Big Changes Coming to the West Falls Church Metro Station
Summary
Construction of the WMATA development around the West Falls Church Metro Station has begun. WMATA announced that parking, bus bays, and pedestrian access to the station will change, as highlighted at the Village Preservation and Improvement Society (VPIS) meeting held Sunday, November 16, 2025. These changes will impact access to the Falls Church City Mary Ellen Henderson and Meridian public schools campus and local residents who use Metro.
Background
On November 17, 2025, WMATA announced that several changes are coming to parking, bus bays, and pedestrian access to the West Falls Church Metro Station in Fairfax County, which abuts the City of Falls Church.
The 24-acre West Falls Church Metro Station property is being redeveloped to include up to 1 million square feet of office, residential, and retail space. [See the Pulse post Two Massive Fairfax County Developments Next to Meridian High School – Converge and WMATA West Falls, January 18, 2025.] The project is expected to include 810 apartments and 82 townhouses, some of which will be affordable.
In order to accommodate the new development, some 600 parking spaces at the station will be eliminated. Below is an aerial photo taken in 2024 showing the Grad Center and Metro sites prior to construction, followed by the Metro site development plans shown at VPIS meeting.
Changes to traffic patterns
Metro customers and commuters using the access road can expect to see rolling changes during construction, including a relocation in 2026 of bus service while the bus loop is reconfigured and new shelters are built. The Kiss and Ride will be relocated, and the first floor of the parking garage will be closed to reconfigure its entrances. The upper levels of the garage will remain open. There will be temporary sidewalk and traffic pattern changes, detours, and lane closures to allow for the construction. These changes will be announced on the WMATA website as they occur.
Fairfax County residents in the area were promised earlier that the access road would remain open to allow them to by-pass congestion at the Broad and Haycock intersections. However, that pledge remains in question with mixed messages coming from the development team.
Impacts on Falls Church school campus and local residents
Construction on the West Falls Development, the Virginia Tech Partners Development, and the Metro project will continue to require changes to walking, driving, and bicycle access to the City’s Secondary School Campus and for West Falls residents. One of the most significant changes is the closure on December 19 of the walking path that connects the West Falls apartments and the school campus to Metro parking and the Metro Station.
The Metro Station and car park are used by students, teachers, parents, and visitors as overflow parking for the Secondary Campus. Students and teachers also ride the Metro to school. Because the sidewalk is fenced off on the north side of Haycock Road, the closure of the path creates a long detour that requires crossing Haycock Road twice and proceeding through construction on Mustang Alley. Mustang Alley has limited access during student arrivals and dismissals.
It is not clear if the path will ever be reopened. Construction is expected to continue through at least 2028 when the boulevard will be open to pedestrians.
