Community Advisory Group (CAG) Meeting #5: Arlington and Alexandria Projects   7/30/2026

Good afternoon.

Welcome to the fifth Arlington Alexandria Rail Projects Community Advisory Group meeting.

These rail project updates are hosted jointly by Virginia Passenger Rail Authority and Virginia Railway Express.

As a reminder, our community advisory groups are designed to maintain ongoing coordination and communication with leaders in our project areas.

These include residential groups, businesses, regional organizations, advocacy groups, elected officials and staffers and others.

Next slide.

All right.

Let's start by introducing our team that's presenting today.

Naomi, let's start with you in the upper left-hand corner.

Sorry, I was having some technical difficulties.

Okay.

Good afternoon.

My name is Naomi Klein.

And I'm Meredith Judy.

I'm Brian Grayburn.

I'm Jason Skofie.

I'm Jason Bortz with VRE.

Good afternoon, everyone.

I'm Sarah Hoover.

Yep, thank you, Meredith, and good afternoon to everyone.

So Transforming Rail in Virginia program, this started from a landmark deal that was done between the state of Virginia

and CSX Freight, which is the freight company that owns most of the tracks throughout the state and also up the northeast corridor.

And what it did was allow us to acquire the land next to the existing tracks in order to build a program of projects primarily between DC and Richmond, Virginia, and those projects unlock new service.

So this deal happened in 2019.

The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority was formed in 2020.

We are responsible, as it says here, for promoting, sustaining, and expanding passenger and commuter rail.

So we do not run trains.

We're not a rail operator.

We partner with

CSX Freight, Amtrak for inner city passenger rail, and Virginia Railway Express for commuter rail.

We partner with them, but really our job is to build projects, add tracks that allow us to separate passenger rail from freight rail so that we can run more passenger rail.

So today I'm talking about the Long Bridge project for hopefully most people here are familiar with it since we've given some overviews on our other community advisory group meetings, but very quickly.

So there is a two track bridge that crosses the Potomac River between Arlington, Virginia, and it goes then up to Union Station.

But between Arlington, Virginia and East Potomac Park is this is this rail bridge.

And so this bridge is essentially at capacity.

It was determined that in the early 2000s when we saw that during VRE peak trips, the capacity was essentially standing room only.

And what I like to say is this is not just an issue for the DC region.

You know, if you're getting your orange juice from Florida, it's coming across this two track bridge.

And what made this corridor a pinch point is that south of here through Alexandria, you have three tracks.

And then north of the Long Bridge, you also have three tracks up to Union Station.

But right here in this corridor, you only have two tracks.

So it really narrows down there, which is what made it at capacity.

So what this project is doing is expanding the two tracks to four tracks for rail.

It's also adding a bicycle pedestrian bridge.

And this is in a 1.8 mile corridor.

So due to the size and scale of the project, it was split into two packages.

While we call it the Long Bridge Project, it's actually five rail bridges and then two biker pedestrian bridges.

And so in purple is the south package.

The south package is design-build.

Construction is going to begin in the middle of this year, go through 2030.

The entire project, both north and south, is estimated to be completed by 2030.

So everything that you're seeing in purple, that's the south package.

It starts just around the Long Bridge Aquatic Center, and then they're going to construct the rail bridge over the Potomac River and end in East Potomac Park, closest to the water.

And then they're also going to be constructing that dedicated bicycle pedestrian bridge.

That bridge is being built to mitigate for impacts to National Park Service parkland.

And then where the purple meets the yellow, that's where the north package picks up, constructs the other four rail bridges over I-395, Ohio Drive, the Washington Channel, and Main Avenue.

And then the project goes through the Maryland Avenue Overbuild, which is that series of buildings that you see on the right hand side and just south of Lawn Font Station.

There are projects both north and south of this project.

The Alexandria Fourth Track Project, which you'll hear Sarah talk about, is also being done by VPRA to expand from three to four tracks.

And then north of Long Bridge is the Lawn Font Project.

which is going to also take the four tracks where Long Bridge ends and continue it all the way up to Union Station.

Additionally, do some station improvements that include ADA access and elevators.

So the north package in yellow, construction began last spring.

It will also be completed by 2030.

The south package is a design build and the north package is a progressive design build.

So both those contractors are on board.

and essentially we're in full construction.

So next slide, please.

Okay, so I'm going to give some construction updates about the north package, what's going on in DC, and then I'm going to turn it over to Brian Grayburn to talk a little bit about the south package.

You can go to the next slide.

Next slide, please.

So these are the construction updates that are happening on the north package in DC around Main Avenue where that rail bridge is just starting.

So we've been doing, these are the completed activities, utility relocations.

We've done widening on the west side of Main Avenue to make room for a rail bridge pier that will be installed there.

and we've been doing some traffic shifts on Main Avenue which you can see on the right hand side in order to create the staging area that will allow us to begin construction of the rail bridge across Main Avenue.

Throughout construction there will always be pedestrian access maintained and travel and lanes of travel on Main Avenue in both directions.

So some upcoming activities, we're going to have micropiles and drilled shafts,

We're going to be building the substructure, which is everything that exists below ground to support the bridges.

And then the actual, the bridge spans.

So the part of the bridge that you're going to see should be starting this fall.

And then we're continuing to do some utility work and build retaining walls.

So some of the things to see, there may be some temporary lane closures on the HOV lanes.

both northbound and southbound.

And then additionally, there is as you're headed north on I-395, a 14th Street off ramp that takes you to Main Avenue that's been closed.

It's a pretty low utilized ramp.

And then also traffic is being diverted on Ohio Drive.

There's a lane in each direction that will bring you either

North on 15th Street or South to the Expressway and that's when you're leaving from East Potomac Park on Ohio Drive Southwest.

So those are some of the traffic changes but you can find the full traffic advisory on our website and we can go to the next slide please.

Yep so sorry got ahead of myself.

So this is the northbound 14th Street ramp closure to eastbound Main Avenue

It's planned to be closed for a duration of about 18 months.

Again, the amount of traffic on this is pretty low.

I think it's 300 cars in the peak.

We've been working really closely with the businesses in the area, including the Wharf.

The traffic signal there has been removed since it's closed, which allows for a free flow of traffic eastbound on Main Avenue to help alleviate some of that.

And there is a detour in place.

So just follow those signs.

But essentially what the detour does is it just keeps you on 395 and has you exit at exit 4 on 9th Street to get to the waterfront.

And then these are some of our construction updates in East Potomac Park.

So we are putting in the supportive excavation on Ohio Drive, which you can see here on the right.

That's essentially holding up the existing tracks while we prepare to do the work that is needed for the foundation of the new tracks.

And there is a trestle that's spanning over the Washington Channel between East Potomac Park and the Washington Marina parking lot that you will be able to see.

It looks like essentially a low wooden bridge, but that trestle will be used to be able to roll out the equipment that will then construct the rail bridge.

Upcoming activities, foundations and bridge work, retaining walls, and utility relocations.

So really just that full blown construction that we've been talking about.

So you can go to the next slide, please.

And then this is our third bridge area, which is I-395.

This is probably the one that most people on this call will be seeing with the most visibility just because it is right off the highway.

We have installed a work zone so you'll see that with concrete barriers and these orange and white barrels that you see on the right hand side.

We're going to be doing most of our construction work behind those temporary barriers and they'll be just some really intermittent lane closures from the HOV lane during off-peak hours and overnight.

There will be some new traffic patterns that will be put in place in order to construct the rail bridge, but those will be coming a little bit later.

And we are working very closely with DDOT to make sure that there is plenty of advance notice via traffic advisories, working with the mapping companies and putting out those variable message signs that you see to just let travelers know ahead of time that these traffic changes are being put in place.

Go to the next slide, please.

Okay, and I think now I'm turning it over to Brian.

At the river.

So let's transition it over to Brian.

Thanks everyone.

I'm Brian Graber and I represent the Long Bridge South package.

We're building both the rail bridge over the Potomac River from East Potomac Park to Long Bridge Aquatic Center and the bike and ped bridge from East Potomac Park over to the Long Bridge Aquatic Center over George Washington Memorial Parkway.

Next slide.

They've completed, if you've been in the area recently, we've completed some of the bulkheads between the Momada Yellow Line Bridge and the existing Long Bridge.

There's some marine barges mobilized between those two bridges as well.

You see some yellow turbidity curtain out there.

Cranes in the water mobilize the wading construction.

And with those cranes, we've completed our test pile activities, including the statinamic tests.

Ongoing and future activities include the DC shoreline bulkhead installation,

Continued Marine Construction Operations for the next few years.

We'll be transitioning to permanent foundation pile installation here towards the end of September or early October.

It was exciting a few weeks ago, we opened up the Mount Vernon Trail Detour within Gravelly Point to accommodate the construction of the second Virginia bulkhead I just mentioned, as well as all of the future bridge work.

This is a temporary construction access road and staging area established through Gravelly Point.

Fencing is around all of our Long Bridge South areas to prevent trail users from accessing the work zone.

The roadway was restriped and barrier was installed along George Washington Memorial Parkway to accommodate the bike path.

And overall, it's very exciting for us to get this open.

I think we've had a lot of compliments on how this is nicer than the current trail that was there.

So if anyone has any questions about that, ask me at the end of my segment here.

All right, next slide.

Here's a map of the now open bike path that's in place.

It's a temporary detour from approximately a quarter mile from the north of Gravelly Point to the northbound 395 bridge.

The detour route includes a paved surface and street lighting, crosses a construction access road where trail users do have the right of way, but everyone should still use caution there.

If you've ridden the Metro or been in East Potomac Park recently, you'll see that we finally have some production pile coming out of the ground.

We finished all of our test pile over there a few weeks back.

And just about two weeks ago, we started driving our permanent production pile, which you can see in that picture there beside the existing Long Bridge.

Everyone asked me, do you see how high it is sticking up above the Long Bridge?

No, the bridge is not going to be that high.

We are going to drive those into the ground and cut them off.

The new Long Bridge will be the same height as the existing Long Bridge.

Additional construction activities are taking place in the loop ramps by the Aquatic Center along I-395.

Trailers have been installed along Boundary Channel Drive to support daily construction operations.

Temporary impacts include a detour of the pedestrian path around the Aquatic Center to support the addition of the second Virginia bulkhead.

That path opened up again last Thursday, so we shouldn't need to shut that down for quite some time until we tie the pedestrian bridge into that probably sometime in 2029.

So now through October of 26, there's the potential for impacts along GWMP, including intermittent single lane closures and trucks in the roadway.

As you can see there between the Yellow Line Bridge and the existing Long Bridge,

In late fall of 2026, there'll be some more temporary impacts to GWMP, including additional single enclosures that will be communicated through traffic advisories.

And for those of you who have been on the water, it is now an active marine construction zone.

We have multiple barges and cranes to support future bridge construction already in place and this will continue to increase quite dramatically as we move forward.

The aids to navigation, or the buoys, are currently installed for the busy summer season to safely direct boaters through the bridges and away from our equipment.

Boaters should observe caution, buoys, and posted navigation guidance.

and we'll continue our regular outreach efforts to include monthly notices to mariners, outreach to marinas and rowing clubs, paddling organizations and other significant waterway users.

I think this is the end of the South Slides.

You can raise your hand or just speak up.

I'm not seeing anything.

So let's move to the next slide.

Thank you, Brian.

Public outreach activities for the Long Bridge Project have continued throughout the spring and into the summer.

Some of the highlights include two public meetings that we held in the spring in May, one at the Arlington Aquatics and Fitness Center and another on the Virginia side and one in DC at the Southwest Library.

The meetings were well attended and we appreciate all of you that helped us spread the word and told the groups that you represent about the opportunity to come and speak with us in person.

We also participated in six Bike to Work Day pit stops across the region.

That was in mid-May.

And through that effort, we interacted directly with nearly 700 bike riders.

We frequently table at Wharf DC events and most recently we held two tabling events that Brian referenced on the Mount Vernon Trail.

We did those as a way to reach out to the bikers as they adjust to the new detour that's in place that's going around the work zone at Gravelly Point.

At those two Mount Vernon Trail events, we spoke with almost 100 riders about our projects and about the detour itself.

We continue to receive inquiries through our email and phone hotlines.

We provide weekly traffic advisories through DDOT and National Park Service.

And we provide monthly mariner advisories to our contacts throughout the river.

And we now have an established monthly construction update that's distributed to all of our newsletter subscribers.

So I hope that you are signed up for that and receiving that information.

Next slide, please.

As for upcoming outreach and tabling events, we will continue into the summer and fall.

A few of particular note are that in August, August 4th, we'll be at the Carlisle Commuter Fair in Alexandria as part of National Night Out.

And then in September, we'll be continuing to participate in

Wharf and Southwest DC events, including Sunset Cinemas at the Wharf.

We will be sharing project update video as a preview for the movie that will be held that night.

We'll also be participating in the 9-11 Memorial Trail Walk and Bike that's in the Crystal City and Pentagon area.

We'll table and also give a presentation about the Long Bridge project.

A few other highlights are some new signage that we have posted on the Mount Vernon Trail and near the Aquatic Center and continuing to update the kiosk that's within the Long Bridge Aquatic Center with all the latest project updates with a particular emphasis on the Alexandria work.

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Excuse me, a particular emphasis on the Arlington work.

Next slide.

and all of our contact information for the Long Bridge project, our website.

We're very active on social media.

We continue to post some interesting and informative videos about the project as we move forward, as well as other posts and photos and information.

So please reach out.

Next slide.

Good afternoon, everyone.

So just an overview of the Alexandria Fourth Track project overall.

It's a six-mile fourth mainline that is currently being built between Long Bridge and the Alexandria VRE station.

The intent here is to increase both the rail capacity and address the bottlenecking that Naomi was speaking about earlier that tends to delay both passenger and freight rails as they travel north into DC.

because we have a situation where there are five tracks that can currently converge into three.

While the fourth track is a six mile corridor, there are also several projects that are going on within that particular location.

They include the Crystal City station improvements, the King Street area projects, which include Alexandria station improvements, the King Commonwealth railroad bridges, and the city streetscape improvements that are currently in the planning stage with the city.

and then also the Telegraph Tunnel where we are currently working through pedestrian mitigation improvements.

Next slide.

So currently, just a snapshot of what you may have seen recently, what is currently ongoing and what is upcoming on the project.

We've had some clearing, grubbing and erosion sediment control installation that began earlier this year.

We've also done some initial track demolition for a

out of service track that was located by Long Bridge Park.

So those of you in that area may have seen that removal going on.

And we've also begun crossover installation at Slater's Lane further south.

Currently, we have initial drainage installations going on throughout the corridor.

So in the image above, you can see where they are doing some installation work by the Airport Access Road in Crystal City.

We also continue to work through both switch and signal installation at Long Bridge Park.

and we've also begun installing sheep pile retaining walls throughout the corridor.

Specifically right now, we are near Crystal City in regards to that work.

Upcoming, we continue to coordinate the fiber relocation efforts in the area that has been delayed and is intended to begin early fall of 2026.

With that relocation effort still ongoing, that would mean that the cutover date would be in October.

Other upcoming work that we have going on is a jack and bore for some of the drainage work that's occurring near the Aquatic Center once that utility cutover occurs.

And this jack and bore, the intent here is rather than having to basically construct an open trench, the jack and bore would allow us to build two pits on either side of the existing track, install a casing that would then allow us to shoot whatever pipes or drainage structures we would need to shoot through while minimizing disruption to the track above.

So it's a way we can kind of minimize our effect to the project overall while continuing to do civil improvements throughout the corridor.

So this jack and bore is something you'll see in other locations as well.

Next slide.

So some of these images coming up in the next few slides are just some things that are going on currently in the field.

So as I mentioned earlier, some of these recently completed activities include some track demolition.

You can also see on the right over here,

Some initial drainage work.

So the Potomac Greens yard, we have a lay down yard in that particular area.

So we have drainage structure staging going on where they've had a lot of material deliveries to that effort.

The bottom left image you can see the

Final completion of an underdrain pipe installation that occurred near Crystal Drive, or excuse me, Crystal City Drive.

And then also on the right, one of the larger drainage structures going in by the airport, as I mentioned earlier.

Next slide.

Some retaining wall images.

So here you can see where they are prepping the piles that are being driven ahead of the sheet pile installation.

And then of course the equipment used in the next two images to actually install those piles.

And once those piles are in the ground,

We then install the sheet piles to create that retaining wall once that's complete.

Next slide.

Some of the signal work I spoke about earlier, this is specifically towards the Aquatics Center.

So you can see on the left where they unearthed some of the existing cables to make sure we don't have any utility strikes and such, and also to allow for relocation.

And then on the right, you can see where CSX's signal crews are working to reinstall.

the work in order to activate the future updated control point at the Long Bridge Aquatic Center.

Next slide.

In regards to construction access points, this is just a reminder as we have discussed this in previous CAG meetings.

For those of you that are not familiar with it or maybe new to the meeting, we have seven locations along the corridor that we have noted as access locations.

Currently, we have three that are active specifically at Crystal Drive and 12th Street South, Crystal Drive and the service roads that is by the airport that's that access road and the Potomac Greens Drive and service drive.

What this means for the communities at large is what our intent here is to create access points where we can enter the corridor and then immediately be off of the right of way for the community.

In these locations, we are trying to get the crew on site and while there might be some intermittent construction vehicle traffic where they're entering and exiting, we are hoping that this method allows for all the trucks to be immediately on the CSX right away so you're not seeing them like some of the other construction vehicles you might be seeing with a lot of the other construction going on by other groups in that area.

Where those locations exist, we intend to have traffic control measures and safety measures in place to ensure the protection of both vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

Next slide.

So this is just a project phasing for the project overall.

So we are looking at the fall of 2026 here on the left.

You can see, as I mentioned, a lot of the track work or signal work is focused towards the Long Bridge Aquatic Center.

In the spring, you can see we move further south closer towards Alexandria Station in 2027.

And then this last phasing image on the right is just the complete construction of both the Long Bridge and the fourth track, noting, of course, that you have the 2028 completion date for fourth track and the 2030 completion date for Long Bridge.

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And then this last slide is just a project timeline overall to show how we worked through different phases throughout this project.

We of course completed the 100% design in 2023.

Our permitting was completed in 2025 and then properties acquisition was also completed in 2025.

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Thank you all.

All right.

Thank you, Sarah.

So this is the Crystal City Station Improvements Project.

And I think most of you have probably seen this slide before.

And I'm going to try to keep it short on this one since we have kind of a 3D walkthrough that'll be more helpful for this than this.

But just for folks who are familiar with the area, at the top right, you've got the new Crystal City Metro east entrance that's recently underway.

And then more towards the center top is 20th Street.

So what we'll have is within the right-of-way is the large pink-purple, that's the main passenger platform.

And the green coming off of that, those are the stretches back out towards Crystal Drive.

The northern end on the right hand side is a pedestrian underpass that comes out near the tunnel towards Mount Vernon going to the Mount Vernon Trail.

And the southern entrance is a pedestrian bridge that goes over kind of a single story building between 2011 Crystal Drive and 2121 Crystal Drive.

The existing station would be just off the right hand side of this view towards the, on the other side of the water park.

The orange at the bottom left is the county's pedestrian bridge to the airport, which is designed to interconnect.

Next slide, please.

Okay, so major things that we're looking to achieve with this project.

We are the current station is a single boarding edge and it accommodates a five car train set.

We run up to an eight car train set.

So that means that

Not all the train cars have their doors open so that means we're queuing longer at the station.

People in, let's say, car eight have to walk up to car five to actually get off the train.

So by having a longer platform we can get folks on and off of the trains more quickly and then by having two boarding edges that means that we can have two trains doing that at the same time whether they're going in the same direction or opposite directions or

whatever might be necessary.

It just gives us greater operational flexibility.

With the relocated entrances, we'll also be better situated relative to other modes of transportation, relative to the Mount Vernon Trail Connector, relative to the new WMATA Metro Rail second entrance and other things like that, as well as the CC to DCA bridge that will provide direct connection over to the airport.

Next slide, please.

All right, and this here, we have a kind of a 3D fly through of what the station will look like.

So I'm going to come in through the south entrance here.

So there'd be a set of stairs and an elevator.

The elevator will go up to the mezzanine level, but it will also go down into into the parking structure below.

Then you'll notice on the right hand side of the stairs that little channel there that is a runnel to help make it a little bit easier to get get bikes up.

So folks that don't want to wait for the elevator can can use that and it's easier than trying to carry it up a set of stairs.

So right here you can see kind of outlined in gray that's where the future CC to DCA bridge would tie in.

If they are there at the same time as us then

were great.

And if not, we have the ability to put in those additional panels that are designed to ultimately be removed when the county gets there.

Trying to minimize any potential rework, but also realizing trying to line up schedules on two projects this size to that level of accuracy is a difficult endeavor.

So we're going to hop over here to the north entrance.

Alright, so if you'll notice there's kind of two paths here in parallel.

The one on what's going to be on the left is essentially the existing trail and path that goes down to the Mount Vernon Trail Connector Tunnel.

That is not an ADA compliant path, so on the right hand side we'll be using a series of stairs and ramps to provide that compliant path, which will come over here to this pedestrian underpass, which will bring you out underneath the westernmost track

and then turn and come up between the tracks.

And we tried to open up to the ceiling as early on in the in the footage as we could so that it doesn't feel so it feels more open as you're coming through.

And here's just kind of a quick skim down through the through the right of way.

And then timeline wise, we wrapped up 90% design last year.

We just wrapped up and circulated our pre-IFB package to the stakeholders

and got our comments back on that.

And we're just wrapping up a few details in that regard, working through permitting with the county and closely monitoring Fourth Track's schedule as they progress through their work.

What really dictates when we start is when certain activities on Fourth Track get completed.

So we're working closely with Sarah and team to keep an eye on that, to make sure that we're out there at the right time and currently projecting that to be somewhere in

Q2, probably late Q2 of next year.

And if that updates at all, we'll let you know on the next iterations of this.

That's a good idea.

Did see a comment come in from Matt Jones with National Landing.

OK.

Thank you, everyone.

I'm here to provide an update on the Alexandria Station improvements and King and Commonwealth Railroad Bridge Project overview.

Here's an overview of the project.

Starting from the right, there's the Commonwealth Avenue rail bridges that we will be replacing.

And the King Street bridges are left that in green.

They're over 120 years old.

And so this is a good opportunity to come in and replace these bridges, as Sarah mentioned.

We'll be adding the fourth track here, which is the track on the lower end of your screen.

The other portions of this project include lengthening the platforms on track three, which is the track to the top of the screen, extending that to the south.

We're actually about to begin demolition on that portion.

I'll show you that on the next slide in a minute.

The other updates that we're doing to the station are adding a boarding edge along track one,

and we're also lengthening the island platform there in the middle.

The other big portion of the project is to eliminate the at-grade crossings and so we'll be adding new elevators adjacent to the pedestrian tunnel for people to access the island platform and we will also be replacing the pedestrian tunnel and be a little bit wider and taller underneath there.

So that's a nice improvement too.

We will also be raising the platform to be 8 inches above top rail, which is how the rest of the VRE system has their platforms as well.

Next slide.

As mentioned, we're going to be removing that at grade crossing at the station.

When we're improving that track platform interface, currently today you see those yellow step stools scattered on the platform.

by raising the platform to be eight inches above the top of rail will eliminate the need for those.

That kind of slows down that boarding on and off trains and then adding the boarding access along track one.

So that'll give us another track at the station that we can board trains from and improve kind of the flow at the station as well.

Next slide, please.

Here are the King Commonwealth Rail Bridges.

We're going to gain a lot more real estate underneath the bridges.

They're going to be wider and taller underneath.

As Sarah mentioned, the city of Alexandria is doing a separate project where they're going to be improving the streetscape underneath that's currently in the design phase.

It's separate from this project, but we're working with them as a partner to coordinate, to try to align everything, to minimize the amount of impact to the public.

as we progress construction.

Next slide.

As far as the timeline goes, in Q2, we finished up the temporary jump span install and some of the supportive excavation work.

In Q3 here, we'll be working on micropiles and the bridge footings.

Later on in Q4, we'll be doing the bridge foundation walls.

And then in Q1 of next year, we'll be demoing the east bridges.

Those are the ones that are closer

to the Wamata Station.

Next slide.

So the recently completed work, as I mentioned, we had the three weekends of where we shut down King Street and part of Commonwealth.

That was to install the temporary jump spans.

I'll show that on a photo in the next few slides here.

And we also did a temporary center platform enhancement where we kind of improved

Boarding Interface on that track one side that helps with those VRE shuffles that occur in the afternoon there and also just allows us during construction, if we have to shut down a track, we now have that extra boarding edge for that flexibility of being able to board passengers.

So the ongoing work right now that you guys will see out there, and I have a really great picture on the next slide, is the excavation underneath those temporary jump spans.

And that's to prepare to perform the bridge foundation work.

We're also doing helical piles currently, and that's to support the support excavation work, which is those sheet piles, and kind of holds those in place.

And the upcoming work is the micro piles for the bridge foundations themselves.

And we'll be getting permanent platform work along track three just south of the station.

Next slide.

So here is the station.

And like I mentioned, just south of the station in red there is where we're about to begin demolition to demo that platform and begin the new permanent installation of the platform.

Next slide.

On the left there, you see, this is what it looks like today.

It'll be looking like this for quite a bit of excavating beneath those jump spans.

The beauty of the way that this work is sequenced is that all the work is performed outside of that right of way.

So minimizing the impact to pedestrians on the sidewalks and vehicles in the street.

You will notice occasionally there's a brief pause where the flaggers will come out into the street and stop traffic just so we can safely enter and exit the construction vehicles from the site.

On the photo to the right are the helical piles.

Those are piles that get drilled in and they hold back the supportive excavation sheet piles and hold those in place so that the workers can go down and safely build the bridge foundations.

Next slide.

Okay, this is my favorite photo.

So to the right there is King Street traffic and then the tanker car above there

That is right above the temporary jump spans we put in.

So that's what we did over the weekends where we removed the track, put the sheet piles in, and then installed those big metal girders that support the track.

And so now that allows us to go in and actually dig out all of the dirt underneath those temporary jump spans.

And then we'll be able to do our foundation work and build back the new bridge abutments.

And so that's what ends up giving you that larger span underneath because the bridge abutments are now further apart.

And then on the bottom right there, you can see the helical pile installation.

And then the rev drill piece of equipment there is a unique piece of equipment for this project that was kind of custom configured to be able to fit underneath those jump spans and install those helical piles.

So pretty neat to see the helical piles go in.

I think that's all for this slide.

Next slide, please.

As far as our community outreach goes, we did get a chance to attend the Rosemont RCA meeting.

Thanks for having us.

I had a great turnout for that meeting.

We plan to attend again in the fall and provide another update.

We do have a quarterly newsletter that's posted to the project website.

Any kind of up-to-date impacts are also posted there as well.

And we have been handing out these business cards to patrons on the platform that have all of our project information.

So everyone can kind of stay up to date on any kind of impacts that they might see.

We're not foreseeing any impacts to road closures and weekend closures for the remainder of 2026, so that's good news.

But 2027 will be when we get into the actual bridge work.

Next slide.

For the VRE construction projects, we've got the link there, and then we have the specific link for this project itself, and then the unique

email address to reach out to us on the Alexandria Station improvements at VRE.org.

Those emails come to myself and a few of the other VRE members and we try to be very prompt on our responses.

So any kind of questions or comments, concerns you have, please reach out to us.

Next slide.

This is just the general VRE social media and contact information if you have any questions about their service and ticketing and whatnot.

Jason, it looks like we have a couple of questions for you.

Go ahead, Mr. Patrick.

Yeah, can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you.

Yeah, the question I had on the north side of Commonwealth Avenue.

There is an extended concrete abutment there along the edge of the rail bed.

and I noticed that you have not dismantled, it extends and then it sort of curves around a bit and I noticed that you have not demolished any of that as part of the excavation.

So the north end of Commonwealth Avenue where the sidewalk is today, that plan for that abutment is to rehab that abutment

and repair it, not actually replace that abutment.

Great.

Thank you very much.

That's the only question I had.

And by the way, your outreach has been great.

Excellent.

Thank you for your support.

Hey, you referenced road closures, not

for scene for the rest of 2026.

We don't have any kind of fixed timeframes at this moment.

So nothing to share quite yet.

OK, thanks.

And I had some comments and feedback, too, if that's fair game.

I can also share over email, just so you have it.

Yeah.

So I live in Rosemont.

I live like literally in the construction zone, which I mean, frankly, was like pretty miserable for the three weekends that the roads were closed here by King Street.

My comments and thoughts are mostly around like pedestrian safety, noise and communication.

On that first front, I think like removing the crosswalk lights and signs has been kind of dangerous.

I mean, not kind of like

was already a high traffic area.

I'm in my office right now.

I look out at this crosswalk every day, and I've observed, been part of several crossings where cars are either unaware or negligent to the presence of pedestrians or a pedestrian crossing.

Yeah, we definitely understand that the city had directed us to remove that.

I think it's important to kind of hear feedback from people like yourself.

And so if you could follow up with an email, too, and then we can kind of share that with the city.

I believe the intent was like we had to remove the one signal because it was right in the construction entrance.

And I think the way they worked, they worked in tandem.

But definitely, I think, you know, getting that feedback to us and then we can go with the city and try to work up with, you know, some kind of solutions would be helpful.

Yeah, thanks for that.

And I don't mean to pontificate too much here, but I want to make my points here if that's fair.

Yeah, definitely.

And, you know, just on noise, like, I mean, those three weekends were really bad.

And, you know, my apartment has single pane windows.

So that's, you know, another kind of part of this, too.

that it's just like my problem here.

But, you know, I think the noise generating activities, I understand they have some set hours.

They haven't always and do not always fall within those hours.

You know, I hope the worst of it is done, but just wanted to flag that, too.

So the worst of it is done for 2026 now.

She should not expect that.

The other kind of I've got sympathy for the other kind of nuances like CSX is performing.

Night work there over the next two weeks.

They started the past two nights.

I'm not sure if you've heard them or not.

That's separate from our construction work.

And I know they have kind of that's the railroad maintenance work that they need to perform during that non-revenue kind of windows.

So unfortunately, that work impacts neighbors as well, too.

Yeah.

Makes sense.

And then just lastly, like on communication, like, again, hopefully, this is mostly retrospective, given the lack of additional road closures in 2026.

But when the road was closed, you know, the portion of King Street in front of the station, there was found pretty minimal signage around the closure as to where pedestrians should walk for the detour to or from the train station to Metro, like

I mentioned like I walk out my front door and I'm in the zone like my sidewalk is in the middle of the construction zone like I myself had to direct some people that were you know confused about where to go like and that was happening even when there's construction staff just you know sitting standing around that seem you know disinterested in helping others the only time I've observed them or did observe them like interacting with pedestrians was to keep people out of the

The work zone which makes sense, but at that point like yes, it's it's aggressive.

It's combative sometimes And yes, it just yeah has not been a really like like enjoyable time to live here Yeah, this has been happening though.

I want to say like I am I am all for these You know, we really wide-ranging improvements Just as a resident.

This has been pretty like suboptimal at least and inconvenient.

Yeah, and at points like

No, I appreciate your feedback and definitely welcome the formal written one as well, kind of outlining these two.

I mean, I'm taking my notes here.

I do, we do appreciate the feedback on like the signage and whatnot.

We did try to improve, you know, unfortunately by, you know, the third weekend we had improved a little bit and had some people stationed there and some improved signage, but

Definitely welcome that and I feel like it's an opportunity for us to kind of strive to, you know, increase that, the signage and whatnot and like maybe stationing more people out there and better messaging to the riders and whatnot in the area.

Yeah, thanks for hearing me.

Thank you, Mr. Miller.

Looks like we have another question from Mr. Patrick.

No, actually I just let my cursor dwell too long over the raise the hand.

Yes.

Okay.

Yeah, absolutely.

We appreciate, as Jason said, these comments and questions.

If there's none other right now, we've got our next slide up is the contact information for Virginia Passenger Rail Authority.

You just saw the information for Virginia Railway Express.

We also monitor our email and phone hotlines on a regular basis with the goal of responding within 24 hours on all working days.

So please reach out to us with any questions and comments between meetings.

Next slide, please.

I think that we've done all the comments and questions now.

One more, one final chance.

Oh, Mr. Ortiz.

Hey, excuse me.

Good afternoon.

Can you guys hear me?

Okay, thanks.

Hey, so I'm new to this group.

I am actually over here at the Washington headquarter over at the Pentagon with their transportation department.

And like I said, due to this group, but I guess my biggest concerns would be to ensure that we get copies of any

Road closures or a change in directions of traffic, vehicle traffic, just because of all of the different shuttles that we have that leave the Pentagon that disperse throughout

the district and whatnot, and that they have, you know, predesignated routes.

So if there's going to be closures, we need to take a look at that, need to take a look at adjustments and if that adjusts to any of the schedules.

Absolutely.

We want to make sure that happens.

I think that the Long Bridge project updates probably have the most significant impact on you.

Derek, let me put my contact information in the chat here.

And if you could reach out to me, I'll keep you in our weekly emails that we send out documenting and updating people on our three week look ahead for the Long Bridge South project.

It also includes the MOT closures and stuff like that.

I guess it's that we have a contact at the Pentagon, but maybe it's not,

You know, clearly it's not getting to you or maybe not to all the right people.

Well, and like I said, I've just been put new to this and new to this group.

Absolutely.

Yes.

We're glad you brought that up.

Okay, then sounds like he's asking for you to reach out to him to be sure that he has your contact information too.

Okay, let's see.

Okay, great, thank you.

Let's see, I see another hand from Mr. Mass, yes.

Ah, I'm on mute.

I'm with the Cambridge, with the Crystal City Civic Association.

Yeah, there's no real change in the schedule for Crystal City, other than, like I said, we're tracking closely on fourth track.

And really, it's kind of dependent on their advancement.

So far, they're overall generally on schedule.

But yeah, we're looking to advertise kind of the back end of this year with construction to start, you know, middle of next year.

That would be more to Sarah.

Sarah, I think you've got kind of the roadbed laid for the new track on the east side.

Yes, that's correct.

Not necessarily, to be perfectly honest.

I mean, when you have the rail going down, that's not too different from whenever there are like large maintenance gangs that go through that area or that corridor.

That's really the same amount of noise from an installation perspective as you would see with like a production gang that goes through.

I think there are other more

I don't want to say noisier activities per se, but there are other activities that I would think would be more, you'd hear more or notice more like pile driving, for instance, versus like a general noise that you would see from rail going in.

Well, there'll be any of that kind of activity going on.

Well, in Crystal City, they've already begun doing retaining wall installation.

In fact, one of them is already complete.

Right.

In that particular area,

I'm not quite ready to provide an exact date on that one.

I want to talk more a little bit more with CSX because part of that's also based on access in regards to scheduling.

And because once you start that, right, you can't, it's such a buildup in regards to beginning the actual physical work.

So we need to make sure we have large enough blocks of time to do that.

And so that's still very much being coordinated where we would need to have a long enough outage to have an efficient amount of time to install things, if that makes sense.

Parts of it would be, so cutovers and things like that would have to be done overnight.

For the fourth track in general, what we've tried to do overall is make a situation where we have two active tracks and two out of service where we can do as much work during the day

where we are not fouling tracks and tracks can stay active.

But there are certain things, I think Jason mentioned it earlier, that just we have to have done at night just because of traffic or access or fouling concerns from a safety perspective and things like that would have to be at night.

So for instance, when certain, we have certain phasing where a track will be in service, it will then go out of service so we can do repairs on it or replacements on it.

And so to clarify, the Alexandria Fourth Track Project is a Virginia passenger railway project, but it's being constructed, the work is being done by CSX.

So we do have a CSX representative here on the call.

Adam, feel free to

Yeah, thank you, Meredith.

I mean, I think Sarah did a good job of answering that one.

It's kind of difficult to say.

Access is kind of tough back there and working around live traffic slows things down.

The majority of our work is planned for daylight hours minus those cut-ins.

Once we can get into a groove, if you will, it will go quickly.

And Mr.

Math, please feel free to reach out at our hotline.

I know you've used that before and phone number, email if you have any questions along the way or if the neighbors are hearing something they have questions about.

Are there any other questions?

I know we're at time now.

Okay.

Let's go ahead to the next slide, please.

I don't know if actually, if there is another slide.

Okay.

So just, I want to thank everybody for being here today.

Um, our next meeting will, for, we'll keep our quarterly cadence.

So that will be late October, early November.

We'll send out an email as soon as we have that scheduled.

And in the meantime, please reach out to us.

You have our contact information for VRE and Virginia Passenger Rail Authority.

As soon as we have the video processed and post on our website for this, we will send the links out to you so that you can share it with the groups that you represent.

Again, appreciate your support and your partnership as we move our projects forward.