Original photo by Adam Fagen

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Agency’s Board of Supervisors is reviewing this morning a $26 billion plan that would dramatically transform Metrorail over the next 30 years. The proposal, a result of an 18-month study, would result in the expansion of stations, construction of new platforms, and the creation of two new rail tunnels, all of which would require significant funding from federal and local governments.

Metro’s long-range plan—which was first reported by The Washington Post—calls for the construction of a tunnel between Georgetown and Rosslyn, continuing to Thomas Circle, to carry the Blue Line; and a tunnel running beneath 10th Street to Thomas Circle, which would allow the Yellow and Green lines to operate on separate lines.

As the system is currently built, Metro simply can’t keep up with the D.C. region’s population growth or daily ridership, which is projected to eclipse more than 1 million per day by 2040, the Post reports:

“If we don’t do something about what’s coming at us in terms of the region’s growth, we will have such a crowded system that it will create its own set of problems with regard to safety and infrastructure,” Richard Sarles, Metro’s general manager, said in an interview. “Now is the time for the region — with Metro in the lead — to begin talking about projects that make the most sense for making long-term investments.”

The continuing population growth in the District and its suburbs, especially among young people who choose not to own cars, has made Metro’s long-term capacity an existential issue for the transit system, one of the busiest in the nation.

Of course, that $26 billion is going to have to come from somewhere, and Metro’s plan makes no mention of how to obtain funding for all of the recommended projects. The forthcoming Silver Line, which is not part of “Metro Momentum,” as the proposal is dubbed, is being built at a cost of $5.6 billion paid for by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.