Crystal City station (Washington Metro)

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.

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.<ref name=2014report />Template:Rp

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.<ref name=2014report />Template:Rp Template:Clear left

History

Metrobus at the station in 2005

The station opened on July 1, 1977, part of the Template:Convert initial segment of the Blue Line between National Airport and Stadium–Armory stations that opened that day.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Virginia Railway Express began service in June 1992, with its Crystal City station about Template:Convert northeast of the Metro entrance.<ref name=FehrSanchez>Template:Cite news</ref> Metroway bus rapid transit service began on August 24, 2014, with a stop on Bell Street adjacent to the Metro entrance.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

Second entrance

An east entrance to the station was proposed in a 2002 WMATA study.<ref name=2014report>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Rp Planning for the second entrance began in 2011.<ref name=2014report />Template:Rp 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.<ref name=2014report />Template:Rp 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The county and company signed a preliminary agreement in June 2020.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Design of the second entrance reached 30% in March 2021.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In March 2022, plans were changed from an underground to a surface-level fare lobby to reduce costs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A groundbreaking ceremony took place on July 12, 2024, one month after construction started. The new entrance is expected to open in 2027.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> Template:Clear left

External links

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