad Run station.
“This expansion is an expansion is substantial, and it completely changes the layout at Broad Run station, totally,” said Manassas Mayor Hal Parrish, who serves on the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, the agency that awarded VRE the funds for the improvements.
The improvements to the Manassas line are a bright spot for VRE, which last year scrapped plans for a commuter railroad extension and new stations in Haymarket and Gainesville. A years’ long study showed the cost of expanding the service, building new stations, and adding more track, wouldn’t be worth the paltry gain in ridership.
Afterward, the commuter railroad considered relocating the Broad Run station closer to Godwin Drive so that it could be closer to planned commercial and residential developments at Manassas’ developing “gateway” project now known as The Landing at Cannon Branch.
Allen said plans to move the station are now, also, scrapped, as the agency has decided to expand Broad Run in its current location instead of moving it.
A new track will also be added at the station to increase capacity on the rail line.
Manassas Park
The number of cars parked at the Manassas Park station continues to outnumber the available parking spaces at the station. A new parking garage with 500 spaces will be built at Manassas Park to relive a chronic parking shortage, where before only a surface parking lot has been provided for riders.
Manassas
At the iconic train station in Downtown Manassas, the station platform will be expanded greatly to extend further to the east. The expanded platform will not only accommodate more passengers and longer trains but will also provide access to an underutilized commuter parking lot on Prince William Street, across from Baldwin Elementary / Intermediate School.
With parking inside city’s parking deck next to the Downtown Manassas station becoming increasingly scarce, Allen says more riders will be able to park at Prince William Street and walk to the station platform.
Growing ridership
All this investment into the Manassas line means VRE wants to grow its ridership. Today, about 9,500 daily trips (the number of people who purchase tickets to ride the trains) are taken on the Manassas line. By 2030, VRE expects that number to grow to 11,000 daily trips.
Allen says the new rail cars will help to accomplish this, as well as alleviate a slight overcrowding issue that exists on the line today.
Project timeline
In the coming weeks, VRE plans to announce a series of upcoming public meetings where residents can review conceptual drawings of the longer platforms, expanding parking lots, parking garage, and the walkway that could bridge the gap over the railroad tracks between a new parking lot off Residency Road and the Broad Run station.
While there, residents will be able to comment on the plans.
All of the construction work for projects at all three stations is expected to begin and at the same time. The projects must be completed by 2022, at the same time new HOT lanes, dubbed I-66 E-ZPass Express Lanes, will open on I-66 outside the Beltway.
