A range of reactions are pouring in after the owners of the Washington Wizards and Capitals announced a preliminary plan to move the teams to a new arena in the Potomac Yard neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia. Among the many questions about the monumental announcement, one big question surfaced: How will fans get to and from the complex?
WTOP Traffic Reporter Dave Dildine went in depth with WTOP’s Shawn Anderson and Anne Kramer on Wednesday afternoon about what lies ahead from a traffic perspective, should the teams relocate.
Dildine prefaced by saying, “while the new venue may not be near Metro Center, it would still be near the center of the metro area.”
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Anne Kramer: Dave, we all know it’s just pretty much a guessing game anytime of day when you drive from D.C. or the Maryland suburbs to Northern Virginia and how many problems you could run into on that drive. So, without sounding obvious, how important is it to make sure the drive from D.C. to Alexandria and Potomac Yard to catch a game is not an actual deterrent to getting there and enjoying the game?
Dave Dildine: Well, of course we’re hearing all the usual doomsday predictions from fans and residents, understandably, I mean. Before any big sports event, you’re gonna get a big surge of traffic toward the venue. And that’s expected. That’s a given. But yes, we don’t really know how it’ll shake out. You know, obviously, traffic will be heavier if it comes to pass, and this area of the region is not accessible by freeway or expressway, it’s surface streets. But, you know, MCI, Verizon, Capital One, same deal. Fans who drive are accustomed to long lines of traffic getting to the current venue, in and out of the garages. So, we’ll see how things shake out.
Shawn Anderson: Is the road system, as constructed right now, in any shape to handle that level of traffic that would be expected for games? What kind of roads need to be built for it to emerge as a place to be able to drive to?
Dave Dildine: U.S. Route 1 is the big highway. George Washington Parkway doesn’t have direct access to Potomac Yard. Slaters Lane is a ways away. Again, most sports venues in other cities are connected by freeway, or at least expressway, so it’s a little constricted. The good news is, if you’re an avid listener of traffic on the eights, we don’t often talk about Route 1 and the [GW] Parkway in this specific part of the region very often. It’s got a little more capacity, and there might be a little more margin for error, but it can only go so far when you’re accommodating, I think 20,000 fans, so a comparable-sized venue. Again, I don’t have any modeling or studies to draw from right now. But, you know, the jury’s still out. And we’ve been hearing from county and state officials and city officials about how they’re outfitting this neighborhood. It does seem like they’ve been planning for a big venue like this for some time.
Anne Kramer: Dave, we have chatted with Alexandria’s mayor, Justin Wilson, who is confident the transit system and the options there will help the fans and will be able to get them from D.C. to the game, the Potomac Yard station being the one that just opened last spring. So, what are your thoughts on that?
Dave Dildine: Well, you know, it’s interesting, we don’t talk about it often, but there is a new transit-way that runs down U.S. Route 1. There’s been a big investment in that both on the part of the city of Alexandria and Arlington County. That’s going to connect Old Town Metro to, I think, Pentagon City. Obviously, the new metro station, Potomac Yard, is going to be getting a workout if this continues to move forward, as it looks like it may very well. So, there are transit options. Now, it is closer to the end of the Metro rail line as opposed to in the center of the Metro system. But there’s a lot of unknowns right now. So, as they say, stay tuned.
