Your Bus Moved at East Falls Church Metro This Month. Most Routes Will Move Again.

On a weekday morning at the corner of North Sycamore Street and 19th Street North, there's a bus stop that wasn't there in September. It has a sign, a stop called T3, and riders waiting for the F20 to King St–Old Town or the F26 to NVCC Annandale. The East Falls Church bus loop is now a construction zone. Starting October 4, 2026, every route that serves the station was assigned to a different spot.

If you spent the first few weeks of October learning where your bus stops now, that was the first of three rounds. Under WMATA's advisory for the project, buses move again in spring 2027 and once more in summer 2027. Fairfax Connector 715 and 803 are the only routes already in their permanent bay. A few others end up next summer right back in the bay they use today, after a spring detour.

Here's how all of it lines up, plus the parking and the walk you'll be dealing with in the meantime.

The map, route by route, through summer 2027

The phase-by-phase moves below come from WMATA's East Falls Church Bus Loop Expansion advisory, updated October 2, 2026. "Stays" means a route already moved to its permanent bay in an earlier phase. "Not listed" means WMATA gives no assignment for that phase.

The letters keep going past D because the project adds three bus bays, taking the loop from four to seven, each with a new shelter. In its 2015 study of the station, WMATA found that the original four bays were at capacity, according to Arlington County's project page. The bays you'll see referenced next year, E, F and G, are the new ones.

October's bay is a rehearsal for some routes

If you ride the F20 to Tysons or the F50 to George Mason, Bay A is where you'll end up permanently. The same goes for ART 52 riders at Bay B. Spring 2027 sends those buses to the new bays for a while, and summer brings them back. Riders of those three routes are already standing where they'll stand for good.

For ART 55 riders, Bay C lasts only until spring, when the route moves permanently to the new Bay F. Riders using T3 get the worst of it. They're out on Sycamore Street until summer 2027, when the F20 to King St–Old Town gets Bay G and the F26 to NVCC Annandale takes over Bay C, the bay ART 55 is using now.

One thing to check before you rely on the map for Bay B. The County's page lists the second Ballston route there as Metrobus F40. WMATA's advisory calls the same route the F50 to Ballston. The two official sources disagree on the route number, so go by the sign posted at the bay. Both agencies say signs go up before each phase and that riders should follow them.

WMATA also says that during certain construction phases, the bus layover will move out of the loop to a spot farther south on Sycamore Street. If you notice buses waiting on Sycamore without opening their doors, that's probably the reason.

The parking lot is shrinking in stages

The bus changes have a rider-facing map. The parking changes come as a list of numbers in WMATA's advisory:

• Laydown area: 33 spaces unavailable for the whole project
• Phase 1A: 72 spaces unavailable, listed as active
• Phase 1B, East Lot closure: 150 spaces unavailable, starting on what the advisory calls "Monday, Oct. 20"

The advisory was updated October 2, 2026, but October 20, 2026 fell on a Tuesday, so that line's date and weekday don't line up. Check the signs at the lot before counting on an East Lot space. WMATA suggests Dunn Loring station as the alternative.

For comparison, when construction started in July 2025, ARLnow reported that about 34 of the north lot's 422 spaces would close for staging, and it pointed drivers to West Falls Church. That 34-space closure is about the same as today's 33-space laydown area. The 150 East Lot spaces are new this fall, and they're the biggest single parking hit in the project.

According to WMATA, there will be the same number of ADA spaces throughout construction, though a few will move. When the work is done, the Park & Ride gets six more spaces than it had before, plus new paving, better lighting and video monitoring. Six spaces won't feel like much after a year and a half of closures. Still, the lot ends up a little bigger than it started.

Walking and biking in: the bus loop is only half of it

Walkers and cyclists have a second project to deal with, and it runs on a different schedule.

The bus loop project includes better crosswalks at the loop entrance on North Sycamore Street, a new signal there, and improved pedestrian access from the park-and-ride lot to the station. The bigger fix for people on foot and bikes is the County's North Sycamore Street Complete Streets project, which covers Sycamore between Langston Boulevard and 19th Street North. Arlington says the final concept is done, procurement is underway, a contractor is targeted by early 2027, and construction is expected in early to mid-2027.

That project matters to W&OD Trail users because of the gap at this station. Arlington describes it as a "trail-rail gap," a spot where the W&OD ends and riders get routed through Benjamin Banneker Park and residential streets. The County's 2020 alternatives analysis favored either an overhead crossing at North Sycamore or protected bike lanes on 19th Street North and North Tuckahoe Street. The Complete Streets page says interim fixes for the 19th Street crossing "may" be included where feasible. That's a possibility, not a promise.

This is the same intersection where T3 is now, the temporary stop for the F20 to King St–Old Town and the F26. Through at least spring 2027, the corner of Sycamore and 19th has a temporary bus stop, a known trail crossing problem, and a street redesign waiting on a contractor.

More bike parking was also in the works. In December 2025, ARLnow reported that Metro planned to install 10 U-racks and 10 smart racks at East Falls Church in February, and that Metro hadn't decided where they would go. Arlington's bus bay page also says the work is coordinated with a Capital Bikeshare expansion "in the area," without saying where docks will go or when.

The calendar to keep on the fridge

The agencies give slightly different end dates. Arlington says the bus loop will be finished in spring 2027. WMATA's advisory says it's in effect through June 30, 2027, and that stop relocations continue through summer 2027. WMATA's project page gives a window of July 2025 to October 2027. In practice, expect construction at the station through most or all of next summer.

1. Now through winter: Phase A is in place. Buses use Bays A through D plus T3. The 33-space laydown area stays closed for the whole project, WMATA lists the 72-space Phase 1A closure as active with no end date, and the advisory schedules the 150-space East Lot closure.
2. Early 2027: Arlington aims to have a contractor for North Sycamore Street Complete Streets.
3. Spring 2027: Phase B begins. F20 to Tysons and F50 to George Mason move to Bay G, ART 52 and the F50 to Ballston move to Bay E, and ART 55 moves permanently to Bay F.
4. Early to mid-2027: Sycamore Street construction is expected to start, overlapping the end of the bus loop work.
5. Summer 2027: Phase C sets the permanent bays. ART 52 goes back to Bay B, F20 to Tysons and F50 to George Mason go back to Bay A, F20 to King St–Old Town gets Bay G, and F26 to NVCC Annandale gets Bay C.

The finished station is supposed to have seven sheltered bays, a dedicated bus access lane, better signals where buses leave the loop, and improved crossings on North Sycamore Street. For more on the streets around the station, see our West Arlington and East Falls Church neighborhood page. For what's happening farther east along the same corridor, there's our post on the Langston Blvd stretch in Cherrydale.

If you're timing a move, a sale or a lease around a station that won't be finished until next summer, it's worth talking it through with someone who drives Sycamore Street too. Coral Gundlach has been working this side of Arlington since 2004 and is happy to go over how the 2027 timeline fits your plans. Book a Consultation.