Alexandria's Transportation & Environmental Services division provided two data-focused updates from Tuesday's commute.
Tuesday was the first official non-weekend work day of the 2019 Metro summer shutdown. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has shut down all Metro rail stations south of Reagan National Airport for the summer. This will facilitate major platform and other repairs to the six affected stations at Braddock Road, King Street, Eisenhower Avenue, Van Dorn Street, Huntington and Springfield-Franconia.
With many more cars (and buses) on the roadways Tuesday morning, several main commute thoroughfares experienced significantly increased volume. T&ES did not address long queues at Pentagon or at Huntington, as those are out of the City of Alexandria's jurisdiction. Read more about those here.
The following is the T&ES report regarding Tuesday morning:
King St. west bound was typical between King St. Metro and I-395; Van Dorn experienced 25-30% increased travel time; Washington St. north peaked earlier than other roads with a peak travel time around 7:30am. Average travel times on Washington St. were 20% higher than normal. Route 1 north experienced 30% higher travel times throughout morning rush. City-wide travel times began to decrease around 8:30am. Weather and a crash on the 14th St. Bridge contributed to backups.
METRO stations, shuttles and more:
King St., Van Dorn, and Eisenhower had moderate wait times with little to no crowding. During the morning peak, Braddock experienced queuing of more than 10 min. for shuttle buses. There was an issue with a long gap and then 2 shuttles arriving at the same time.
84 passengers used the Water Taxi during the AM commute period. Reminder, you can be reimbursed for $8 of the $10 each way fare by submitting this form: https://www.research.net/r/AlexandriaVA-WaterTaxiReimbursem…
140 parking permits were issued at Landmark Mall (staff will be arriving earlier [Wednesday] morning for those still needing permits). Visit alexandriava.gov/GoALEX for details about this program. Parking is only in the first floor of the parking garage.
We know there were hiccups and WMATA and its partners are working to iron things out. You can reach out directly to WMATA here: http://wmata.custhelp.com/app/home/.
The following is the T&ES report regarding Tuesday evening:
Traffic moved well throughout the City for the evening commute with lower than average travel times on southbound Van Dorn Street, Washington Street and Route 1.
Bus loading at the Metrorail stations was relatively smooth with passengers generally able to board the first bus that arrives.
There have been reports of buses delayed in traffic that has created longer than anticipated wait times and long lines for the shuttles at times.
