Article prepared by Robert Michie
Last Reviewed 9/2/06
Version 1.4
You probably enjoy living in Brookland-Bush Hill because of the nearby Metro station. This article not only discusses getting to the obvious one - Van Dorn Street - but the other ones within easy reach:
All routes require an “off road” march through private property and on dirt trails. The Civic Association wants to get these paths codified as trails, but there is no guarantee that we will eventually succeed. Each of these paths has their negatives, which are discussed in the online version of this article. They are definitely fair weather, daytime routes. Walking time to the Metro Station fare gates is about 20 minutes for commuters on the west side of BBHCA, and about forty minutes for people on the extreme eastern side. All four paths make use of the pedestrian tunnel on Oakwood Road, and the well-marked Van Dorn Street Trail to Eisenhower Avenue and the Van Dorn Metro Station.
The two bus routes that service the Metro Stations are:
My family makes heavy use of the Fairfax Connector bus system. We find it clean, reliable, and it runs very close to its published schedules. It is also inexpensive. It will cost you a dollar a ride to get to a Metro station, and 35 cents to come home (with a Metro bus coupon, which you get from a dispenser at your Metro station of origin). Fairfax Connector will be installing Metro SmartCard readers in the next year, making it easier to manage change for busses and for trains.
Route 109 passes Lee District Park, John Marshall Library, and Rose Hill Shopping Center. Route 123 is particularly popular with us because it runs by Rose Hill Shopping Center, The Franconia Government Center, and Springfield Mall. We don’t consider the walk to the bus stop a drawback, and not having to park at any of these destinations is a real advantage, particularly at Springfield Mall at Christmastime.
A few of you that work in L’Enfant Plaza or Capitol Hill may want to take the bus to Franconia-Springfield Transportation Center, and catch a Virginia Railroad Express (VRE) train directly to your destination. The rest of us will use the bus to catch either the Yellow Line (Huntington) or the Blue Line (Van Dorn Street) to work. Choosing your station is an important decision. I work at Washington Navy Yard, and I have to switch to the Green Line at L’Enfant Plaza. Taking the Yellow Line from the proper station (Huntington or Eisenhower) not only assures that I will get a seat, but it avoids seven extra stops that Blue Line trains make as they wind their way through Rosslyn, Foggy Bottom, and the K Street Canyon.
Bicycling dramatically opens options. Pedaling from the corner of Jane Way and Larno Drive to a Van Dorn Street fare gate, for example, takes less than 15 minutes, and that includes the time it takes to lock up the bicycle. A ride to Eisenhower Avenue Station is an extra ten minutes, and it takes only ten minutes more to get to King Street. Eisenhower Avenue provides direct access to the Yellow Line, and King Street is a hub for Metrobus, Fairfax Connector, and Alexandria DASH busses. As a practical manner, there is little reason to ride a bicycle either to Huntington Avenue Station, or to the Franconia-Springfield Transportation Center.
The bike routes are the same ones used for walking. Every one of them requires an uphill climb to return to Brookland-Bush Hill. If your target is either Eisenhower Station or King Street, you can also leave our Neighborhood via Larno Drive and Upland Drive, and use the Clermont Drive Pedestrian Cut-Through to get to Eisenhower Avenue.
If you are new to riding to a Metro station, do a practice run first. Figure out how to carry things with you so they don't get dropped or shaken loose. Above all, practice locking up your bicycle. Bikes have different geometry, and Metro has different types of racks at each station (At Van Dorn, they have two different racks right next to each other). Figure out exactly how you are going to lock your bike up before you are in a rush for time!
The station parking situations are described in the station profiles later in this article. All drivers face the same problem, no matter which station is your destination: getting out of Brookland-Bush Hill in the morning. Probably the easiest stations to reach are the ones furthest away: Franconia-Springfield Transportation Center, and Huntington Avenue Station.
Get to Franconia-Springfield by driving towards the Franconia Road - South Van Dorn Street intersection. Make a left turn, and then drive to the Kingstowne Parkway, and head west. Franconia-Springfield has its own exit off the Parkway. This drive is basically counter flow, and you don't encounter significant traffic until you get to Beulah Street. Your reward is a covered parking space that won't bake your car in summer, or let it be covered by snow and ice in winter.
Driving to Huntington means heading east out of Brookland-Bush Hill and driving to Telegraph Road. My preferred destination is the open-air lot on the North King's Highway side of the station. The Franconia Road and Telegraph Road intersection is a choke point, but it is the only one that you have to deal with. Make a left turn on Telegraph Road, and then a right on Farmington Drive. Drive uphill to the station.
Getting to Van Dorn Street or Eisenhower Avenue stations require you to use northbound Van Dorn Street. There are several choke points: Franconia Road and Van Dorn Street; the westbound Beltway Ramp at the Comfort Inn; and the intersection with Eisenhower Avenue itself. I recommend driving right through the Eisenhower intersection, and then using the Metro Road ramp on your right to reach the parking lots. The Eisenhower Station is easy to reach simply by driving down Eisenhower Avenue. Since there is no parking at the station, you are probably dropping someone off. You'll find that this is a good move if your passenger is going to a Yellow Line destination.
Driving to King Street Station only makes sense if you plan to park your car in Alexandria. There is no day parking at King Street. My recommendation for the best way in is Eisenhower Avenue. As a long time bicycle commuter, I can tell you that the traffic volume on Eisenhower Avenue has been on the increase for several years, and we are probably nowhere close to peak. It is still quite lower than Telegraph Road or Richmond Highway, however.
Van Dorn has 361 all-day parking spaces. The daily parking fee is $3.75, and it must be paid with a SmartCard. Parking is usually at capacity by 7:30 AM. If you arrive after 10AM, you can use metered parking in the short-term lot next to the station entrance. You must depart the short-term lot by 3:30 PM. We all have experience driving on Van Dorn Street at Rush Hour, so think carefully about using your car.
There are two strips of free bike racks: one to the left of the main entrance, and another one at the bus bay entrance. I prefer the latter because the stationmaster's kiosk is just few feet away.
Be careful walking to Van Dorn in winter. A lot of the trail is in shadow, and ice is persistent. I prefer to cross the street at the Eisenhower light and walk on the north side of the street. The condominiums shovel the sidewalk on that side.
Huntington has three parking lots: two parking structures with entrances on Huntington Avenue and North King's Highway respectively, and an open-air lot on King's Highway. There are a total of 3,090 all-day parking spaces. The daily fee is $3.75, and it must be paid with a SmartCard. Although the lots are mostly filled by 8:30, there are usually a handful of spaces available in the open-air lot all day. Once you get on Telegraph Road, you’ll find it quite easy getting to the North King’s Highway lots.
Bicycle racks are available at both entrances. Biking from Brookland-Bush Hill is difficult. Both entrances require you to maneuver through Telegraph Road traffic, and the King's Highway entrance requires a hill climb, too.
Huntington offers access to Flexcars, an automobile timesharing arrangement. See the Flexcar description later in this article.
Eisenhower Avenue does not offer any long- or short-term parking. Patrons can use Movie Theater parking in the evenings and weekends. Bus service is sparse, too.
Bike racks are available, but are many yards away from the station entrance, unlike just about any other Metro station in the region. On the other hand, unlike Huntington Avenue, King Street, or Van Dorn Street, there is little competition for the bike rack. That fact, plus easy access to the Yellow Line, is the reason that I frequently ride to Huntington. It is a very easy four-mile ride from Brookland-Bush Hill. Just be prepared for a hill climb when you go home.
King Street, like Eisenhower, does not offer any all-day parking. This station has just 30 short-term metered spaces. King Street also has Flexcars available. Its chief attraction is that bus lines converge here. It is also within easy reach of just about any point of the City of Alexandria. I will ride my bicycle to King Street and park it there if I have an appointment in Alexandria in the afternoon. King Street is an easy five-mile ride from Brookland-Bush Hill.
Franconia-Springfield has a very large parking structure. With 5,069 spaces, there are usually places available all day, but you may have to hunt for them during the workweek. The Center provides access to Metrorail, Virginia Railway Express (VRE) Commuter trains, Metrobus, Fairfax Connector, Greyhound, private commuter busses, various shuttle busses (including Inova Health Center and downtown Springfield, as well as Springfield Mall), and a large taxicab stand.
The Metro Station has very few bike racks available, considering its size. On the other hand, it is not really a popular destination for Brookland-Bush Hill bicycle commuters. The Station has an interesting “back door” lightly used by residents in the Kingstowne and Beulah Street neighborhoods. This “back door,” reachable by Windsor Avenue and Barry Road, is for pedestrians and bicyclists, and it is a resource waiting to be discovered.
Flexcar and Zipcar are car-sharing clubs that are found in and near Metro stations. Flexcar is available at the King Street and Huntington Metro stations. It works like this for me: I reserve a car, either via the World Wide Web or by phone; I pedal or take Metro to the car, and I drive it away. My credit card, and driver information are already part of my member profile. I use an electronic key to unlock and to start the car. The hourly fee not only covers the rental, but gas and oil and insurance, too. As a club member, I am expected to fill up the gas tank when it needs it (using a Flexcar-provided fleet credit card), and I also get credit for taking a car through a car wash.
The beauty of the system is that I don’t rent cars by the day anymore. I only rent a car for the two or three hours that I actually need it. This means that my car rental bill is usually only $30 or less per event. Thanks to Flexcar and my bicycles, my family needs to own only one car. Zipcar works about the same way. The Flexcar site is www.flexcar.com, and the Zipcar site is www.zipcar.com.
Metro has done a lot to make the entire system bicycle friendly. Many station rent bike lockers that allow you to secure your bicycle and equipment in a weatherproof shed. This can save you time coming and going in the winter, as that you don’t have to worry about someone pilfering your lights. I tend to want to ride my bike to a far-away destination, so I don’t rent a locker anymore.
Another way to use Metro is to ride your bicycle to a far-away station and then take the train to your destination. I used to ride my bike to Braddock Road Station, and then catch a train to L’Enfant Plaza. This option allows you to combine bicycling and Metro so you can bike just as much as you’d like.
I do have concerns every time that I take a bike on a train during the weekday. Blue Line trains tend to be only four cars long until about 6:20, and the early morning trains attract plenty of riders. I can’t always keep myself out of the way of other passengers. This is why I think you have to plan your trip so that you and your bicycle are getting off the train by 7:00 AM.
The 11Y Bus is a real find. Almost all Metrobusses have bike racks on them, and riders use the busses to get around obstacles. My obstacle in winter is ice and snow on the bike paths, particularly around Washington Regan Airport. The 11Y helps me avoid the worst of it.
This option is called the “Metro Shortcut,” and it can be used in different ways. The rules say that bicycles are welcomed on trains before 7 AM, between 10 AM and 3 PM, after 7 PM, and at all times on weekends. When I have early morning meetings at the Navy Yard, I get on the Blue Line with my bicycle at Van Dorn Street at about 6 AM. I get off at Eastern Market Station forty minutes later, and ride the remaining mile to the Yard. In the evening, I ride the full 15 miles back to Brookland-Bush Hill. You can find your own way to use this service. My most important tip is this: plan your trip to get your bike off the train by 7 AM! Van Dorn trains are so heavily used that you'll never get your bike on board if you wait until 6:45 AM on a weekday.
For central City workers, another Metro shortcut is the 11Y Express Bus run by Metro. You meet it at King and Washington Streets in Alexandria, place your bike in its rack, and the bus carries you and your bike to Federal Triangle. The fare is $3.00, and the bus accepts SmartCards. I get off at Department of Agriculture (14th Street and Independence Avenue) and ride across Capitol Hill to the Navy Yard. This particular shortcut is popular in both directions, and the bus racks can handle only two bikes at a time. Have a backup plan ready.
I think that our train and our bus systems are great. I save thousands of dollars a year by using public transportation instead of a second car. I find the interconnected regional transportation system easy to figure out, and at least as reliable as the road network. It is often much better than the road network. We are lucky to have five Metro stations within easy reach. I encourage all of you to try leaving your cars in the driveway, and take full advantage of your decision to live in Brookland-Bush Hill.