A new route is now available to help pedestrians and bicyclists travel between Reston Town Center and its paired Metro station.
The newly completed pedestrian bridge over the Washington & Old Dominion Trail near the Reston Town Center Transit Station (12051 Bluemont Way) drew “lots of people” when it opened over the last weekend (Nov. 2-3), one reader told FFXnow.
The project got a celebratory ribbon-cutting on Wednesday (Nov. 6) featuring officials from Fairfax County and Reston Town Center developer BXP, formerly known as Boston Properties, which committed to building the bridge as a part of its expansion of the town center.
“I’m very pleased that the bridge is now completed,” Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said while crossing the span. “… It goes a long way to connect the Reston Town Center station with the older core of Reston Town Center, so it’s a big step for anybody trying to get across the W&OD by foot and by bicycle.”
The bridge is the result of a “multi-year effort” involving complex permitting and negotiations between the different entities with a stake in the W&OD Trail, including the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NOVA Parks), according to BXP Executive Vice President Jake Stroman, co-head of the company’s D.C. region office.
The permitting and negotiating process ultimately consumed more time than the actual construction, which began in December 2023 and was executed by Clark Construction. Though BXP declined to comment on the project’s cost, Stroman suggests it was worthwhile.
“It really creates a cohesion and a connection for people to experience the entirety of Reston Town Center and our investment here,” he said. “So, it offers convenience. It’s more efficient, and so, I think all of that serves to benefit not only our office clients, but also the retail community that exists here in Reston Town Center.”
Featuring a ramp down to the W&OD Trail, the bridge leads from Bluemont Way to Progress Street, where signs direct pedestrians to the Reston Town Center Metro station. The walk still isn’t entirely comfortable, as construction continues on BXP’s town center expansion.
After completing two office buildings in 2021, the developer anticipates opening Marriott’s AC Hotel and Residence Inn in January 2025, and over the past couple of months, residents have started moving into Skymark, a 508-unit, 40-story apartment building at 12000 Inspiration Street, Stroman says.
Roughly 35% leased so far, the units in Skymark, which is the tallest residential tower in the D.C. area, are being delivered on a floor-by-floor basis. Clark Construction expects to finish the building in 2025.
Discussions are underway for a new phase of the Reston Town Center expansion that would bring it up to 4 million square feet of development. A proposed plan submitted in late June included a pedestrian bridge over Sunset Hills Road to directly connect the new development with the Metro station, but the exact details remain under negotiation.
“We are in constant communication and getting comments from [Fairfax County] staff about what we should do and what we should make better,” Stroman said.
The Reston Town Center bridge’s opening followed an unveiling in July of a pedestrian bridge for W&OD Trail users over Wiehle Avenue, which is currently the subject of a study to identify a more multi-modal and less car-centric design.
“Particularly in areas that are emerging as transit-oriented development … it’s important that we have infrastructure for pedestrians and bicyclists to get around, so we don’t just have to get in our cars to get from A to B in those areas,” Alcorn said. “This is a big step towards that for the Reston Town Center.”
