The Metro’s rail expansion map could include Georgetown

Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E has extended its support to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s plan to bring a Metro station to Georgetown.

A new station would address “longstanding transportation challenges for Georgetown,” eight commissioners said in a letter to Metro dated Sept. 21. The ANC sent the letter in response to WMATA’s call for public comment on its expansion proposals. 

ANC 2E’s representative in this matter, Commissioner Topher Matthews, said that while the materialization of the plan was far-off, a Metrorail station would be huge for Georgetown.

“It’s likely that if WMATA does have the money for the expansion and does continue to see the need for it as a matter of capacity for the whole system, it will result in a Georgetown station,” Matthews told The Wash.

While bringing Metro in Georgetown would be beneficial, its construction potentially could impact some of the historic buildings in the neighborhood, according to Zachary Schrag, a professor of US history at George Mason University  and author of “The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro.”

“My guess is that everyone is assuming that the engineers will take whatever steps are necessary to preserve the historic structure of Georgetown,” said Schrag. “I’m not sure if they know how difficult that will be.”

Schrag said that the main reason for getting extra metro stations was to relieve the current congestion on the tunnel between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom. 

“Once you were doing that, then it may make sense to build one or possibly two stations in Georgetown, on the way,” said Schrag.

Georgetown was established in 1751.  Its significance was formally acknowledged when Congress enacted the Old Georgetown Act in 1950 in order to protect its history, architecture, and other areas of interest that were of historical significance, according to the website of the U.S Commission of Fine Arts.

It could take 20 to 25 years to build a station in Georgetown, according to Matthews. Georgetown’s urban landscape is constantly evolving and could lead to uncertainty with regard to engineering, Matthews said.

“The letter that we signed could mean something and hopefully,  you can even say we’re all in favor but we can’t just write a $8 billion check, which is where the difficulty arises,” said Matthews. “If I could wave a wand and have it open tomorrow, it would be huge, it would be great.”

Sneha Puri, a public policy student at Georgetown University, struggles with transit issues even within the neighborhood. 

Georgetown University students have labeled the neighborhood as a ‘transit desert’ owing to its lack of transportation options, according to the University’s student newspaper, The Hoya.

“There is a lack of transit in Georgetown, especially when it comes to Metro access because the closest Metro Station is about a 30-minute walk or one bus ride away and even the buses that we have in the area are very unpredictable in terms of the timings,” said Puri.

Puri says that while she could take a direct bus to downtown D.C. from her residence in Georgetown, she struggles with getting to the university, which is also in Georgetown.

WMATA proposed in its strategic plan for 2013-2025, that they could finish work for the additional line in 2025. However, it is unclear where they stand in the process.

Metro didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story.