The Medical Center escalators are set to undergo a 2.5 year replacement project.
Metro is waiting for state inspectors to approve the elevator for use, which has been undergoing an improvement project since May. Once the elevator is good to use, the escalator replacement project will begin, according to Richard Jordan, a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) spokesman.
The three 35-year-old escalators at the Medical Center station will be replaced one a time and the station may be temporarily closed during certain service disruptions, according to WMATA information.
“The Medical Center escalators are 202 feet long and transport riders 101 feet from the station mezzanine to the entrance landing so their replacement is more complicated than an average escalator replacement and will require considerably more crane activity to remove the structures and major trusses that hold each of the escalators,” WMATA wrote on its Medical Center Entrance Escalator Replacement page website.
The work for each escalator is estimated to take 38 weeks and work will only happen when the station is closed to customers and the adjacent escalators are not in service, which extends the project timeline to 2.5 years, according to WMATA information.
The nearby Bethesda station completed a similar escalator project March 22 as part of a $151 million plan to replace 130 escalators in the Metro system. Since 2011, Metro has installed 67 new escalators and is also working to replace four escalators at the Friendship Heights metro station.
During the Medical Center project, Metro plans to have personnel continually monitor operations and make sure the station is not overcrowded and that escalators and elevators remain available to enter and exit.
The station, which opened Aug. 25, 1984, serves nearly 5,700 passengers on an average weekday.
Public transit commuters to Naval Support Activity Bethesda can stay informed of service disruptions or station closures by signing up for MetroAlerts at wmata.com/metroalerts.
| Date Taken: | 04.13.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 04.13.2017 11:44 |
| Story ID: | 230254 |
| Location: | BETHESDA, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 45 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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