Table of Contents
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is proposing to permanently close the passenger drop-off lot at the Braddock Road Metro station and reconfigure its bus loop, a move the agency's own documents suggest could add anywhere from one to three minutes to some bus circulation times — though Metro's filings conflict on the precise figure.
The proposal, authorized by the Metro Board in November 2025 and filed as Docket R26-01, calls for eliminating the station's 21-space Kiss & Ride lot, which sits inside the existing bus loop on the east side of the station, and straightening that loop so it runs more parallel to the rail tracks. The 3.6-acre Metro-owned parcel cleared by the changes would then be made available to a private joint developer, with the land area large enough to accommodate a significant mixed-use building — though Metro has not yet selected a developer or proposed a site plan.
Because the on-site bus recirculation lane would be removed, buses serving the station — including Metrobus routes A11, A12 and A1X, as well as DASH routes 30 and 31 — would circulate around the block on public streets rather than looping on-site. The current on-site loop takes buses about 30 seconds to complete.
Metro's legal notice, published as part of the docket, states the change would add 1.0 to 2.5 minutes to bus circulation times. The agency's full environmental evaluation, a separate document released simultaneously, puts the figure higher — at 1.5 to 3.0 minutes — attributing the added time to longer travel distance and delays from stopping at traffic signals.
As mitigation, Metro says a new traffic signal would be installed at the busway exit on E. Braddock Road to ease left turns. Layover spaces would be positioned at the top of the new busway so buses can queue before pulling into their assigned bays. The reconfigured busway would retain five operational bays plus two new layover spaces, with one bay and one layover space sized to handle articulated buses — a capacity upgrade from the existing facility, which currently has no layover spaces.
The 21 Kiss & Ride spaces would be replaced by 14 to 18 new curbside pick-up and drop-off spaces on the west side of N. West Street and the north side of E. Braddock Road. The final count depends on factors including the size of future curb extensions and streetscape design. Metro says its review of existing and projected 2040 demand supports that level of on-street replacement. A new transit plaza would occupy part of the site between the reconfigured bus bays and the development parcel.
The project site is currently zoned Utility and Transportation, a designation that does not permit transit-oriented development. A rezoning — potentially to CRMU-H, a high-density mixed-use zone designed for areas near rail stations — will be required before any building can go up. That process will be handled through the City of Alexandria's development review, not Metro's. The 2008 Braddock Metro Neighborhood Plan, which remains in effect, envisioned the site developed with primarily office and retail uses.
Metro has not selected a joint developer and says the conceptual plans shown in the environmental evaluation are intended only to illustrate feasibility. As a rough measure of potential scale, the evaluation notes that a hypothetical building with approximately 375 residential units and 20,000 square feet of retail could generate around 175 new daily rail trips and 52,000 new annual trips at the station.
The environmental evaluation found no anticipated impacts to the Parker-Gray Historic District, located to the south of the project site. The site does not fall within a 100-year or 500-year FEMA floodplain. A 2022 Phase I environmental site assessment found no recognized environmental conditions at the location. The changes would not increase the total amount of impervious surface at the site.
The City of Alexandria — not Metro — will be responsible for evaluating any development proposal's effects on green space, traffic, stormwater design, housing affordability and parking. Metro's public hearing process is limited to the transit facility changes and does not govern what eventually gets built on the site.
How to participate
Metro is accepting public comments now. Residents can take the online survey, submit written comments or upload documents at wmata.com/braddockhearing through 5 p.m. Thursday, April 30. The survey has been open since March 21.
A public hearing will be held Monday, April 20, beginning with an open house at 6:30 p.m. and a formal hearing at 7 p.m. at the Charles Houston Recreation Center, 901 Wythe St., Multipurpose Room, Alexandria. Public officials will be allotted five minutes; all other participants three minutes. Time may not be yielded to another speaker.
The hearing can be watched live at YouTube.com/MetroForward or by phone at 206-899-2028, Meeting ID: 280 083 041#. To testify in person, pre-register by emailing speak@wmata.com or calling (202) 962-2511 by noon the day of the hearing. Video testimony requires pre-registration by 5 p.m. Sunday, April 19. Phone testimony requires no advance sign-up.
Written comments may also be mailed to: Office of Board Affairs, SECT 2E, P.O. Box 44390, Washington, DC 20026-4390. Reference "Braddock Road" in all correspondence. The Metro Board is expected to make a final decision in summer 2026.
