Huntington (Washington Metro) Funicular - Huntington, Virginia, USA
N 38° 47.578 W 077° 04.516
18S E 319767 N 4295848
Located in Fairfax County, Virginia, USA, the Huntington Metro Station Funicular opened in 1983 and is still operational. The posted coordinates were taken at the bottom of the funicular track.
Waymark Code: WM4CMZ
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 08/06/2008
Views: 106
From
Wikipedia:
Huntington is a Washington Metro station in Huntington, Virginia on the Yellow Line. It is the southern terminus of the Yellow Line, and one of only two stations served exclusively by the Yellow Line. As the station is built into a hillside, the south mezzanine, along with escalator access, is accessible via a funicular elevator.
The station serves the suburban area of Fairfax County and is a popular commuter station, with over 3,000 parking spaces. It is located between North Kings Highway (State Route 241) and Huntington Avenue, with parking facilities and station entrances available off of both roads. Service began on December 17, 1983.
Architecturally, Huntington station is unique from the rest of the Metro network. It is partially elevated and built into the surrounding hillside. Riders enter the station on a viaduct carrying the tracks from downtown Washington, D.C., but the area of the platform that the escalators reach is below grade. Holding up the canopy are supports containing circular holes that go over the track and are built into the sloped carving of the hill housing the station.
The north (lower) mezzanine is home to Metro's only fully public restroom, an automatic self-cleaning toilet manufactured by Exeloo, opened in October 2003. The automatic restroom was installed as part of a pilot project to determine customer acceptance and feasibility of the concept, as well as the impact on safety and cleanliness. According to then-General Manager Richard A. White in the online Lunchtalk chat dated June 3, 2005, there are no plans to extend the program to any other stations.
A new 1,424-space parking garage located on the station's east side is scheduled to open in 2008. The surface parking lot off North Kings Highway is the center of a planned residential and business redevelopment project, also expected to be completed in 2008. Parking at Huntington Station costs $4.50 all day on weekdays. The nearby neighborhoods have parking restrictions, but there are some spaces at the intersection of Blaine Drive and Glendale Terrace that are not subject to parking restrictions.