The PYMIG held a virtual meeting via Zoom on September 21, 2020, at 7:00 pm. The meeting’s purpose was for the builders (Potomac Yard Constructors or PYC) to update the Metrorail Station’s progress and address the future construction schedule. The agenda, presentation materials, and video of the meeting are available at https://www.alexandriava.gov/PotomacMetroWorkGroup (Notes: The presentation material slides will significantly help you understand the synopsis below. The first nine minutes of the video are Zoom “housekeeping” details and no useful info is presented.)
- Construction Update. (Note: I included a photo below in this update to clarify the locations of the various parts of Metrorail Station in bold red letters)
- Southwest Pavilion (Potomac Yard side). The City’s Board of Architectural Review (BAR) has not yet granted final approval for the southwest pavilion design. The City staff anticipates the BAR will give final approval at its next meeting. Slides 5-8 provide artist renderings of the proposed plan for this part of the project.
- North Pavilion. PYC has begun constructing the North pavilion, and you can find current photos of the progress in slides 13-19.
- Knuckle. PYC has completed pouring concrete for the Knuckle base, and formwork for the upper portion has begun (slides 19-22).
- Station Platforms. The sidewalls of the platforms that will be on either side of the center Metrorail tracks are nearly complete (slides 23-25). PYC will then pour the actual platforms. PYC will then place fill dirt between the platforms to bring the ground level to four feet below the platform. As you can see in slide 23, that will require PYC to install approximately 10 feet of fill dirt.
- Headhouse/Mezzanine. The Headhouse/Mezzanine will contain the fare machines, fare gates, elevators, and escalators down to the platforms. You can view many photographs of the current state of headhouse/mezzanine construction in slides 26-38.
- Future Schedule. PYC’s short-term construction schedule (next three months) can be found on slide 12. The long-term project schedule (through project completion in March 2022) can be found on slide 45. PYC has coordinated with CSX and WMATA to close their tracks over Presidents Day weekend (February 13-15, 2021) to install the pedestrian bridge that will span over the tracks and connect the Knuckle to the Headhouse/Mezzanine. PYC also expects to close the Metrorail tracks for two weeks in late-2021 to tie-in the new tracks to the existing tracks. When that is complete, the portion of the existing tracks no longer needed will be removed. Metrorail trains will then move through the new station, although the station will not yet be open to the public.
- The next PYMIG virtual meeting is scheduled for October 26, 2020, at 7pm. The link to attend the Zoom meeting will be posted on the City’s PYMIG webpage shown in the first paragraph.
Update courtesy of Steve Crime – PG neighborhood’s PYMIG liaison