Crystal City station (Washington Metro)

Crystal City station is an underground Washington Metro station in the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, United States. The station opened on July 1, 1977, and serves the Blue Line and Yellow Line services, with a Metroway bus rapid transit stop on the surface.

For the nearby Virginia Railway Express station of the same name, see Crystal City station (VRE).

Crystal City
An underground metro station with two side platforms in an arched concrete vault
Crystal City station in November 2010
General information
Location18th Street South and South Bell Street
Arlington, Virginia
Coordinates38.857856°N 77.050874°W / 38.857856; -77.050874
Owned byWashington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Connections
Construction
Structure typeUnderground
Bicycle facilitiesCapital Bikeshare, 10 racks
AccessibleYes
Other information
Station codeC09
History
OpenedJuly 1, 1977 (July 1, 1977)
Passengers
20223,215 daily[1]
Rank20th
Services
Preceding station Washington Metro Following station
National Airport
toward Franconia–Springfield
 Blue Line Pentagon City
toward Downtown Largo
National Airport
toward Huntington
 Yellow Line Pentagon City
toward Mount Vernon Square
Preceding station Metroway Following station
18th & Crystal
One-way operation
 Potomac Yard Pentagon City
Terminus
23rd & Clark
toward Braddock Road
Location

Station layout
The station entrance in 2016

The station has two side platforms in a cylindrical vault, which runs east–west under plazas on the north side of 18th Street South between Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway and Crystal Drive. The fare mezzanine is located above the center of the platforms. The single station entrance is on the northwest corner of 18th Street South and South Bell Street, with a bank of escalators leading to an upper mezzanine.[2]: 15 

Located outside the station vault, the upper mezzanine has direct entrances to the underground Crystal City Shops. An elevator on the northeast corner of 18th Street South and South Bell Street connects directly to the lower mezzanine; each platform has one elevator from the mezzanine. Bus stops, including a Metroway stop served by both northbound and southbound buses, are located on South Bell Street under the 251 18th Street South building.[2]: 15 

History
Metrobus at the station in 2005

The station opened on July 1, 1977, part of the 11.8-mile (19.0 km) initial segment of the Blue Line between National Airport and Stadium–Armory stations that opened that day.[3][4][5]

Virginia Railway Express began service in June 1992, with its Crystal City station about 0.2 miles (0.32 km) northeast of the Metro entrance.[6] Metroway bus rapid transit service began on August 24, 2014, with a stop on Bell Street adjacent to the Metro entrance.[7]

Second entrance

An east entrance to the station was proposed in a 2002 WMATA study.[2]: 1  Planning for the second entrance began in 2011.[2]: 4  A 2014 study identified five possible locations for the new entrance, with locations on the northeast and northwest corners of 18th Street South and Crystal Drive preferred.[2]: 53  In February 2019, the state committed to building the entrance as part of a package of transportation improvements for the construction of Amazon HQ2 in National Landing.[8] In May 2019, property developer JBG Smith sent an unsolicited proposal, proposing that Arlington County pay the company to act as design-build contractor for the entrance on company-owned property.[9] The county and company signed a preliminary agreement in June 2020.[10] Design of the second entrance reached 30% in March 2021.[11]

In March 2022, plans were changed from an underground to a surface-level fare lobby to reduce costs.[12] In July 2023, the Arlington County Board awarded a $117 million design-build contract for the entrance to a joint venture of JBG Smith and Clark Construction.[13][14]

References
  1. "Rail Ridership Data Viewer". WMATA. Archived from the original on February 8, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  2. "Crystal City Station Access and Second Entrance Study" (PDF). City of Arlington. February 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 28, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  3. Feaver, Douglas B. (July 1, 1977). "Today, Metro could be U.S. model". The Washington Post. p. A1.
  4. "Metro's newest stations: Where they are, what's nearby". The Washington Post. June 24, 1977.
  5. "Sequence of Metrorail openings" (PDF). Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. 2017. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 2, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  6. Fehr, Stephen; Sanchez, Carlos (June 18, 1992). "Getting On Track". Washington Post. ProQuest 408134230. Archived from the original on August 5, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  7. "Metroway premium transit service starting this summer" (Press release). WMATA. July 1, 2014. Archived from the original on February 15, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  8. Lazo, Luz (February 16, 2019). "Amazon deal delivers 'certainty' for key transportation projects in Northern Virginia". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 19, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  9. Repetski, Stephen (July 23, 2019). "Metro Reasons: JBG Smith wants to build a new Crystal City station entrance". Greater Greater Washington. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  10. Repetski, Stephen (June 12, 2020). "Plans for Crystal City Metro's second entrance are moving forward". Greater Greater Washington. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  11. "Crystal City Metrorail Station East Entrance: Question and Answer Session" (PDF). City of Arlington. March 31, 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 2, 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  12. DeVoe, Jo (March 18, 2022). "Plans for Crystal City Metro second entrance changed to lower costs". ARLNow. Archived from the original on April 1, 2022. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  13. DeVoe, Jo (July 14, 2023). "County to ink $117M contract with JBG Smith for second Crystal City Metro entrance". ARLNow. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  14. "Comprehensive Agreement and Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) between East Entrance L.L.C., a Joint Venture between JBG Smith Properties LP and Clark Construction (the Developer) and the Arlington County Board for the Design and Construction of the Crystal City Metrorail Station East Entrance Project". Arlington County Board. July 11, 2023.
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