Fairfax County Receives Compensation for Summer Shutdown of Orange and Silver Lines

The Board of Supervisors approved the receipt of a $58,212 compensation package to Fairfax County as reimbursement for this summer’s shutdown of stations along the Silver Line at the meeting on Sept. 29.

The planned shutdown had been in the works pre-COVID, but the nature of the closure changed when the pandemic hit.

“On December 11, 2019, WMATA announced the temporary closure of three Orange Line Metrorail stations west of Ballston Station during Summer 2020,” staff said in a report. “This temporary closure is part of a large construction project to rebuild 20 outdoor station platforms. The Summer 2020 shutdown was originally planned to impact four stations: Vienna, Dunn Loring and East Falls Church. Access to West Falls Church Station would be restricted but was going to remain open during the project because, it is equipped with three tracks and two platforms that can be reconstructed, one at a time. The West Fall Church Station was supposed to be the western terminus of the Orange Line during the summer months.”

When COVID-19 hit, Metro expanded those plans to include reconstruction work on all five Silver Line Metro stations, including West Falls church, to connect to Phase II of the Silver Line.

In total, nine stations were impacted.

The compensation is meant to help cover some of the costs to Fairfax County, like supplemental bus services, providing customer service and fare card loading services at the stations as Metro users were sent to buses.

Staff photo by Jay Westcott