Ribbon-cutting for VRE deck set for Thursday

The City of Manassas and Virginia Railway Express will hold a ribbon-cutting to unveil its new joint parking deck on Thursday at 11 a.m.

The estimated hour-long ceremony will be held at the Prince William Street entrance to the five-level, 420-space garage. Manassas Mayor Douglas S. Waldron and Prince William County Supervisor John Jenkins, D-Neabsco, who serves as the chairman of the VRE Operations Board, are scheduled to speak at the ceremony.

The garage costs an estimated $11 million and will be completed in roughly nine months—several weeks earlier than expected due to favorable weather—said VRE spokesperson Mark Roeber.  He said the deck will likely be open for service the second week in July.

VRE owns 60 percent of the garage and the city owns 40 percent. The first three floors of the garage will be dedicated to commuters and the top two levels available for Old Town visitors.

Commuters currently have to park in one of four outdoor lots on the south side of the railroad tracks near Prince William Street. After the deck is built, the approximately 57 spaces in the current Depot lot will be converted to         general public parking spaces, with the exception of the current Americans with Disabilities Act van spaces.

Those spaces must remain in the Depot lot because the deck will not have the height clearance to allow for ADA vans.

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-369-5738.