City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: SEPTEMBER 2, 2020
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
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Consideration of a Resolution to Request that the Potomac Yard Metrorail Station Official Name be "Potomac Yard-VT" Metrorail Station.[ROLL-CALL VOTE]
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ISSUE: Consideration of a resolution for naming the "Potomac Yard-VT" Metrorail Station as the official name of what is now known as the future "Potomac Yard" Metrorail Station.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council endorse the attached resolution (Attachment 1) formally requesting that Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) begin the process to consider "Potomac Yard-VT" as the name for the future Potomac Yard Metrorail Station.
BACKGROUND: In spring 2020, Virginia Tech expressed its interest to the City in changing of the name of the "Potomac Yard" Metrorail station to include reference to the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus. WMATA has an established policy, "Metro System Station Names" that articulates the requirements and limitations for station names and the process by which jurisdictions and WMATA can advance proposals. WMATA's policy includes a host of requirements including that names be less than 19 characters. For naming stations after universities, the policy states that a university must have more than 5,000 students, the campus must be within 0.5-mile of the station, and the university needs to have a significant classroom presence at the campus location.
If Council adopts a formal resolution to request a name change, WMATA will then conduct a market survey to determine public perception of multiple aspects of the proposed name change. This information will then be reviewed by WMATA and the City before a final determination is made whether to submit the request to the WMATA Board of Directors for approval.
DISCU...
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