Amazon’s pledge to bring thousands of jobs to Northern Virginia over the next decade has injected new life and urgency into several transportation projects long sought for the area, including a second entrance to the Crystal City Metro station.
The $90.8 million project is one of five key initiatives to get an infusion of state funding as part of Virginia’s deal with Amazon — a deal that officials and business leaders say helped accelerate the project to construction within the next five years.
As part of the agreement to lure Amazon to Crystal City, Virginia committed to $195 million in transportation improvements, which also include an expansion of the Metroway bus system, a south entrance to the future Potomac Yard Metro station, improvements to Route 1, and the construction of a pedestrian bridge connecting Reagan National Airport to Crystal City.
[Amazon could be boon or bust for Metro and the region’s transportation infrastructure]
The Crystal City station entrance is considered critical to support the anticipated growth and enable better access to the area’s other transit options. It will put commuters closer to the Metroway stop, and to the planned airport bridge, as well as to commuter trains in the Virginia Railway Express Crystal City station, which is slated for improvements separately from the Amazon deal.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Luz Lazo over at the Washington Post
