ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Alexandria residents are voicing their concerns about the plan to build a new sports and entertainment district that would include a new arena for the Washington Capitals and Wizards.
Just hours after the announcement made by Gov. Glenn Youngkin alongside Monumental Sports majority owner Ted Leonsis, over 500 Alexandrians participated in a virtual community meeting with Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson hosted by the Del Ray Citizens Association.
The association's president, Katie Waynick, said the most common concerns are related to traffic impacts.
"First ones you hear from pretty much everyone, parking traffic, transportation," she told WUSA9.
Residents pointed out that nearby Route 1 and the GW Parkway are already heavily congested during peak rush hour. According to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), Route 1 sees an average of 25,000 vehicles a day, while the GW Parkway sees 49,000.
Some residents also said the road the new arena would sit on – Potomac Avenue – doesn’t seem close to being ready to handle traffic from a sports arena.
"It's going to impact the days that there are big events -- there's no way around that," Waynick said. "During rush hour especially, Route 1, it's already really frustrating to navigate."
Virginia lawmakers are betting primarily on the use of public transportation to get fans to the potential new arena with 20,000 seats, particularly the Metro's Potomac Yard Station. But Metro's CEO, Randy Clarke, said the newly opened station could be one that would close down next summer amid the system's financial shortfall, adding that the Potomac Yard is not ready for the volume of fans just yet.
"Clearly we would need some type of modification to handle a demand of that nature," Clarke said. "It's kind of one escalator, one stair approach on each platform."
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said Wednesday improvements in the Potomac Yard neighborhood will be necessary to deal with the potential undertaking of a 9 million-square foot sports and entertainment complex.
The complex that is set to be built by JBG Smith will break ground by 2025 and open by late 2028, if approved by the Virginia legislature and the Alexandria Council.
Virginia's Democratic-controlled General Assembly will have to approve legislation, including the creation of a Sports and Entertainment Authority that will own the land and buildings.
Alexandria Restaurant owner Bill Blackburn said he supports the plan, but understands neighbors concerns.
"This has been a whirlwind 24, 48 hours where we have been dumped a huge announcement that has a lot of impacts both good and bad with not a lot of notice," Blackburn told WUSA9 at his restaurant in the Del Rey neighborhood, located a five-minute drive from the possible new complex.
The Alexandria City Council plans to hold public hearings to hear the community's input as the project advances.