Huntington station (Washington Metro)

Huntington is an island-platformed Washington Metro station in the Huntington area of Fairfax County, Virginia, United States (though its mailing address says Alexandria). The station was opened on December 17, 1983, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). Serving as the southern terminus for the Yellow Line, the station is built into a hillside; the south mezzanine, along with escalator access, is accessible via an incline elevator.

This article is about the Metro station in Virginia. For the community in New York, see Huntington Station, New York. For the LIRR station in New York, see Huntington station (LIRR).

Huntington
rapid transit station
Location	2701 Huntington Avenue, Huntington Virginia
Owned by	Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	Metrobus: 10A, NH2 Fairfax Connector: 101, 109, 151, 159, 161, 162, 171, 301, 310 Richmond Highway Express
Construction
Parking	3,617 spaces
Bicycle facilities	34 racks, 12 lockers
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	C15
History
Opened	December 17, 1983 (December 17, 1983)
Rebuilt	2019
Traffic
Passengers (2016)	7,137 daily [1]  9.91%
Services
Preceding station Washington Metro Following station Terminus Yellow Line Eisenhower Avenue toward Greenbelt
Location
Huntington station Location within Alexandria

The station serves the suburban area of Fairfax County and is a popular commuter station with over 3,000 parking spaces. It is located between North Kings Highway (State Route 241) and Huntington Avenue, with parking facilities and station entrances available off of both roads. Service began on December 17, 1983, making it the first station to open in Fairfax County, and the first to extend the system beyond the Capital Beltway. The station is located on the ruins of Fort Lyon, a Civil War-era fort.

History

Originally scheduled to open in summer 1982, its opening was delayed due to both unavailability of new subway cars and the lack of a test track.[2] Construction of the station was complete by summer 1982,[3] and in September 1983 Metro announced the station would open that December as the new cars would be ready for service.[4] The station opened on December 17, 1983.[5] Its opening coincided with the completion of 4.2 miles (6.8 km)[6] of rail between National Airport and Huntington and the opening of the Braddock Road, Eisenhower Avenue, and King Street–Old Town stations.[5]

In May 2018, Metro announced an extensive renovation of platforms at twenty stations across the system. The Blue and Yellow Lines south of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport station, including the Huntington station, would be closed from May to September 2019. This will allow for the eventual demolition of an abandoned parking structure at Huntington, as well as the rehabilitation of a track crossover. The platform at the Huntington station itself will be rebuilt from January to May 2020.[7][8]

Station layout

Inside Huntington Station's incline elevator.

Architecturally, Huntington station is different from the rest of the Metro network. It is partially elevated and built into the surrounding hillside. Riders enter the station from the north on a viaduct carrying the tracks from downtown Washington, D.C., but the south end of the island platform is below grade. The tracks continue into short tunnels in the hill, allowing for a future extension. The canopy is supported by buttresses that bridge the tracks into the sloped walls of the depression in which the station is built. This type of station makes it similar to the Dyckman Street station on the New York City Subway's IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. As a result of the unusual topography, there is an incline elevator at this station, the only one installed anywhere in the Metrorail system and one of only a handful such elevators in the United States. The WMATA is unsure why the design used such an elevator, rather than a traditional vertical elevator plus a horizontal walkway.[9]

The north (lower) mezzanine is home to one of Metro's few fully public restrooms, an automatic self-cleaning toilet manufactured by Exeloo, opened in October 2003. The automatic restroom was installed as part of a pilot project to determine customer acceptance and feasibility of the concept, as well as the impact on safety and cleanliness.[10] According to then-General Manager Richard A. White in the online Lunchtalk chat dated June 3, 2005, there are no plans to extend the program to any other stations.[11]

Huntington is one of only two stations that is serviced exclusively by the Yellow Line, the other being Eisenhower Avenue.

G	Street level	Upper level exit/entrance, buses, parking
M	Mezzanine	Fare control, ticket machines, station agent
P Platform level	Northbound	→ toward Greenbelt (Eisenhower Avenue) → ← termination track
	Island platform
	Northbound	→ toward Greenbelt (Eisenhower Avenue) → ← termination track
G	Street level	Lower level exit/entrance, buses, parking, fare control, ticket machines, station agent

Buses and parking

Bus routes from Huntington on Metrobus and Fairfax Connector serve much of southern Fairfax County.[12]

A new 1,424-space parking garage located on the station's east side opened on August 14, 2008. There are 3,617 parking spaces at the station. The former surface parking lot off North Kings Highway is the center of an ongoing residential and business redevelopment project. Parking at Huntington Station costs $4.85 all day on weekdays, but is free on weekends and federal holidays.[13]

References

1. "Metrorail Average Weekday Passenger Boardings" (PDF). WMATA. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
2. Feaver, Douglas B. (January 30, 1981). "Status of future Metro openings". The Washington Post. p. C5.
3. Battiata, Mary (September 22, 1982). "Alexandria angered by delays in opening of subway". The Washington Post. p. VA1.
4. Lynton, Stephen J. (September 21, 1983). "Metro panel approves plan for December Yellow Line opening". The Washington Post. p. C4.
5. Burgess, John (December 20, 1983). "Yellow Line trains run smoothly as new stations get first test". The Washington Post. p. C3.
6. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (July 2009). "Sequence of Metrorail openings" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 13, 2010. Retrieved July 25, 2010.
7. "Metro wants to rebuild 20 station platforms over three years, creating SafeTrack-like disruptions". Washington Post. May 7, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
8. "Metro plans 'summer shutdown' on Blue, Yellow lines next year". WTOP. May 7, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
9. Flegenheimer, Matt (May 29, 2014). "With New Slant on Subway Elevators, Expect Delays". The New York Times. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
10. "Metro installs public toilet at Huntington station". Archived from the original on November 11, 2005. Retrieved July 19, 2005.
11. "WMATA Lunchtalk". Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. June 3, 2005. Archived from the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
12. "Huntington Station Bus Information" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 31, 2010. Retrieved January 2, 2010.
13. "Parking Information". Archived from the original on January 31, 2010. Retrieved January 2, 2010.

External links

• WMATA Huntington station page
• StationMasters page for Huntington station
• The Schumin Web Transit Center: Huntington Station