Crystal City station (Washington Metro)

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

Crystal City station is an underground Washington Metro station in the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington County, Virginia. 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.

Crystal City
Crystal City station in November 2010
General information
Location	18th Street South and South Bell Street Arlington, Virginia
Coordinates	38.857856°N 77.050874°W / 38.857856; -77.050874
Owned by	Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	VRE at Crystal City Arlington Transit: 43 Fairfax Connector: 598, 599 Metrobus: 16M, 23A, 23B Metroway PRTC OmniRide Loudoun County Transit
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Bicycle facilities	Capital Bikeshare, 10 racks
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	C09
History
Opened	July 1, 1977 (July 1, 1977)
Passengers
2023	4,013 daily[1]
Rank	22 out of 98
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 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] A groundbreaking ceremony took place on July 12, 2024, one month after construction started. The new entrance is expected to open in 2027.^[15]

References

1. "Metrorail Ridership Summary". Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
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.
15. "Arlington Marks Construction for East Entrance to Crystal City Metro" (Press release). Arlington County, Virginia. July 12, 2024.

External links

Media related to Crystal City station (Washington Metro) at Wikimedia Commons

• WMATA Crystal City station page

• 18th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• City of Arlington - Crystal City Metro Station Second Entrance