The region’s transportation agencies will study running Metrorail along the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, along with a host of other possible uses for the newly opened span.
The second phase of a joint Maryland-Virginia study of the south side of Interstate 495 is slated to begin in the firstquarter of next year. It will look at getting more out of a stretch of the Capital Beltway that includes the bridge, said Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project Manager Ronaldo Nicholson.
An extension of Metrorail is perhaps the most ambitious of the options to be included in the $750,000 study, which will also look at High Occupancy Vehicle lanes and Bus Rapid Transit.
“It’s going to help us answer the questions, on the bridge specifically, of what is feasible,” Nicholson said.
Even though the Wilson Bridge’s inner edges were designed to accommodate rail, prospects for the concept remain highly uncertain with no funding source or timeline identified. Even if it’s deemed technically feasible, the rail line would be competing for a small pot of funds for new transportation projects.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors nevertheless unanimously supported the rail concept in September as a means to connect Metro’s Yellow Line in Virginia with the Green Line in Maryland.
The Woodrow Wilson Bridge carries the Capital Beltway over the Potomac River south of Washington. The new $2.4 billion bridge opened this summer to commuters, but the entire project won’t be complete until 2011.
