page_title: Green Line (Washington Metro)
section_title: 1986–88
hierarchical_section_title: Green Line (Washington Metro) / Construction and opening / 1986–88
caption_attribution_description: English: College Park-U of Md station on the Washington DC Metro system. Photo taken May 25, 2005 by Ben Schumin.
context_page_description: The Green Line is a rapid transit line of the Washington Metro system, consisting of 21 stations in the District of Columbia and Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The Green Line runs from Branch Avenue to Greenbelt. It was the last line in the original Metrorail plan to be constructed, and is one of three north–south lines through the city of Washington. The Green Line shares tracks with the Yellow Line from L'Enfant Plaza to Greenbelt.
context_section_description: Funding for construction of the Green Line was threatened again in 1986. WMATA needed $2 billion in construction funds, but Congress was threatening to cut WMATA's funding by up to 26% to $184.5 million a year for four years. Congress approved $227 million for 1986 in December 1985, but the Reagan administration said that it would cut off all funding thereafter. WMATA appealed directly to President Reagan to release $400 million in funds already appropriated, but administration officials said WMATA had more than enough money to complete the Green Line. Prince George's County officials threatened to sue Metro as well as block all further construction spending in March 1985 unless WMATA agreed to use its existing funds to build the Green Line into their county. WMATA officials reacted in June by stretching out construction of the Green Line and Anacostia station to 1991. After lengthy negotiations (which included state and local guarantees to pay for cost overruns or funding shortfalls, penalties for defaults, and the imposition of two external financial monitors) and heavy pressure from Congress, Reagan administration officials released the $400 million on July 16, 1986.
  With the funds released, construction on the Green Line proceeded quickly. In November 1986, WMATA awarded a $36.2 million contract to Mergentime Corp. to build the Navy Yard station. A month later, WMATA awarded a $19.5 million contract to excavate a tunnel from the Navy Yard Station to the tunnels being built under the Anacostia River. On March 23, 1986, the second of the two 2,450-foot (750 m), concrete-lined tunnels under the Anacostia River was completed. With the tunnels finished and other contracts awarded, WMATA announced yet another revised timeline for opening the Green Line in April 1987. The transit agency estimated that the Mount Vernon Square, Shaw, and U Street stations would open in late 1990, the Mount Vernon Square to Anacostia link in late 1991, and the Fort Totten to Greenbelt link by 1994. In January 1988, WMATA awarded a $179.1 million contract to build the Green Line from Fort Totten to Greenbelt, and a $6.9 million contract to complete the Waterfront station. In December 1988, WMATA reaffirmed that the Waterfront, Navy Yard, and Anacostia stations would open in late 1991.
caption: College Park station opened on December 11, 1993
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