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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Largo Town Center (Washington Metro)
Downtown Largo station (also known as Largo) is an island-platformed Washington Metro station in Lake Arbor, Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, with a Largo postal address.

The station opened on December 18, 2004, as Largo Town Center and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). It is the eastern terminus of the Blue and Silver Lines, and serves the town of Largo and the former The Boulevard at the Capital Centre.

It is the first and so far only station in Prince George's County outside the Capital Beltway, and is located about 1 mile (1.6 km) from Northwest Stadium, the home of the Washington Commanders. It is also a major commuter station, with two parking garages, containing a total of 2,200 spaces, connected by a bridge at the top level. This station is also the only terminus that has two lines terminating at it.

History

In 1980, Herbert Harris and other local legislators introduced legislation to study the feasibility of constructing an additional 47 miles (76 km) to the original 103-mile (166 km) network. Included in this request was a previously considered 13-mile (21 km) extension of the Blue Line through Largo en route to a proposed terminus at Bowie.

In October 1996, the proposed routing for the extension of the Blue Line to Largo received a favorable environmental impact statement thus allowing for the project to move forward. The plan represented the first expansion to the original 103-mile (166 km) Metro network and would include both the then named Summerfield and Largo stations. The station gained approval from Congress as part of the extension in February 2000 with the federal government contributing $259 million towards its construction.

Construction began in 2001, and the station opened as Largo Town Center on December 18, 2004. Its opening coincided with the completion of 3.2 miles (5.1 km) of rail east of the Addison Road station and the opening of the Morgan Boulevard station. The final cost of building it, its sister station and rail extension was $456 million.

In December 2012, the station was one of five added to the route of the Silver Line, which was originally supposed to end at the Stadium–Armory station but was extended into Prince George's County, Maryland to Largo due to safety concerns about a pocket track just past Stadium–Armory. Therefore, the station is also the eastern terminus of the Silver Line, which began service on July 26, 2014.

On January 13, 2022, WMATA's Safety and Operations Committee recommended the name of the station be changed to Downtown Largo after conducting a brief public opinion survey, despite the survey saying participants didn't like the term "Downtown". The new name became effective on September 11, 2022.

Notable places nearby

References

  1. ^ "Metrorail Ridership Summary". Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  2. ^ "Largo Town Center Archived March 10, 2018, at the Wayback Machine." Washington Metro. Retrieved on September 9, 2018. "9000 Lottsford Road Largo, MD 20774"
  3. ^ "2010 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP (INDEX): Lake Arbor CDP, MD." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on September 1, 2018. Pages: 1 and 2.
  4. ^ Staff Reporters (June 26, 1980). "Area legislators ask study of 47 more miles of Metrorail". The Washington Post. p. C1.
  5. ^ Fehr, Stephen C. (October 18, 1996). "Plan to extend P.G. Metro line moves forward; Environmental study allows Largo stops". The Washington Post. p. C3.
  6. ^ Layton, Lyndsey (February 4, 2000). "Federal funds promised for new Metrorail stops". The Washington Post. p. A1.
  7. ^ Dana, Rebecca (December 19, 2004). "Metro, Prince George's extend their reach; Two new Blue Line stations open, bringing passengers and economic potential". The Washington Post. p. C2.
  8. ^ Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (July 2009). "Sequence of Metrorail openings" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 13, 2010. Retrieved July 28, 2010.
  9. ^ Partlow, Joshua (January 1, 2005). "Newest stations to ease game-day crush; Redskins fans await rail, trail to FedEx". The Washington Post. p. B3.
  10. ^ Aratani, Lori (December 5, 2012). "Metro details Silver Line service changes". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
  11. ^ Halsey, Ashley (July 26, 2014). "All aboard! Metro's new Silver Line rolls down the tracks for the first time". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
  12. ^ "Approval of Station Name Change Largo Town Center Metrorail" (PDF). WMATA. January 13, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  13. ^ "Metro asks public for opinion on potential name change to Largo Town Center Station | WMATA". www.wmata.com. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  14. ^ "Metro to implement five station name changes Sept. 11 | WMATA". www.wmata.com. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
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