Huntington Metro Station Intermodal Accessibility Measure Study

Technical Report

Prepared for: Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment

Prepared by:

Michael Baker Inc., CDM Smith Inc., Renaissance Planning Group

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Project Description Michael Baker Jr., Inc. (along with CDM Smith Inc., and Renaissance Planning Group) is under contract with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment (OIPI) to study the accessibility of multiple intermodal sites throughout the state. The purpose of this document is to present the technical analysis associated with the recommendations for the Huntington Metro Station located in Alexandria, Virginia.

Intermodal Center Description The Huntington Metro Station is located in Fairfax County just south of the City of Alexandria near I-495. It is bounded by Huntington Avenue to the north, a residential neighborhood to the east, and North Kings Highway to the west. The Metro station is the southern terminus of the Metro Yellow Line. Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning designated this area a Transit Development Area. A Transit Development Area is defined as the land units located within a five to seven minute walk of a Metro Station, which offer the most viable opportunities for development/redevelopment. In a suburban location like Huntington, the appropriate development type in a Transit Development Area is predominantly residential mixed-use development.1 Intersections on Richmond Highway with Huntington Avenue and Fort Hunt Road are closely spaced resulting in poor Level of Service. The area immediately surrounding the Huntington Metro Station is largely residential; however, there is limited access from existing and proposed residential development to the Metro Station. Exhibit 1 shows the Huntington Metro Center and surrounding area.

Exhibit 1: Huntington Metro Station Location Map

1 Fairfax County Policy Plan. 2008. Retrieved at: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/comprehensiveplan/policyplan/landuse.pdf

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Modal Access 2 The Huntington Metro Station includes approximately 3,600 all day parking spaces and boasts connections to four public transportation providers as well as to bicycle and pedestrian amenities. This section describes these modal access features.

Public Transportation • Metrorail Yellow Line service between Huntington and Fort Totten/Greenbelt linking Fairfax

County and the City of Alexandria as well as Amtrak and VRE services (via King Street Station).

• Fairfax Connector bus service lines 109, 171, 301, 310 provide connections between the Huntington Avenue, Van Dorn Street, and Franconia-Springfield Metrorail Stations. The bus lines also connect with VRE Stations at Franconia and Lorton. The service hours and headways of these lines vary, but generally weekday service runs from 4:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Routes 301 and 171 provide weekend service from 6:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and 2:00 a.m., respectively, on 60-minute headways. Route 171 runs a more limited weekend service from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. with hourly headways. The 301 line does not run on weekends.

• The Richmond Highway Express (REX) bus service line is operated by WMATA and carries commuters north/south via U.S. Route 1 between Fort Belvoir, the Huntington Avenue Metrorail Station and the King Street Metrorail Station.

• Metrobus Service lines 9A and 9E link commuters with the Pentagon and Huntington Metrorail Stations.

Bicycle and Pedestrian • There are 34 bike racks and 12 bike lockers at this location. However, there are no bike lanes in

the Transit Development Area or in the surrounding residential areas.

Traffic Analysis The following intersections currently operate beyond capacity during peak hours (Exhibit 2):3

• Richmond Highway/Huntington Avenue: Operating at LOS E during PM peak hours. Turning movements are operating at or beyond LOS E or F during AM and PM peak hours.

• Richmond Highway/Fort Hunt Road: Operates beyond LOS F during AM and PM peak hours. Turning movements are operating at or beyond LOS E or F during AM and PM peak hours.

Other traffic issues include:

• Adjacent neighborhoods and proposed developments have limited access to the Huntington Metro Station.

• There is insufficient parking to meet demand at the station. • Huntington Avenue has poor pavement conditions, high congestion, and insufficient bicycle

facilities. There are no on-street bike lanes, sharrows, or other bicycle infrastructure. 2 Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. 2012. Huntington Metro. Retrieved at: http://www.wmata.com/rail/station_detail.cfm?station_id=50 3 Wells + Associates, Inc. February 24, 2011. APR Nomination #09-IV-27MV, Huntington Club, Traffic Impact Study, Fairfax, Virginia. Retrieved at: http://landtrx.vdot.virginia.gov

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Exhibit 2: Existing 2010 Levels of Service. Huntington Club, Traffic Impact Study, 2011.

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Future Site Improvements Key improvement projects detailed in the Fairfax County Comprehensive plan which are planned, underway or recently completed include the following:

• Richmond Highway Traffic Signal Preemption for REX services (completed). • North Kings Highway future rail or BRT transit service, extending along Route 1 from the

Huntington Metrorail Station (existing southern terminus of BRT) south to Lorton. Fairfax County is considering Metrorail, monorail, light rail, and bus rapid transit options.

Recommendations

Short Term Recommendations A set of short-term recommendations have been developed as part of this study to improve access to the Huntington Metro Station. Short-term projects are generally lower cost and require less study than larger projects. Richmond Highway (US Route 1) needs extensive improvements in order to improve traffic circulation and increase traffic safety while maximizing the use of existing highway facilities that will move people and goods more efficiently.4 Since this area is designated as a Transit Development Area, initiatives and projects to improve bike/pedestrian access to the Metro Station are important. The following types of projects compliment the goals laid out in the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan. The short term recommendations are shown in Exhibit 3.

1. Upgrade connection roadway from high-rise apartment to Metro Access Road to provide more efficient vehicular and non-vehicular access.

2. Construct multi-use paths to allow bike and pedestrian access from adjacent neighborhoods. 3. Modify lane configuration at the intersections of Richmond Highway/Huntington Avenue and

Richmond Highway/SR 629 to reduce intersection delay and improve turn movements. This includes:

a. Removing the right only turn lane on Huntington Avenue westbound b. Removing the left only turn lane on SR 629 northbound and eliminating the joint left

turn/through lane on SR 629 northbound so that it is through only 4. Extend existing sidewalk at northbound side of Huntington Metro Access Road to complete

sidewalk connection to Station. By extending the sidewalk to the new parking garage, users will have an additional option to enter the boarding platform through the north entrance.

Estimated Project Costs

Projects costs were estimated using the 2009 Statewide Planning Level Costs Estimates worksheet. Costs include preliminary engineering, construction, ROW and utilities. Estimates are based upon average costs for Northern Virginia and are shown in 2012 dollars in Table 1.

4 Fairfax County. 2011. Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan. Retrieved at: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/comprehensiveplan

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Exhibit 3: Huntington Metro Station Short Term Recommendations

Table 1: Estimated Project Costs

Short-Term Recommendations and Estimated Project Costs Recommended Action (Source) Benefit Cost

1 Upgrade the connection roadway from the high-rise apartments to the Metro Access Road. (Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan 2011)

Allows better, more direct bike/pedestrian/vehicular access

$800,000

2 Construct multi-use paths to allow bike and pedestrian access from adjacent neighborhoods. (Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan 2011)

Improves bike/pedestrian access and reduces vehicular congestion on roads and parking lot/garage

$420,000

3 Modify lane configuration and traffic signals at the intersections of Richmond Highway/Huntington Avenue and Richmond Highway/SR 629. (Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan 2011)

Reduces overall intersection delay, improving movement

$100,000

4 Extend existing northbound sidewalk of Huntington Metro Access Road to complete connection to Station. (Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan 2011)

Allows better, more direct bike/pedestrian access $20,500

Note: Costs shown are planning level estimates, not design level estimates, as they do not include associated constructability, engineering, and inspection (CDI) and contingency costs, among others.

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Potential Long-Term Solution In additional to the short-term recommendations, other potential long-term improvements could be considered. Long-term improvements have been identified from Comprehensive Plans or other long-range document and are higher cost projects that require more detailed study than the short-term recommendations. The Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan proposes the addition of a multi-purpose trail to be constructed within the public right-of-way along Richmond Highway. Additionally, the Metrorail Bicycle and Pedestrian Access Improvements Study (October 2010) recommends a total rehabilitation of the bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure along Huntington Avenue. This will include widening the outside lanes to include a bicycle lane, widening the sidewalks, and increasing the tree buffer. This project would also include improvements to the pavement conditions of Huntington Avenue and may require additional right-of-way acquisition.