VRE Manassas Park Station Parking Expansion

The Virginia Railway Express (VRE) Manassas Park Station’s 600-space lot routinely exceeded capacity, pushing overflow parking into nearby neighborhoods and limiting the region’s ability to grow rail ridership. Pedestrian access to the platform required at-grade movements that conflicted with active rail operations. The City of Manassas Park is building a mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly downtown area, and without a long-term parking and access solution, the previous station could not reliably serve existing riders or support projected growth.

Manassas Park’s parking expansion program delivered a four-level, 740-space precast garage, a new grade-separated pedestrian bridge over the Norfolk Southern tracks, an elevator and stair tower, platform modifications, and related site and civil work. The project maintained uninterrupted rail service and fit within a confined urban site near new residential development.

GFT provided construction management and inspection services, including special inspections, schedule and estimate review, technical oversight, commissioning support, and stakeholder coordination among VRE, Norfolk Southern, Manassas Park, utilities, and an adjacent developer. To limit impacts and compress critical path activities, the team used off-site assembly of the elevator tower for rapid installation and deployed digital field tools (TrueLook cameras for real-time monitoring and time-lapse documentation; Holobuilder and 3D capture for model-based progress tracking). These measures improved communication, reduced rework, minimized worker exposure to live rail, and ensured the job progressed safely in proximity to active operations.

The structure offers 544 above-grade spaces for transit users and 196 below-grade spaces for Manassas Park, enhancing access, reliability, and convenience for commuters while reducing neighborhood parking impacts. The project is expected to generate an additional 1,200 daily riders on the extension by 2035 and will help reduce traffic congestion in Prince William County and throughout the Washington D.C. region. Energy-efficient LED lighting reduces operating costs and contributes to the city’s sustainability objectives. By transferring more trips to the VRE, the system will avoid emitting approximately 1,500 metric tons of CO₂ annually. The garage and bridge are part of Manassas Park’s long-term vision for growing ridership and commerce. The economic impact of the new parking garage is anticipated to be $8–$10 million in additional annual revenue.

Delivered four months ahead of schedule, $1 million under budget, and with more than 85,000 work hours without a single OSHA recordable incident, the Manassas Park Station Parking Expansion sets a new standard for rail-adjacent construction and demonstrates how engineering excellence can overcome extraordinary complexity to deliver safer access, sustainable growth, and lasting community value.