West Falls Church Loser Metro Station (Arlington, Reston: real estate, 2013, condo)

[FairfaxGuy73]

A few years ago, the papers reported that the Sliver Line would join the Orange line at West Falls Church Metro. Some folks did not research and moved into communities such as the beleagured Pavilion Condo near the Metro.

Eventually, the truth came out that the station will fly right over the top of West Falls Church, but won't join the Orange line until the closer in East Falls Church. Now I've noticed that this weekend those who use West Falls Church will have to use a bus shuttle to get around construction that they won't benefit from.

I would hate to have to watch the Silver Line travel over my station every day knowing all of the property value and convenience that I'd be missing out on. Also, once the real estate bust stops, East Falls Church is going to build what looks like a nice community center.

[perries]

I had not been following the metro construction closely, and did not know they are not joining at West Falls.

But people who live by West Falls still have the convenience of accessing the metro orange line there, right? West Falls will still be an operating metro station, yes? If anything they might be glad not to have to stand on a silver line train that's going to be full of people from Herndon/Reston and Loudoun. Those trains are going to be packed, I'm sure.

[FairfaxGuy73]

I just drove by the construction site there. Dulles Tool Road going onto I-66 was backed up due to lane closes because of the construction. There was also a backup on 66 going east when I was on my way back. It's supposed to be very noisy there too.

I didn't notice any construction by East Falls Church where the line will come in, but there must be some in the future. Phase 1 of the Silver Line is expected to be completed by 2013. It's very cool to watch the progress.

[FairfaxGuy73]

Originally Posted by perries

I had not been following the metro construction closely, and did not know they are not joining at West Falls.

But people who live by West Falls still have the convenience of accessing the metro orange line there, right? West Falls will still be an operating metro station, yes? If anything they might be glad not to have to stand on a silver line train that's going to be full of people from Herndon/Reston and Loudoun. Those trains are going to be packed, I'm sure.

Yes, it will still be running, and who can knock Metro access. It's just that if they want to travel to Tysons, Reston, or Dulles Airport they'll have to go one stop to East Falls Church Falls Church and wait to transfer. Silver line might full be at East Falls going east (who knows yet?), but West Falls has that problem already. All of Farifax County gets to load before them and then they are a big commuter start up due to the huge garage there.

Also, they've go three years of having to bus shuttle one stop to East Falls from time to time and deal with the construction and dust. I have to hand it to Arlington County. The transfer point at the last stop in the county with a nice business-residential center will be the perfect final jewel of their Metro setup.

[ICS67]

I also originally assumed the two lines would merge at West Falls, but looking at the configuration of the pylons for the Sliver Line going up there, I began to wonder about that. To judge from the construction, it looks like the two lines will merge somewhere a bit east of West Falls.

I actually wonder if the number of eastbound Orange Line riders who board at West Falls in the morning won't fall to some noticeable degree once the Silver Line opens. It's my impression that a huge number of the commuters who enter that station arrive via the swarm of Fairfax Connector buses that travel there from Reston and Herndon. Once the Silver Line opens, I'm sure all those buses will be rerouted to the Silver Line stations in those two towns.

Silver Line or no Silver Line, if you live in Arlington and are heading east on Metro in the morning, I think you'll still be soldier out of luck.

[chicagotodc]

This is an interesting conversation for someone entirely new to the area. Any good online resources for this new silver line? (e.g. map of route?)

[cdmurphy]

Originally Posted by chicagotodc

This is an interesting conversation for someone entirely new to the area. Any good online resources for this new silver line? (e.g. map of route?)

http://www.dullesmetro.com/

[FairfaxGuy73]

Originally Posted by chicagotodc

This is an interesting conversation for someone entirely new to the area. Any good online resources for this new silver line? (e.g. map of route?)

Or http://www.dullesmetro.com/pdfs/Rout...SilverLine.pdf

You can see where the Silver line cuts in just east of West Falls Church station. If flies over I-66 and West Falls Church station without stopping. Last I heard they weren't sure if the pylons were strong enough to hold it up. Never heard if they resolved that.

The first stop is East Falls Church. It's not a bad location for a small urban center. If they have a walk over I-66 as some of the plans propose, there will be a nice corridor along Washington Street right into the heart of Falls Church city. It's already getting more upscale along near EFC in anticipation.

[FairfaxGuy73]

Originally Posted by ICS67

I actually wonder if the number of eastbound Orange Line riders who board at West Falls in the morning won't fall to some noticeable degree once the Silver Line opens. It's my impression that a huge number of the commuters who enter that station arrive via the swarm of Fairfax Connector buses that travel there from Reston and Herndon. Once the Silver Line opens, I'm sure all those buses will be rerouted to the Silver Line stations in those two towns.

Yes, they have a bus that takes a dedicated lane from Reston along Dulles Toll Road straight to WFC station. The Reston bus stop will become a Metro stop in phase II. I wonder what they'll do with the dedicated bus lane as I doubt they'll be using it when it paralells the Silver Line. You can never have too many lanes around here, so I'm sure something will use it.

It should be pretty exciting when the new line opens. As you mention, there will have to be more opportunities for bus lines to the Silver Line. So people who were in the former boon docks near Reston and Herndon could catch a bus to the Silver Line and get into DC.

[perries]

Reston at least already has a lot of lightly used local bus service, so I expect ridership will increase once the buses can ferry to and from the metro stop(s).

The Wiehle park & ride will be developed as the last station in Phase I of the Silver line construction and that is where riders currently board some of the direct buses to WFC. The Herndon Monroe park & ride to the west along the toll road will be part of Phase II, and that's where other direct-to-WFC buses board.

But yes, I do think there will be more seats for orange line riders once those bus commuters divert to the silver line. I think they many will divert when Phase I is complete, because it will (hypothetically, if all goes as envisioned) be easier to drive or bus to the Wiehle stop and board metro there. We think there will be huge traffic down Wiehle Avenue from Sterling when that station opens, and Greenway-toll road traffic headed to Wiehle, too.

I will also be curious to see if people bike to the Wiehle station from the W&OD trail.