Fewer parking spaces got you bummed? You have options

Woodbridge, Va. –– The expansion of the Horner Road commuter lot in Woodbridge may provide some relief for commuters that will no longer be able to park at Potomac Mills mall.  But it won’t come fast enough to help those who will be put out on February 14.

Potomac Mills announced Thursday it would curtail commuter parking in their lots by 75 percent beginning Valentine’s Day. Afterward, mall managers suggested putout commuters take the bus.

But that may not be an option for many who would board OmniRide commuter buses near the mall, as nearly all of those early morning buses are full.

And there’s not enough money to go around adding more buses.

“Unfortunately, [the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission] does not have the resources to add additional trips,” said PRTC OmnRide spokeswoman Christine Rodrigo.

And a planned expansion of the Horner Road lot – which, according to Prince William County Transportation Director Thomas Blaser, will bring an additional 500 to 600 spaces to what is already the state’s largest commuter lot – will take some time.

“We have a design underway to convert the old PRTC bus garage site into a commuter parking lot… Once the design is complete, we will have to make a determination on how to phase the project consistent with available funding. Additionally we are working with VDOT to determine if spaces can be made available on a temporary basis,” said Blaser.

But commuters need options now, and Rodrigo says they have them.

She suggested some simply walk to the PRTC bus stop closest to their house, or park in lots that sit further away from the mall and can accommodate more cars.

Some of those lots are in Dale City, like the one behind the Center Plaza off Dale Boulevard, the lot at Kmart and the lot across from Lindendale Road.

In Woodbridge, there are additional spaces in the lot at Va. 123 and Interstate 95 (Annapolis Way), said Rodrigo.

PRTC also suggests riders form their own carpools with neighbors who use the same commuter lot, join a vanpool, or use OmniMatch – a free service that uses a database of names to find which commuters live near each other and could commute together.

What’s to blame for the reduction of commuter parking at the popular commuter lot?  Mall officials say a planned expansion of the shopping center will bring new national retailers and string of new restaurants, as well as a demand for more parking for customers and employees.

Per an agreement with Prince William County, the mall for years has only been required to provide 275 commuter parking spaces – a fraction of the 975 to 1,000 they have been providing, a mall spokeswoman said.

The news Thursday sent Slugs (commuters who ride in cars of three or more to use I-95/395’s High Occupancy Vehicle lanes, and some who regularly park at Potomac Mills) to the region’s cornerstone website for slugging information, Slug-Lines.com.

“This would then force commuters onto the local roads which are already filled to capacity with commuters, school buses and local business travel. The impact of closing off these spaces to the commuters is going to have a more far-reaching impact than anyone can even imagine,” the user “FedUp” posted on one of the site’s message boards.

Others suggested mall officials simply relocate commuter parking to another underused portion of its sprawling parking lot.

?*This story has been corrected. An earlier version listed an incorrect commuter lot as an option to park at following the commuter parking reduction at Potomac Mills mall.