Planning for Rail in Reston, Bulova Byline, Chairman's Monthly Report, May 2010

Reston will soon benefit from the arrival of Metrorail. Service at the Wiehle Avenue metro station will begin in December of 2013. The County owns a 9 acre site at Wiehle Avenue and has negotiated a development agreement to build approximately 1 million square feet of commercial, retail, hotel, and residential facilities in concert with the station. These facilities will be in place when the station opens.

Six more stations will open in 2016: Reston Parkway, Herndon-Monroe, Route 28, Dulles Airport, and Route 606 and Route 772 in Loudon County.

The Reston Parkway station will have entrances on both sides of the Toll Road via a pedestrian bridge crossing the toll road and access highway. There will also be bus bays and kiss & ride lots, and parking on the south side of the station at Sunrise Valley Dr. The north entrance will be within walking distance of Reston Town Center.

The County is prioritizing transit in Reston to make sure that we are able to take full advantage of the benefits of rail. When Wiehle Avenue opens we plan to implement a feeder bus plan with routes serving the Town Center, increase the frequency of the buses to the station so that they match train schedules, and develop dedicated bus facilities. Once the Reston Parkway station opens we will re-route bus service to serve the station entrances and develop dedicated bus facilities along Sunset Hills Rd. There are many other improvements that are planned to ensure that the stations are accessible to the community, including crosswalks, trail crossings, sidewalks, mixed use trails, and on-street bike lanes.

In addition to making transit improvements we will also be re-planning the areas around the stations to make sure we take full advantage of the benefits of Rail. Earlier this year, Supervisor Hudgins led a Reston Master Plan Special Study to identify appropriate changes to the County’s Comprehensive Plan to guide development in Reston and the Dulles Corridor.