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By Jewel Edwards
Phase 1 of the much anticipated Silver Line on the D.C. metro system is on schedule to be completed in Sept. 2013. Construction began on the Silver Line in March 2009.
The first phase of the 23-mile extension of the existing Metrorail system will extend from East Falls Church to Wiehle Ave. in Reston, Va. and will serve Tyson’s Corner, Va’s largest employment center. Phase 1 will comprise of four stations in Tyson’s Corner: Tyson’s East 123, Tyson’s Central 7, and Tyson’s West, as well as a station as Wiehle Ave. in Reston.
The entire Silver Line extension will run from East Falls Church to Washington Dulles International Airport West to Ashburn, and will give riders a single ride from Dulles International Airport to downtown D.C.
A construction date has not yet been determined for Phase 2 of the Silver Line, which will run from Wiehle Avenue to Ashburn in eastern Loudoun County. The line will also serve Reston Town Center, Herndon, Washington Dulles International Airport, Route 606 and Ashburn.
Area business owners expressed approval of the Metro extension. “It will definitely bring more customers, which I am always happy to have,” said Connie Mai, who runs an Asian-Fusion eatery in Reston.
Some area residents, however, have voiced displeasure. Dontae Walker, 38, who regularly travels into DC on the Orange Line into D.C, says it will exacerbate existing problems with the Metro. “The Silver Line adds stations to downtown D.C., which is already crowded,” he says.
WMATA’s website promises that the Silver Line will provide “high-quality, high-capacity transit service in the Dulles Corridor,” and “will help mitigate traffic congestion, expand the reach of the existing regional rail system, offer a viable alternative to automobile travel and support future transit-oriented development along the corridor.”
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