I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1635 

To authorize alternatives analysis and preliminary engineering for new 

Metrorail capital projects in Northern Virginia and surrounding areas. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 19, 2009 

Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia (for himself and Mr. MORAN of Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To authorize alternatives analysis and preliminary engineering for new Metrorail capital projects in Northern Virginia and surrounding areas. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Northern Virginia Met5 rorail Extension Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit 

2 Authority (Metro) maintains the second largest rail 

3 network (Metrorail) in the Nation. 

4 (2) More than 120,000 Federal employees ride 

5 Metro to work. 

6 (3) Metro takes 580,000 cars off the road each 

7 day, eliminating the need for 1,400 lane miles of 

8 highway and eliminating 1 million tons of green9 house gas emissions annually. 

10 (4) Metrorail stations enable transit-oriented 

11 development, which is critical to protecting open 

12 space regionally. 

13 (5) Metro stimulates economic growth. 

14 (6) Real estate near Metrorail stations is worth 

15 in excess of $25 billion. 

16 (7) The Virginia Department of Transportation 

17 and Department of Rail and Public Transit com18 pleted a Major Investment Study that concluded 

19 that a multimodal transportation strategy is re20 quired to accommodate projected travel demand in 

21 Virginia along Interstate Route 66 from Interstate 

22 Route 495 to Haymarket, the area to be served by 

23 the proposed Orange Line Metrorail extension. 

24 (8) The population of the area to be served by 

25 the proposed Orange Line extension is expected to 


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1 be 681,000 individuals by 2025, while employment 

2 in the area is projected to increase to 362,000 indi3 viduals by that date. 

4 (9) As a result of military base realignments 

5 and closures, thousands of jobs will shift from the 

6 area of Crystal City, Virginia, which is served by 

7 Metrorail, to Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and its engi8 neering proving ground, which are not served by 

9 Metrorail. 

10 (10) Despite recent road improvements, includ11 ing the Springfield Mixing Bowl, Interstate Route 

12 495 continues to experience congestion at both Poto13 mac River crossings during normal rush hours. 

14 (11) It is critical that extensions of transit serv15 ice are coordinated with local land use planning, in16 cluding the use of smart growth principles and tran17 sit-oriented development. 

18 SEC. 3. PROJECT AUTHORIZATIONS FOR NEW FIXED 

19 GUIDEWAY CAPITAL PROJECTS. 

20 (a) ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS.—The following 

21 project is authorized for alternatives analysis under sec22 tion 5339 of title 49, United States Code: Northern Vir23 ginia—Metrorail Purple Line extension. 


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1 (b) PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING.—The following 

2 projects are authorized for preliminary engineering under 

3 section 5309(m)(2)(A) of such title: 

4 (1) Northern Virginia—Extension of Metrorail 

5 Blue Line. 

6 (2) Northern Virginia—Extension of Metrorail 

7 Orange Line to Centreville. 

8 (3) Northern Virginia—Extension of Metrorail 

9 Yellow Line. 

10 (4) Virginia, District of Columbia, Maryland— 

11 Metrorail capacity expansion. 

Æ 


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