Virginia could kick off an extension of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) Blue Line by funding a study in this year's state budget.
"Virginia lawmakers have included language in the state budget for a $2 million study of how Metro’s Blue Line could be extended through Fairfax into Prince William County to expand mass transit in the heavily congested and rapidly growing Interstate 95 corridor," reports Katherine Shaver.
The funding still has to make it through the General Assembly, but if approved, "the study would explore the cost of extending the line by about 15 miles to Fort Belvoir, Lorton, Potomac Mills and Marine Corps Base Quantico," according to Shaver. "It also would examine the potential ridership, location of stations and effects on those areas’ development."
According to Shaver, the study is made possible by shifting politics at the state and local level, with more power in the General Assembly and in Prince William County now in the hands of Democrats.
FULL STORY: Metro Blue Line extension into Prince William? Virginia lawmakers want a study.
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