During a recent Metro trip on the Red Line, I barely noticed as the operator asked passengers to move to the center of the car and to use all the doors. I’ve heard it hundreds, perhaps even thousands of times. But then he said something that got my attention. “Remember,” he said, “this is rush […]
What the last Van Ness Metro escalator project looked like
What will Metro’s three-year Van Ness escalator project look like when it gets well under way? Its photos of a previous project at Van Ness offers some hints. The Van Ness Metro station’s east entrance closed for four and one-half months in late 2013-early 2014 so both entrance escalators could be replaced. These photos were […]
Metro’s new plan for 3-year Van Ness escalator rehab keeps west entrance open at times
by Marlene Berlin If you’ve been to Van Ness today you’ve seen it: WMATA has closed the west entrance of the Van Ness Metro station to begin the three-year process of replacing four escalators. However, Metro now says we’ll regain use of the entrance after about two months, not three years. At ANC 3F’s June […]
Have you seen Metro’s newest Red Line train?
Metro is granting this guy’s wish today. Alack that I don't commute on the Blue Line. Come to the Red Line @wmata's 7000 series metro train. pic.twitter.com/qelg42DUPS — Wesley Cocozello (@VeryRevOCoco) May 20, 2015 If all is going well, a shiny new Metro train has already made its journey through the Red Line a time […]
ANC 3F asks: Do you support closing Van Ness Metro on weekends to speed escalator work?
Do you support closing the Van Ness Metro station on weekends if that would speed up work to replace four of the station’s escalators? ANC 3F wants to hear your opinion ahead of a special meeting next Tuesday, May 26th. At this week’s regularly scheduled ANC meeting, WMATA’s lead escalators engineer told commissioners that his […]
UDC engineering students propose Metro escalator fixes
by Carol F. Stoel Metro is preparing to undertake a three-year project to replace four Van Ness escalators that are at the end of their 35-year lifespan – and have broken down frequently during that period. What if the escalators could be redesigned to extend their useful life, and keep breakdowns and downtime at a […]
The Northwest Current’s take: A Metro mess in Van Ness
The Northwest Current is the latest to weigh in on the Metro missteps that led to the stalled closure of the Van Ness station’s west entrance with an editorial in the May 6th issue (download the paper here). Current Newspapers has given us permission to reproduce it here: Metro’s community outreach about its three-year closure […]
The DC media fill holes in Van Ness Metro entrance coverage
Metro’s plans to close the west entrance at Van Ness have drawn the media’s attention to our little corner of Washington. At first, most outlets took Metro at its word that the Van Ness entrance would be closed Monday. The Washington Post and WTOP stories published online that morning were written as though it had […]
Will Metro get to start its 3-year escalator project at Van Ness today?
The west entrance at Van Ness Metro, set to close today for a three-year escalator replacement project, was still open as of 9 a.m. Will it close later today? A DDOT representative said last Thursday that the agency would suspend WMATA’s public space permits until further notice, which would prevent Metro’s contractor from bringing in […]
On the Metro, an unexpected musical gift
by Ann Elkington Scene: A Red Line metro car, mid-afternoon on a weekday. As the Shady Grove train pulled into the Judiciary Square station, I could hear faint music and just figured it was some kid’s iPhone cranked up. I stepped into the train car and found a young man in his late teens or […]