To learn more about some of the major regional projects with implications for and coordination with Alexandria, visit the project pages linked below (pages are not maintained by the City of Alexandria).   

The Alexandria Fourth Track project will design and construct 6.0 miles of a fourth railroad track and related infrastructure between Arlington, VA, and Alexandria, VA. The project will connect the southern end of the Long Bridge Project and will construct one additional track within existing railroad right-of-way to accommodate more railroad capacity between Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. As part of this project, VPRA is redesigning the rail bridges over King Street and Commonwealth Avenue in Old Town. 

VDOT I-495 Southside express lane Study

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is conducting an environmental study to potentially extend the express lanes system on the southern section of I-95/I-495 (Capital Beltway), by 11 miles from the Springfield interchange (I-95/I-395/I-495) in Fairfax County, Virginia, across the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, to the MD 210 interchange in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

More information and updates on this project are provided on the 395 and 495 Express Lane Projects page.

DRPT I-495 Southside Transit and TDM Study

To help inform VDOT's study, noted above, the Virginia Department of Trail and Public Transit (DRPT) conducted a study to identify a range of current and future multimodal solutions that could be implemented to reduce congestion, improve trip reliability and regional connections, and enhance existing and planned multimodal mobility and connectivity in the study area with a potentially expanded Express Lanes system. The study area focused on I-495 between the Springfield interchange (I-95/I-395/I-495) in Fairfax County, Virginia, and the MD 210 interchange in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The study area also included the Metrorail and Virginia Railway Express (VRE) lines between Springfield and Alexandria that parallel I-495.

NVTC leads the planning process for Envision Route 7, a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system designed to connect the Mark Center in Alexandria to Tysons via Bailey’s Crossroads, Seven Corners and Falls Church along the Route 7 (King Street) corridor. In Alexandria the routing would follow the West End Transitway along N. Beauregard Street and King Street north of N. Beauregard Street into Fairfax County.

WMATA is undertaking an effort to redesign its bus network with a visionary plan that can be implemented in FY25. 

The I-495 Express Lanes Northern Extension (495 NEXT) project is a public-private partnership between the Commonwealth of  Virginia and Transurban that involves extending the 495 Express Lanes north by two-and-a-half miles from the Dulles Corridor to the George Washington Memorial Parkway interchanges near the American Legion Bridge.  

The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) is completed a feasibility study to assess alternatives for rehabilitation or replacement of the rail bridges over King Street and Commonwealth Avenue in Alexandria to improve safety and reduce maintenance. The final recommendation in the feasibility study is to remove and replace the bridge structures with new ballasted deck bridges.

VPRA plans to conduct a virtual public information meeting on the study on Wednesday, November 2, 2022 and presented on the study to the Transportation Commission on November 16, 2022. A video of the presentation to Transportation Commission is available here (Item 3 at 11 minutes 30 seconds).

The Long Bridge Project will construct a new, two-track railroad bridge next to the existing Long Bridge which spans across the Potomac River from Virginia to Washington, DC, creating a four-track corridor. A new bike-pedestrian bridge will also be constructed as part of the mitigation that will span the Potomac River and George Washington Memorial Parkway, connecting Long Bridge Park directly to East and West Potomac Parks. The project’s purpose is to increase railroad capacity between Virginia and the District of Columbia while alleviating the rail congestion caused by the existing two-track Long Bridge.

This project is in the preliminary engineering stage. It is expected to go to final design and construction in 2023.

The proposed Alexandria Station Improvements project, led by VRE, will remove the timber pedestrian grade crossing across Track 3 (closest to the station) and Track 2. New, safer, ADA access will be provided to the other side of the tracks by adding elevators to both platforms and adjusting the platform elevations.

This project is in the design stage. It is expected to begin construction in February 2023 and be completed in 2024.