Royal Street Bus Depot Poised to Hit the Road

Plans to move the Metro bus depot from North Old Town to Fairfax County are once again underway after several years of litigation appear to have come to a close.

The Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA) has been planning to move the depot, but a lawsuit by a homeowners association in Fairfax County clogged its progress.

• See Alexandria Sees Only Minor Bump in Road to Getting WMATA Bus Depot Out of Old Town

The case was ruled in favor of moving the depot, but the decision was appealed.

• See Virginia’s High Court to Hear Bus Mart Appeal

In mid-April, the Virginia Supreme Court made a ruling allowing the bus depot to proceed with moving from its prime real estate location in one of the most expensive parts of Alexandria.

Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille said he’s pleased that the depot will be moving from Old Town as he’s been advocating for that since he joined WMATA’s board more than a decade ago.

Euille noted that the bus depot sits in a residential neighborhood and new development could “very well be a residential combination of townhomes and apartments. ...What happens there will be determined by what is the best use and highest value that Metro gets out of the property,” he said.

For the quickest updates, "like" Old Town Alexandria Patch on Facebook and follow @alexandriapatch on Twitter.

WMATA is also pleased.

“We’re pleased with the court decision,” WMATA spokesman Dan Stessel told Patch. He said WMATA likely would address what action to take with the bus depot when the Newington, Va., facility opens. WMATA expects to break ground on the project this fall with completion in 2015, according to Stessel.

Stessel noted that the Old Town Royal Street facility is “outmoded,” requiring WMATA to store special 13-foot buses there instead of the standard 15-foot high Metro buses due to the building's constraints.

Stessel said it would be up to WMATA’s board once the Fairfax facility is open to determine what to do with the Royal Street depot. For example, sell it to a developer, who would then work with the City of Alexandria on planning and development.

“We will be in close consultation with the City of Alexandria before we take any specific action on the Royal Street facility,” Stessel said.

Stessel noted that the plaintiffs in the lawsuit have some options at their disposal, such as appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court, but he did not expect that would happen.

Turner Construction in concert with Iskalo Construction have already made plans for the new location in Newington, Va. Iskalo of upstate New York helped WMATA find a replacement site for the bus mart, according to an Iskalo spokesman.

There is not yet a developer on the horizon for the Old Town site, according to Stessel.

Sign up for the free, daily email newsletter from Old Town Alexandria Patch. Find out more here.