The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has placed an indefinite hold on plans to add more than 1,000 parking spots at the Vienna Metrorail station, citing parking improvements at nearby stations and a lack of public outcry when a surface lot at Vienna closed.
“The simple fact of the matter is, when we closed the temporary parking lot there, we didn’t get any complaints,” said Board Supervisor Linda Q. Smyth, D. “We were expecting to be inundated, and we didn’t get any.”
The temporary 680-car lot, which was used to accommodate high commuter demand, closed in November 2006 to make way for the Metro West development. There are 5,849 parking spots at the Vienna station, which sits at the end of the Orange Line and is the closest station for most commuters from the outer suburbs of Northern Virginia.
More than 13,000 people start their Metro ride at the station every weekday, according to Metro.
While the Metro board of directors approved a parking garage addition there in 1999, the county has to fund the estimated $40 million project. The county Board of Supervisors previously authorized the measure.
“The idea was that people thought we were going to need more parking there, but that was before we had the approval for Dunn Loring, before we had the bond to build more parking at the Stringfellow commuter lot, and before we had improved bus service,” Smyth said.
The county is adding 650 parking spots at the Dunn Loring station and has set aside land for a commuter parking lot close to the county Government Center, Smyth said.
