The Silver Line of Washington Metro in the United States consists of 28 existing transit stations and six planned stations from Wiehle-Reston East to Largo Town Center. It has stations in Fairfax County and Arlington, Virginia, District of Columbia, and Prince George's County, Maryland. Five stations are divided by Orange Line alone, thirteen with the Orange and Blue lines from Rosslyn to Stadium-Armory, and five stations share with the Blue Line to the eastern second-lane terminal at Largo Town Center. Only five existing stations are exclusive to Silver Line, which started service on July 26, 2014.
Section 11.7 miles (18.8 km) from the Silver Line between its split from the Orange Line and Wiehle-Reston East station are in Fairfax County, Virginia and built as Stage 1 of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project. Phase 2 extends the 11.5 mile (18.5 km) line to Loudoun County via Washington Dulles International Airport and adds six stations to the line. Initial Phase 2 development begins in 2014, with the opening scheduled for sometime in 2020. The $ 6.8 billion project is the largest expansion with mileage route since the start of Metro in 1976.
Video Silver Line (Washington Metro)
Description
The Silver Line has two main goals. The first is connecting Washington, D.C. by train to Washington Dulles International Airport and the edge cities of Tysons Corner, Reston, Herndon, and Ashburn. The second is to spur urban development on Tysons Corner and reduce dependence on highway traffic in the business district, Virginia's largest and 12th largest in the country. The district area is comparable to the size of downtown Washington, D.C., but is somewhat isolated from the surrounding environment and does not have a network pattern in its streets. The Silver Line will also increase public access to the Udvar-Hazy Center, an annex of the National Air and Space Museum located near Dulles Airport; after the opening of the first phase of Silver Line, the Fairfax Connector started running the shuttles to the museum from Wiehle-Reston East.
The previous sections of the Silver Line, which became the Orange and Blue Line, opened on 1 July 1977 from Stadium-Armory to Rosslyn, on December 11, 1979 from Rosslyn to Ballston, November 22, 1980 from Stadium-Armory to Addison Road, 7 June 1986 from Ballston-MU via East Falls Church and December 18, 2004 from Addison Road to Largo Town Center. Unlike all previous segments of the Metrorail system, designed and built by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), the line was designed and built by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) and operated by WMATA. The first phase of the project was funded 43% by $ 900 million from federal funds, 28% by tax-specific districts on commercial properties closest to the Silver Line route and 28% by a $ 0.50 toll increase on Dulles Toll Road. Funding for the second phase of the project is shared by Loudoun County, Fairfax County, Commonwealth of Virginia and MWAA.
While the Silver Line was originally planned to end at Stadium-Armory, in 2012 the plan was changed for the path to end at Largo City Center instead, as the Armory-pocket trajectory was too short for the train to reverse direction. It follows the trail of the Blue and Orange Line through DC, continuing through Arlington along the Orange Line and branching directly to the east of West Falls Church Station. The new track runs on the median Dulles Connector Road to the elevated bridge, which takes them past Virginia Route 123. Two stops along the west side of Route 123 serve the national headquarters of Capital One, SAIC and two shopping Tysons Corner covered malls. The track then enters the tunnel that appears on the median of Virginia Route 7. Two elevated stations above Route 7 serve the western part of the Tysons Corner. The elevated path then swings to the median of Dulles Access Road until it reaches the airport. Along the way, five new stations will be built with platforms on the median access road and tariff bridge and pedestrians to the elevated parking area above the highway. To anticipate the Herndon station under construction, in 1999 Fairfax County built a 1,750-mile parking garage with a ramp to the Dulles Access Road expressway and this facility was used for bus commuters on a temporary basis. The garage has invited criticism for alleged construction defects. As originally planned, upon reaching the airport, the track will enter the tunnel that will follow the airport entrance entrance to the station located near the terminal. The track will leave the tunnel near the airport hotel and economic parking lot and will head north along the main runway. A storage yard and maintenance facility will branch out to the west which occupies the buffer zone of the airport north from the end of the main runway. The last two stops will be on the Median Dulles Greenway, serving the Ashburn suburbs. Therefore, this line is expected to attract both airport traffic and passengers from the far western suburbs of Washington, DC. The bus currently provides users with limited public transport. Instead, the Silver Line is expected to provide trains once every six minutes during peak hours and every fourteen minutes during non-busy hours.
The new 7000 Metro series cars have been booked for $ 3 million per car, 64 of them for Silver Line service. The contract was signed on July 2, 2010 for 428 cars.
Maps Silver Line (Washington Metro)
History
Planning
The federal government, which owned and operated Dulles Airport before Congress created MWAA, built Dulles Access Road in the 1960s to connect airports to Washington via Interstate 66. As access roads were built, the government chose to book a road median for some form of rail transit, and the nearest West Falls Church station was designed so that the line could eventually be extended in this direction. The original 1968 Metrorail plan included an eventual extension to Dulles airport. In 1969, Senator William Spong of Virginia tried unsuccessfully to have the extension to Dulles built as part of the early stages of the system rather than having it built at an unspecified time in the future. A 1971 study of the feasibility Metrorail ran into Dulles estimated that 30,000 people would ride an extension every day.
In 1995, the General Assembly of Virginia authorized the Commonwealth Transport Agency (CTB) to provide "an additional increase to Dulles Toll Road and the Dulles Access Road corridor... Including, but not limited to, mass transit, including rail and capacity building. care... from net income surplus from Dulles Toll Road ".
In 1998, Raytheon Engineers and Constructors proposed to build and operate the Dulles Corridor Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. In January 1999, the Tysons-Dulles Corridor Group (which includes Bechtel Corporation and West * Group) offers competing BRT proposals that will eventually extend the tracks to Ashburn. This proposal encourages the Virginia Transportation Department (VDOT) to evaluate the benefits of BRT and heavy rail public transport in the corridor.
Locals and local officials have been talking about Metro's extension to Dulles since Washington Metro began operations in 1976, but significant planning did not begin until 2000. The process of "scoping" the Kores Corridor Rapid Transit Project process began in April 2000 with a series of meetings with officials local and federal, designed to collect the necessary authority for the project. Local and federal laws require extensive Alternative Analysis - two most likely are bus lanes or inaction - and environmental impact. The special railway line won over other alternatives. The initial environmental hearing, which closed on 28 August 2002, was positive. Although the planners were originally thought to end the first phase at Tysons Corner, state officials decided that the first phase would end at Reston's Wiehle Avenue, partly to convince the Washington Metropolitan Airport Authority that the route would eventually head to Dulles Airport. The project received official approval on June 10, 2004.
In February 2005, the CTB approved a 50 percent increase in the Toll Dulles toll tariff, effective May 22, 2005, and "reiterated that no less than 85 percent of the surplus surplus of the Dulles Toll Road toll revenue will be dedicated to mass transit and rail in [ Dulles] Corrdor "and provides" that all additional toll revenue generated from May 22, 2005 toll adjustment will be dedicated to the [Metrorail] Project. "Between 1 July 2003 and November 1, 2008, when toll roads were transferred to MWAA, over $ 138 million in net surplus toll revenue (along with accumulated interest) is provided to MWAA for the Silver Line project.
Financing
Although the original financing plan called for a 50 percent toll increase on Dulles Toll Road to finance the Silver Line (25 cents in the main square and 25 cents in the street plaza), the projected cost increase resulted in the MWAA Board approving an additional cost increase. Effective January 1, 2010, surcharges increased to 50 cents on the main plaza and road plazas, with an additional 25 percent increase in major tolls set for 2011 and 2012. The toll surcharge is designed to support MWAA's 52.6% share of combined costs $ 5.25 billion from Phase I and Phase II. MWAA has justified this toll increase if necessary to meet approximately $ 220 million in annual debt service fees projected by 2020. The toll revenue requirement is based on the assumption that the federal government, while contributing $ 900 million to Phase I, will not contribute. funds for Phase II.
As a result of the increase in surcharges, the toll in 2012 will be $ 2.25, or 16 cents per mile. Toll escalation proposals attracted 221 public comments and opponents exceeded the number of supporters by about 3 to 1. However, as cost estimates grew from $ 5.25 billion to $ 6.8 billion, no final decision has been reached to address the projected shortfall.
Tysons Corner tunnel dispute
The initial plan called for a tunnel to run from before the McLean station out of Spring Hill station, with all four stations in between being underground. When the contractor was hired to design the Silver Line - the consortium Bechtel and Washington Group International - found the cost too high, the design was changed to use a short tunnel, just running between Tysons Corner and Greensboro station (under higher ground) with all four stations located at or over the ground. In March 2006, the contractor was instructed to examine the technique of digging a "big hole" tunnel (successfully used in Europe) with the potential to lower tunnel costs through all parts of the Tysons. The contractor found that there would be no significant cost reduction and proposed residence with short tunnel options.
After allegations that the design contractor had raised the cost for the tunnel to avoid sharing the work with the outside tunnel contractor, the concept of the long tunnel was revived in April 2006. The charges led to calls for an outside cost estimate to determine a more realistic tunnel cost. On May 15, 2006, Virginia Transportation Minister Pierce R. Homer announced the creation of an advisory panel led by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The panel has about two months to evaluate the option to complete the line through Tysons Corner, with results presented to the state on July 27, 2006 and published on July 31, 2006.
On September 6, 2006, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine announced his decision to support the elevated path through Tysons Corner. In a statement, Kaine said he believed a tunnel would be the best option, but decided against it, citing the fear of losing federal funds for the project.
Shortly after Governor Kaine's decision, the Greater McLean Chamber formed a coalition of tunnel supporters, called Tysons Tunnel, Inc. and submitted technical proposals to help revive tunnel building considerations through Tysons Corner. The Virginia Public Railway and Transport Department hired an independent consultant to assess coalition proposals. However, a consultant report - sent to Homer's Secretary on 7 March 2007 stated that "[t] here is a significant risk that the project cost of the Large Bore Tunnel will not meet the Federal Transit Administration (FTA's) cost effectiveness ratio, which could jeopardize federal funding for project ".
On November 26, 2007, Tysons Tunnel, Inc. filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Transport and the FTA in the Eastern District of Virginia challenged their petition's refusal to reopen and consider additional evidence on the benefits of a tunnel over an air option. Gary Baise, Republican challenger for Fairfax County Organization Chief Superintendent Gerry Connolly, represents Tysons Tunnel. In 2010, Tysons Tunnel, Inc. stop operating.
The start of development was postponed due to a federal contribution approval of $ 900 million for project costs awaiting the conclusion of an FTA review of a proposal submitted by Virginia. Virginia government representatives, including Governor Tim Kaine and US Senators John Warner and Jim Webb, arrived at the FTA on January 24, 2008 to discuss last minute concerns by FTA staff and administrators. The FTA Administrator, James Simpson, presented to Governor Kaine with a letter containing harsh criticism of the project as presented. The projects presented are rated "medium-low" (the project should receive a "moderate" or higher rating for approval under the Federal New Fundamental Fund project) and decide it is not eligible to receive $ 900 million in federal funding. FTA concerns include the lack of experience of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority in large design-building contracts, exaggerating the amount of funding from Dulles Toll Road and Metro's inability to maintain a 23 mile (37 km) line after it was built. The Virginian leaders pledged to address concerns on January 28, 2008, as some fixed price contracts for the cost of building materials will expire on 1 February. Governor Kaine requested an extension until February 1, provided by the FTA.
On April 30, 2008, the FTA reversed previous decisions and approved the above ground projects, saying that the FTA meets the standards for cost efficiency, construction and passengers, moving it closer to receiving $ 900 million in federal funding. The official told The Washington Post that the project will move to the final design stage. Funds approved by the FTA for the project on 4 December 2008.
On March 10, 2009, US Transport Secretary Ray LaHood signed a formal agreement giving $ 900 million promised by the federal government for the construction of the Silver Line, with major construction expected to begin in a few weeks. Utility relocation works began at Tysons Corner in mid 2008.
Construction
MWAA plans to award a separate build-design contract for Phase II. The Phase II contract is awarded in May 2013 and the projected completion date is 2018. However, it is later extended to 2019 or 2020.
Although construction is planned to begin in 2005, delays in funding approval push back the start date. To facilitate the construction of the Silver Line, responsibility for the project was transferred on November 1, 2008, from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to MWAA. Utility relocation work began in 2008, and construction began on 12 March 2009.
This extension runs its own way on a route similar to Access Road Dulles, running both in class and through the air structure. The only significant diversion of the road access routes is to stop at Tysons Corner and at Dulles International Airport, where the Metro is currently planned to alternate between subway and elevated trails to maintain exclusive road rights.
Services in Phase I of the Silver Line opened on 26 July 2014 between Wiehle-Reston East and Largo Town Center, with five new stations added to the existing network west of East Falls Church. The full line to Ashburn, including the station at Dulles International Airport, is expected to be completed by 2018.
A path south of Virginia Route 123 in Tysons Corner was closed for a two-year period, starting February 22, 2010, for the construction of the McLean Metro station. The affected distance is two blocks, from Scotts Crossing Road to Capital Beltway.
Pier Support
When the Orange Line was originally built in 1977, the foundation for the bridge to carry the Silver Line above I-66 to the median of Dulles Access Road was built to the ground. The foundation includes a pile of steel that is pushed to the ground and covered with concrete. However, detailed records for this original foundation are missing. As a result, engineers asked for the foundations to be examined by digging around them to determine the condition of each pile under the concrete foundation cap.
Some of the foundations are located in limited places adjacent to I-66 and the third rail of the Orange Line, which makes access difficult. Dulles Transit Partners offers to check seven easily accessible foundations, but the FTA insists that all foundations should be tested. Dulles Transit Partners and MWAA agreed to test all foundations before the bridge dock was built on them. This requires a portion of the Orange Line between West Falls Church Church and East Falls Church Metro to be picked up from the service on the weekend while the tests are conducted. The foundation is acceptable and the construction of the bridge is continued by using the existing foundation.
Controversy
There is controversy over the contract between MWAA and Dulles Transit Partners, which consists of Bechtel and Washington Group International. The $ 2.7 billion project was initially provided by VDOT under the Virginia Public Private Partnership Act, not by using conventional competitive bids based on detailed specifications. As a result, contractors are allowed to design and build projects indefinitely at cost. Problems can arise from settings where MWAA oversees the design and construction but ultimately WMATA must operate the Silver Line. The contract provides an escalation price of $ 3 million to $ 6 million per month for delays. VDOT transferred the contract to MWAA when MWAA took over the project in November 2008.
Opening Stage 1
The original schedule is planned for revenue services beginning in 2013. The contractor reported to MWAA on February 7, 2014, that construction is completed. MWAA had fifteen days to review the documentation and decide if it was approved, but on February 24 they announced that the contractor had failed to meet seven of the twelve criteria outlined in the contract.
On March 19, 2014, MWAA announced an additional delay in the project due to public address speakers and communication cables that did not meet the code and did not offer a new completion date. They hope to submit it to WMATA on April 9, 2014. WMATA requires an additional 90 days for testing and training. The system then undergoes 90 days of staff testing and training. It is suggested, at the time, that the line can be opened as early as July 4, 2014. On May 27, 2014, WMATA was handed over the line, with the service to start "within 90 days". Finally, on June 24, 2014, it was revealed that the official opening date for the first five stations was set for July 26th.
After a series of speeches and announcements before the opening, which was televised on local cable channel News Channel 8, and attended by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, Metro General Manager Richard Sarles, the entire Board of Metro Directors, District of Columbia Mayor Vincent C. Gray, and Other regional politicians, ribbon cutting took place in Wiehle-Reston East, and shortly after noon on July 26, 2014, five new stations were opened for passenger service.
Although the Silver Line attracts motorists, the average working day is 17,100 during the first year of operation, not 25,000 projected riders.
Effect on Metro map
Metro's iconic rail maps, in distribution since Lance Wyman and Bill Cannan (Wyman & Cannan) designed it in 1976, took - according to some observers - the "pop art" approach to representing its subway network. Metro rail maps use a great "bold" sweep to mark their radial lines. In order to fit the current space and utilize iconography as the current proportion, the map relies on the fact that there are no more than two overlapping lines in a single location. The addition of the Silver Line creates a three-line overlap from Rosslyn to Stadium-Armory, a fact that caused WMATA to publicly announce in 2010 that it is considering designing a new map. A number of unofficial attempts by graphic designers to redraw map of Washington Metro to enter the Silver Line have done so by attenuating strokes throughout.
In 2003, ahead of Booth's efforts, WMATA released a professionally designed graphic featuring Silver Lines on unofficial maps that resemble the current version, but with a thin line. The interaction between Metro's unofficial proposal and other designers received attention in a number of press outlets. A poster featuring similar design maps has been installed at DC Councilman Jack Evans' office for several years, but received little attention until 2008. Wyman, one of the original designers of the map, was confirmed as a layout specialist who will redesign the map by The Washington Post on June 4, 2011.
A thick line version of the map, released as part of the Metro Plus Plus plan, shows the Silver Line spurring the Orange Line between Ballston and East Falls Church stations in the northwest, with five unlabeled stops (Phase 1 stations). The final map released for Phase 1 Opening The Silver Line displays stations divided by three lines as normal stations, with dots indicating stations located on the colored lines in the center and small white bumps extending from the central points to the adjacent colored line..
Phase 2: Dulles Extension
While construction of Phase 1 to Wiehle-Reston East is under way, funding and Phase 2 planning through Dulles Airport continues. This includes the adoption of a special tax district by the City of Herndon and a public planning forum. The initial cost estimate for Phase 2 is $ 2.75 billion; however, a group of consultants increased its forecast in 2010 from $ 3.44 billion to $ 4.1 billion.
On April 6, 2011, the MWAA Board selected 9 to 4 to build an underground station located 550 feet (170 m) from the airport terminal rather than the 1,150 feet (350 m) above ground station from the terminal. Underground stations will be more convenient for travelers, but will come at an additional cost of $ 330 million and will extend project construction time, delaying expected opening until mid-2017. Former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell opposes the decision to build a more expensive underground station and threatened to withhold support for the project. US Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, offered to mediate the dispute. On March 7, 2012, the $ 3.8 billion cost projected for Phase II was reduced to $ 2.7 billion with the abolition of underground stations at Dulles Airport and other cost savings.
The Silver Line Extension to Dulles and Loudoun County was in jeopardy until July 3, 2012, when the Loudoun County Supervisory Board voted 5 to 4 to extend the line to Dulles Airport and to the county.
On April 25, 2013, the Phase II contract was issued at a cost of $ 1.177 billion. On August 20, 2014, the US Department of Transport announced that Phase II would be funded with Infrastructure Finance Innovation (TIFIA) loan of 1.28 billion US Dollars. This provides a share of approximately $ 1.87 billion of TIFIA's combined loan commitments for Phase II, which represents the largest TIFIA aid for a single project in program history.
Cracks were found in several concrete support beams in July 2015, causing work to be temporarily suspended.
As of July 2016, 30% of the Phase II project has been completed. The contractor reported that significant progress was made with respect to line structure.
In March 2017, the completion of Phase II construction had reached 56% by working at the Dulles Airport railway station at 46%, 76% of the deck range poured, and all the airborne girders above Dulles Access Road near Saarinen Circle are arranged on-site. MWAA reports that the crew will soon begin installation of a pedestrian bridge at five stations under construction on the median Dulles Access Road and Dulles Greenway.
In January 2018, it was reported that 76% of Phase II development has been completed. However, a few months later, it was discovered that some of the cement sections of the newly designed Metro station were incorrectly making them susceptible to water infiltration. Efforts are being made to remedy this problem, although it is not expected to affect the 2020 opening projected for the expansion.
List of stations
The stations are registered according to their approved names.
References
Further reading
MacGillis, Alec (8 May 2006). "Tysons Tunnel Can Threaten US Funds". The Washington Post. p.Ã, B01.
External links
- Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit Project
- Peta Garis Perak
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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