Crystal City, a neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, has seen rapid economic growth over the years with development of the National Landing area, the opening of Potomac Yards Metrorail station, the first phases of the Long Bridge transformation, and construction of Amazon HQ2. The area reached another milestone this month with the groundbreaking for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Crystal City East Entrance—a critical transportation connection for one of Virginia’s busiest Metrorail stations. VHB has been involved in this design-build project, which is more than a decade in the making, from the planning and environmental review through design and now to this key milestone.
The addition of the East Entrance to the Crystal City station will reduce future crowding during peak travel times and enable riders to space out along the platform, speeding up boarding and accommodating ongoing development nearby. It will also improve Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility, provide another station exit or access route for emergencies, and connect to nearby BRT, the future Crystal City VRE station, a future Amtrak station, and the future CC2DCA pedestrian connection.
“It has been great to come together with the key stakeholders in this multi-year process to develop a significant transportation infrastructure improvement for the area,” said Mark Colgan, VHB Mid-Atlantic Transportation Director. “The groundbreaking is a testament to community collaboration and insight from our integrated teams. It truly takes a village to have a project of this size and scope come to life.”
JBG Smith (JBGS) and VHB proposed an innovative, two-phased approach to this Public-Private-Partnership (P3) project. Phase 1 included the delivery of a Preliminary Design Package and overseeing all planning, design, and environmental compliance with a unique incentive-based approach to delivering the project under budget. JBGS and VHB also brought Clark Construction’s Civil Group on board to address complex structural and foundation challenges with adding an entrance to an existing station tunnel. In Phase 2 of the project, VHB is overseeing the design team while also serving as program manager through to station entrance opening.
The groundbreaking event hosted multiple notable figures and speakers, including members from Arlington County, WMATA, Amazon, JBGS, Virginia House of Delegates, Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, and East Entrance LLC (the joint venture of JBGS and Clark Construction). Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey highlighted that about 25 percent of people who have moved recently to Crystal City do not have a car, reinforcing how important is it to advance multimodal transportation in the area. Several of the key speakers highlighted the significance of multimodal projects in the area that VHB has also contributed to, including the Crystal City VRE and the future CC2DCA pedestrian connection.
The new Metro entrance, scheduled to open in 2027, will serve more than 8,000 Amazon HQ2 employees, as well as many new residents, commuters, and visitors. VHB partnered with JBGS and Clark Construction to lead the design, engineering, and construction of the Crystal City Metrorail Station East Entrance under the Arlington County Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act (PPEA) process.
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