Vienna/Fairfax-GMU

Story

Vienna is a Washington Metro station in Fairfax County, Virginia on the Orange Line. The station is in Oakton, in the median of Interstate 66 at Nutley Street (Virginia State Route 243), with a Fairfax postal address.The station can be accessed from I-66 without merging onto Nutley Street by a series of ramps that transport commuters to the station's north and south side parking complexes. From the parking areas, riders use elevated walkways that bridge the east and westbound lanes of I-66 to reach the platform and mezzanine. The station provides easy access to the nearby Town of Vienna, the City of Fairfax, and the main campus of George Mason University. Service began on June 7, 1986.HistoryAlthough originally identified as the western terminus of the Orange Line in the 1968 plan, by 1978 Fairfax County was debating whether the initial terminus should be at the Vienna location or at an another location in Tysons Corner. After much public debate and public comment, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors endorsed the Vienna routing. The endorsement was made after determining it would cost an additional $59 million and take an another five years to complete the line to Tysons. (Metro service to Tysons Corner would be established, with the 2014 opening of the Silver Line).