WASHINGTON – Metro riders by 2001 will see the addition of nine new stations on the Green, Red and Blue lines.
The additions will complete Metro’s 103-mile rail system, bringing the total number of stations to 83. The entire system project, which began in 1976, will cost $10 billion, said Metro spokeswoman Cheryl Johnson.
The earliest of the new stations is expected to open in June 1997 in Franconia-Springfield. The station will replace the Van Dorn station as the last Blue Line stop in Virginia.
Another Blue Line station, between National Airport and Braddock Road, is expected to open after the year 2000. RFP Corp., a former railroad company, has agreed to pay for its design and construction, Johnson said.
The company is building an industrial/business park in the area and wanted access to mass transportation for its employees, she said. Metro will take over the station’s maintenance, Johnson said.
The Glenmont station on the Red Line will replace Wheaton as the end of this line in Maryland. This Montgomery County station will open in June 1998.
Two stations are expected to open on the Green Line by December 1999, Johnson said. The line, now in two halves, will be joined in the middle with the opening of the Georgia Avenue- Petworth and Columbia Heights stations in the District.
The Georgia Avenue-Petworth station will be the first to have two tracks stacked on top of one another at the station and extending for a couple of miles, Johnson said. Metro previously has laid its tracks side by side, but Johnson said the lateral tracks conserve space in an urbanized area.
“Space is at a premium,” she said. “It’s less digging horizontally but more digging laterally.”
Stations are also being added to the Green Line at its southern end. The Prince George’s County stations of Southern Avenue, Naylor Road, Suitland and Branch Avenue are expected to complete this line by 2001, Johnson said. In addition, Metro is considering building a few other stations not on this list of 83, Johnson said. -30-