Metro is seeking public input through Friday on the naming of two Northern Virginia subway stations: the existing West Falls Church station and a future stop at Potomac Yard.
Since 1999, the University of Virginia’s initials have been included alongside or as a subtitle under the West Falls Church station’s name on Metro transit maps and signage. But when U.Va. opted this year to vacate the Falls Church graduate campus it shared with rival Virginia Tech since 1996, that label was rendered obsolete.
With the university backing out of the area, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors requested Metro scrub “UVA” from the station’s current subtitle of “VT/UVA” — if approved by Metro’s Board of Directors, only “VT” would remain on the West Falls Church-VT/UVA sign.
Metro wants additional input on whether “Potomac Yard” should be formalized as the name of a new station expected to open in 2022 servicing the Blue and Yellow lines between Reagan National Airport and Braddock Road.
Riders can voice their thoughts on the City of Alexandria’s recommendation that Metro add “VT” as a subtitle to the prospective Potomac Yard station’s name. Virginia Tech’s upcoming Innovation Campus will be located less than a quarter-mile from the stop and will eventually host between 2,000 and 3,000 students annually.
Under Metro’s station naming policy, jurisdictions requesting a name change are responsible for footing the bill if the transit system’s Board of Directors chooses to go through with it. That includes reprinting maps, fabricating new signs and reprogramming electronic information systems in stations and trains.
Metro’s short public survey is available online through 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 20.
