An $8.8B effort to overhaul Union Station has received a crucial stamp of approval.
A plan to revamp the transit hub in the nation’s capital has been in the works for more than a decade. But this week’s approval, after years of studies of a slate of proposals, provides a clear path ahead to redevelop the 53-acre station.
The Federal Railroad Administration signed the Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision documents Tuesday. The milestone allows the project sponsor, Union Station Redevelopment Corp., to proceed to securing funding and designing the project.
The project looks to completely revamp how the station functions — from delivering a new rail terminal with 19 tracks to creating four new concourses with new retail, reducing the number of garage parking spaces by 77%, creating a 39-slip bus facility and creating a pedestrian throughway under the H Street Bridge. The project would preserve the station's historic main hall.
The report estimates the project will take 13 years and be completed in phases, with different tracks taken out of circulation at different times. The projected completion date is 2040, which would mean that work would need to start by 2027. Funding is not yet secured.
The redevelopment plan would allow a 3.7M SF mixed-use air rights project from Akridge next to the station to proceed. The D.C.-based developer’s plan for Burnham Place across 15 acres has been in the works for nearly two decades. The plan calls for residential, hotel, office and retail development, according to the FRA’s report.
The Union Station project would include a centralized civic space on the H Street deck, which would be designed by Akridge and implemented in conjunction with USRC.
The FRA report on the Union Station redevelopment says it would have beneficial impacts including adding ridership capacity, fixing non-ADA compliant platforms, enhancing multimodal transportation uses and enhancing security.
It also lists adverse impacts of the project, including the need to acquire 2.9 acres of Akridge’s air rights, reducing the property’s revenue by cutting the parking spaces, temporary road closures and increased construction traffic, as well as eliminating parking altogether during Phase 4 when the garage will be demolished.
But the report says the benefits of the project outweigh the impacts, including the impact of taking no action to overhaul the site.
“The Project is needed to improve rail capacity, reliability, safety, efficiency, accessibility, and security for both current and future long-term railroad operations at [Union Station],” the report reads.
The decision said that as funding is secured, the USRC will initiate the engineering and design phase of the project. It also said FRA may be involved in providing funding for design and construction in the future.
D.C. Council Member Charles Allen, chair of the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, hailed the decision Thursday afternoon on X, formerly Twitter.
Today is a massive step forward for the modernization & expansion of Union Station. A new train hall, expanded rail, right-sized parking, modern bus facilities, concourses with retail, dining, & shopping… this is what we fought hard for and is a big win for DC and our region. pic.twitter.com/dql2mPPdnp
— Charles Allen (@charlesallen) March 14, 2024
