Dems push for Metro to Woodbridge

Del. Paul F. Nichols envisions a time when Metrorail extends south from Springfield to Woodbridge.

Companies with 300 to 400 employees, attracted by the transit option, would relocate to U.S. 1, building swanky high-rise offices.

Two-car families could downsize to just one gas-guzzler, and out-of-town shoppers could take advantage of high-end stores in eastern Prince William County.

“They’ll be on that train coming down to Woodbridge,” Nichols said Thursday, standing at the corner of Minnieville and Smoketown roads as cars rolled by.

The Lake Ridge Democrat was joined by party mates Rep. Gerald E. “Gerry” Connolly, Prince William Supervisors John Jenkins and Frank Principi, and Occoquan Mayor Earnest “Earnie” Porta in making a public push for bringing Metro to the county.

Nichols sponsored legislation that has begun a study of extending the transit line here, and Connolly submitted a bill in March for a federal study on the issue.

This being a House of Delegates election year, Principi told a handful of reporters and supporters that Nichols is the “transportation delegate” who will “fight to repair our gridlock and bring Metro to Prince William County.” Nichols faces GOP challenger Rich Anderson in the 51st District race in November.

Principi said the local, state and federal representatives present a “united front” to push for Metro and to create a “new” Woodbridge.

Likewise, Connolly, who represents much of Prince William, said the Democratic Party is the party of “results” and “getting things done.”

Neither he nor Nichols could say yet how much bringing Metro to Prince William could cost — or how it would be funded. That would become clearer after the studies are complete.

But Connolly called the project a necessary investment. He said land around other Metro stations has seen a 15 to 1 return on investment.

In Arlington, for example, Metro corridors account for only 6 percent of the county’s land mass but generate more than half of the locality’s tax revenue, he said.

Whatever the cost, then, Connolly said, Metro is a “bargain for Prince William.”

“We can’t afford not to make these investments,” he said.

Nichols said Prince William’s tax base is 86 percent residential and 14 percent commercial. With businesses that Metro could attract, perhaps Prince William could get closer to the ratio in neighboring Fairfax County: 60 percent to 40 percent.

And, as he’s said previously, Metro would also provide a symbolic connection to Washington that Prince William lacks in comparison to other metropolitan area localities.

“We’re the stepchild waiting to be linked,” he said.

Much of the development in the county recently has been on the western end.

But Nichols said eastern Prince William is ripe for revitalization, especially considering it’s soon likely to be the home of tens of thousands who will come to work at Fort Belvoir and Quantico as a result of the government’s military base realignment.

Staff writer Jonathan Hunley can be reached at 703-369-5738.