by Marlene Berlin
What was it like at the Van Ness Metro station on the first day of the west entrance’s closure?
The Van Ness Metro station’s west entrance, blocked off. The sign says: “We’re replacing the escalators to give you a better commute. Please use the exit behind you.”
There was no warning signage at Windom Place for Connecticut Avenue pedestrians heading toward the station from the north. Many had already been funneled to the west side due to the closed sidewalk at Park Van Ness on the east side.
A steady stream of pedestrians headed south on the west side of Connecticut Avenue.
So the great majority of people crossed Connecticut to the open east entrance at Veazey Terrace or mid-block near the closed Metro entrance.
If WMATA’s escalator project manager is correct, we can look forward to the Van Ness west entrance reopening (temporarily) in about two months time. But still leaves two months of greater potential for driver and pedestrian conflicts along this busy stretch of Connecticut.
ANC 3F Commissioner Mary Beth Ray did not waste any time contacting DDOT, MPD and WMATA. She wrote:
“With this morning’s closure of the Van Ness Metro west entrance has already come expected pedestrian issues. In particular, people on the west side of Conn. Ave. walking south are crossing in the middle of the block, between Windom and Veazey Streets.”
She makes these recommendations:
Around the same time, an NBC4 news van was parked on the sidewalk beside the west entrance, creating a barrier for pedestrians trying to get to Veazey to cross the street (here’s the story the crew did on the closure). This may have contributed to pedestrians crossing mid-block.
Pedestrians crossing at Veazey. You can see the News4 truck on the left.
And that was not all. A little after 11:30, WAMU news tweeted this photo indicating that east entrance had also been closed to commuters for a time:
Van Ness Metro closed. pic.twitter.com/d8iIi67w4j
— WAMU 88.5 News (@wamu885news) June 22, 2015
Ann Chisholm, WMATA’s government relations officer, responded by email: “We are operating normally at Van Ness. They (emergency personnel) did respond to a report of a problem with an insulator, but there was no action required, and we are operating normally.”
She did not respond to the question about whether the station had to be shut down.
GreenEyeshades says
Riders can barely get useful information from Metrorail’s alerts & advisories. It is completely unrealistic to expect Metro’s government relations unit to give riders or pedestrians any useful information about rail operations. Most riders recognize that Metro does not care about riders’ welfare or peace of mind. Metro will never demonstrate any interest or concern for pedestrians outside of its system, which is why Metro shut the west entrance despite vehement local opposition.
GreenEyeshades says
Your coverage of this chaos is extraordinary. Thank you for keeping the spotlight on the nonsense.
marchesa says
I agree with green eyeshades. wmata assured us that they would have customer service staff posted at the station. There were no metro employees in sight during rush hour.
To Mary Beth Ray’s recommendation that mpd ticket pedestrians,it would be more effective if mpd would ticket drivers who routinely run red lights, speed, and endanger pedestrians.
NatsGal says
It is insanity that Mary Beth Ray’s recommendations do not include making the time for crossing Connecticut Ave more than 23 seconds. I don’t care what any official says, that is NOT enough time for the large numbers of people trying to cross the street. This morning, as I passed on my way to the Metro, I counted about 15 at the crosswalk and another 10 or more crossing in the middle of the block in the traffic. This will surely end in tragedy. The citizens of this area are being shown very clearly that neither WMATA nor the DC Government care about our safety.
Matthew Bruckner says
The sign on the closed metro entrance says something like, “this entrance is closed. please use the entrance behind you.” Except the sign doesn’t face the open entrance. Thus, people are wandering around the closed entrance looking for an open/ entry point. Hopefully the signage is fixed.
David Jonas Bardin says
When will Metro correct its “use the entrance behind you” misinformation?
GreenEyeshades says
Be very cautious about asking questions or trying to look through the construction barricade in the tunnel (under the street) between east and west entrances. The barricade inside the tunnel is only 15 feet or so from the top of the main escalators. A rider who might want to peer through the barricade to follow “progress” of the construction might be aggressively challenged by a Metro station supervisor to “step back.” If the rider inquired of the Metro supervisor “are you police,” the Metro employee might say “yes” and only admit he is not police when the rider checks the patch on his right sleeve. Then that Metro supervisor might ask “do you want me to bring the police down here?” And so forth. Merely for trying to see whether any work has been done. Which has not happened.
There is zero progress on escalator construction as of Thursday morning, four days since the West entrance was closed. There are construction barricades. And behind the barricade on the walkway of the tunnel there are boards laid down to cushion heavy parts and to protect the tile floor. But there are no escalator parts on those boards. There is a barricade closing the eastern-most main escalator at the top, but no visible change in the condition of that escalator. I.e., nothing has been removed, no machinery has been delivered, there is zero evidence that any equipment or parts have been delivered. Perhaps there is a stall because all of the permits have expired? As of yesterday, June 24, all of the permits stapled to the east side of the barricade at the west entrance (above ground) have expired. The signed DDOT permit was issued 5/28/2015 and expired on 6/22/15. Somebody paid over $14,000 for that permit. The “elevator permit” from DCRA (for which KONE paid over $18,000) has an expiration date in 2015 but it was wet and the ink had run so the expiration month and day were illegible. The DCRA permit, by the way, says “permission is hereby granted to Federal National Mortgate Association and Wmata.”
GreenEyeshades says
“Mortgage” not “Mortgate” in last sentence.
GreenEyeshades says
Forgive my iterations: the “License Period” printed on the DCRA “elevator permit” reads as follows: “License Period :3/1/2013-2/28/2015.” [sic, punctuation as in original]
Tracy Johnke says
That’s nuts! Curiosity is not illegal. In fact, I took a peek myself through a crack in the surround above ground. And like this rider, I saw no evidence that work has begun.
Aster says
Completely agree with NatsGal about Mary Beth Ray’s comments. Really–we’re talking about penalizing pedestrians here???? I see developers, drivers, and Metro contractors as the winners here. 23 seconds is ridiculous and there should be, if anything, an officer HELPING pedestrians and commuters by directing traffic to manage heavy commuter flow. It’s so clear in these debates that Connecticut Avenue belongs to car culture and not the community building/pedestrian friendly atmosphere we say we are trying to develop.
Adrian Salsgiver says
Update 20 July 2015: Metro replaced the sign with “Adrian’s Sign”, now it makes sense. The new sign reads: THIS ENTRANCE CLOSED We’re replacing the escalators to give you a better commute. Please use the entrance on the other side of Connecticut Ave. or the elevator. https://youtu.be/tXySgarXoBE