Modern streetcars could one day run through the Alexandria campus. Artwork by Dan Gorosito

Streetcars may one day whisk passengers to Northern Virginia Community College’s Alexandria campus, if current plans hold up.

Planners are working on a streetcar line that would run from the Pentagon City Metro station, down Columbia Pike, and end at NOVA.

The Alexandria campus would be a central part of this new system. A control center, rail yard, and repair shop at NOVA could be part of the new line, according to Dr. Jimmie McClellan, the dean of Arts and Humanities at the Alexandria campus and a board member for the Northern Virginia Streetcar Coalition. Classes in streetcar repair and operation could be offered as well.

The plans for the Columbia Pike Streetcar originally called for a terminus at the Skyline development in Falls Church, which is about a mile from campus. However, as part of recent steps to integrate the Alexandria campus with transit, a request was made to consider having the first phase of the streetcar end at NOVA instead.

One of the organizations behind the streetcar effort is the Northern Virginia Streetcar Coalition. They are composed of developers, current and past officials from Fairfax County, Arlington, and Alexandria and others interested in transit. The NVSC wants to see rail brought to the West End neighborhood of Alexandria, but they also have a regional focus, wanting Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax to integrate their proposed streetcars into one system.

A compatible system is important for NOVA because it sits near the center of these three jurisdictions, and if each one uses different standards it makes it harder to reach campus by transit.

The planning for this project is still in the early stages. The Columbia Pike Streetcar is just entering into its engineering and environmental impact phase.

The coalition currently has a temporary board, as they were started shortly after a Nov. 2009 meeting at the Alexandria campus that was attended by about 80 people.

The organization hopes to start a preliminary feasibility study on this project soon, but the study could take over a year according to Janet Gregor, an organizer with the coalition. A request has been sent to Jim Moran, the Democratic congressman representing the Arlington and Alexandria area, for federal money to study extending the line from the Columbia Pike streetcar, to near I-395 and Seminary Road. This Alexandria section of the line would likely be in a separate phase.

A timeline is hard to predict so early in the process, but the Columbia Pike streetcar has been nearly a decade in serious planning. This project is just now moving into the engineering and environmental studying phase.

Public transit at the Alexandria campus is currently limited to about four bus lines, many with wait times of half an hour up to an hour. NOVA worked to make that situation better, getting Metrobus and Alexandria’s DASH bus company to bring the routes through campus. The push for a streetcar is part of enhancing transit to NOVA’s most urban campus.

The recent Department of Defense move of over 6,000 jobs to the nearby Mark Center has also prompted officials to look at options besides single use automobiles for moving those workers in the already congested I-395 and Seminary Road area.

This project will not be cheap. In the Alexandria Transportation Master Plan, the cost for streetcars is estimated to be $19 million per mile. This means the Columbia Pike Streetcar might cost around $114 million.

Funding for such projects usually comes from a variety of sources. The Federal Transit Administration could provide up to half the costs. However, in such an instance, the project would have to compete for scarce transit funds on a nationwide level. The federal route can also add years to a project, as happened to the Metrorail extension to Dulles Airport.

The other funds could potentially come from increased property taxes and vehicle registration fees.

“There’s a lot of student interest,” Gregor said, about NOVA students involved with the project. Several showed up to a streetcar meeting on campus. Other students in the design department are currently working on a website and logo for the coalition.

The NVSC will hold another public meeting at 7 p.m., on April 22 at the Hilton Mark Center Alexandria, with presentations from the local jurisdictions on their transit plans. Details about the NVSC can be found at alexmetros.com.

By: Joshua Davis

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