Plans for new $177 million west entrance to the Ballston Metro station is starting to solidify.

Proposed plans for the project, intended to reduce congestion and improve access to areas west of the station, were published last month.

They show an additional entrance with a new staircase at the southwest corner of Fairfax Drive and N. Vermont Street, about a quarter mile west of the existing entrance.

Other proposed additions to the station – which currently sees around 5,975 daily boardings – and its surrounds include the following.

• Two new elevators at street level
• A new underground chamber with ticket machines and ticket gates
• A new underpass between the mezzanine and the station platform
• A new platform mezzanine with two stairs and two lifts for the inbound platform, as well as two stairs and a single lift for the outbound platform
• A new pedestrian crossing over Fairfax Drive
• An improved crosswalk over N. Vermont Street with reconstructed curb ramps

A public hearing on the project is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, December 10th at 6:30pm at the Arlington Central Library (1015 N. Quincy Street).

“The new entrance would improve access to areas west of the station, provide additional emergency exit capacity, improve bus-to-metrorail transfers, relieve congestion at the current eastbound station entrance, and improve passenger distribution on the train platform,” a recently published environmental assessment states.

Construction is currently estimated to begin in the summer of 2026 and last until the summer of 2029.

During construction of the pedestrian tunnel, two lanes of eastbound Fairfax Drive would be completely closed to traffic. Additionally, parking along eastbound Fairfax Drive between N. Glebe Road and N. Utah Street would be temporarily removed.

Occasional disruptions to subway and bus service in Ballston are also possible.

“Detours would be implemented to enable continuous travel around the project area; detours are currently being considered and would be refined to minimize potential delays,” the project’s environmental assessment states.

The second entrance project to the Ballston station is one of the biggest ticket items in the county 2025-2034 Capital Improvement PlanIt combines funding from several sources, including an $80 million grant from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority in 2022.

Securing funds has been a long and somewhat uncertain process. Back in 2018, some Arlington officials worried that it could be delayed indefinitely after NVTA passes the project in a six-year funding plan.

Balloon flight costs have contributed to delays on the proposed entry, which had an estimated price tag of just $130 million in 2019.

Although plans for this project have not yet been finalized, construction recently began on a similar project in Crystal City.

The planned new eastern entrance to the Crystal City subway station broke ground in July. That project is slightly cheaper than the one in Ballston, costing $146.1 million.