Waterfront Metro Escalator Repairs

Starting on January 18, WMATA will begin a two-year project to replace the escalators at the Waterfront Metro station. From WMATA:

The project will replace the current entrance escalators, which are more than 20 years old and have exceeded their useful life, with brand new escalators that are more durable and reliable. Metro's contractor, KONE, will install the new escalators one at a time, while keeping two units in service for the duration of the project -- one running up and one running down.

It will take about 35 weeks to fix each of the three escalators and most of the work will be done at night to minimize disruption. Maybe they will finally remove the SEU from the station pylon and entrance while they're at it...  

What Should Waterfront-SEU Metro be Renamed?

With construction set to start on the new Waterfront-SEU Metro station plaza before the end of the year, perhaps it’s a good time to bring up the subject (as readers have done in the past) of the name of the Metro station itself. Southeastern University shuttered its doors back in September, so its future is in doubt. Perhaps WMATA should consider dropping SEU from the station name and add the name of a major historic institution in the area like Fort McNair? Waterfront-Fort McNair would give a good description of the neighborhood the Metro station covers. Fort Lesley J. McNair has been at Buzzard Point since 1794 and is the third oldest military installation in the nation (according to Wikipedia), so I doubt it will be going anywhere soon, unless a future BRAC Act closes the fort. Another alternative could be to rename the station Waterfront-Buzzard Point. Using Buzzard Point in the Metro station name would give attention to a neglected neighborhood that will be undergoing dramatic changes over the next couple of decades. Instead of replacing SEU with another local destination, WMATA could simplify the name by renaming the station Waterfront or Southwest Waterfront. In most cases, the way a station name change happens is the local government (in this case the DC Government) makes a request to WMATA to change the name of a station and will also pay for any expenses related to the name change. We'll see if the DC Government will opt to have the name changed, but at any event, what would you rename the Metro station? Vote in December’s poll on the upper left corner of the sidebar and feel free to leave a comment after this post.

Road & Metro Station Closures

- DDOT announced streetcar tracks are being installed on parts of South Capitol Street on the east side of the Anacostia River. As a result, traffic at the intersection of South Capitol Street and Firth Sterling Avenue, SE will be reduced to one lane on each side, which began on September 16th and will last until September 30th. The Anacostia segment of the streetcar network is supposed to be operational in late 2012.

- DDOT is scheduled to close a lane on the Southeast-Southwest Freeway (I-395) this Sunday to conduct a field survey in the roadway. The far right lane on the eastbound side of I-395, west of the Francis Case Memorial Bridge, will be closed from 8 am to approximately 2pm. Additional work will be conducted next weekend on the opposite side of I-395. On Sunday, September 27, the right westbound lane will be closed from 8am to 2pm.

- Fox 5 News reports that some Metro stations will be closed during Columbus Day weekend, including L'Enfant Plaza and Waterfront-SEU. Metro is replacing four rail switches at L'Enfant Plaza. The stations will be closed October 9th starting at 9:30pm and re-open Tuesday October 13.

Coming Soon to a Metro Station Near You...

Mark October 16th on your calendars…starting on that date, 20 of the busiest underground Metro stations will be getting expanded cell phone service and three of them are located in Southwest. According to the WMATA press release, Smithsonian, L’Enfant Plaza, and Federal Center SW will be part of the first wave of Metro stations to receive service from Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, AT&T, and T-Mobile. From the press release:

This is the first phase of Metro’s effort to bring expanded cell phone carrier service to the entire Metrorail system by 2012,” said Suzanne Peck, Metro’s Chief Information Officer. “After we complete the first 20 stations this fall, the carriers will install service at the remaining 27 underground stations by the fall of 2010. Customers will be able to use these carrier-provided wireless services in tunnels between stations by October 2012.”

For a complete list of stations that will receive expanded cell phone coverage in October, check out the press release. As an AT&T customer, I’ll be very happy to soon have the ability to send text messages while waiting on the metro platform, since I’m a texting addict!

Waterfront Station Progress Photos

On Friday afternoon, I took a stroll around the neighborhood and snapped some photos of several construction projects in the area, including Waterfront Station. As you can see from the photo at the top of this post, the terracotta facade is now being installed on the West Tower. Below are some more photos I took of the project from different vantage points.

(Left) Here is a view of the two office towers, with the Waterfront-SEU Metro station entrance in the middle, as seen from M Street looking northwest.

(Right) The East Tower hasn't received the terracotta facade treatment yet. This is the building where the new Safeway will be located and will deliver a couple months after the West Tower.

(Left) This shows the 4th Street right-of-way looking south from I Street. Demo crews removed most of the remaining park space that connected I Street with the plaza at Waterside Mall.

(Right) You can more clearly see in this photo looking eastward how most of the park area has now been cleared away. Only part of a brick wall, guard rail, and street lights have yet to be removed.

Metro Entrance at Constitution Center Reopens

As I was driving along D Street this afternoon, I noticed the L'Enfant Plaza Metro entrance in the courtyard of Constitution Center between 7th & 6th Street has been reopened. The Metro entrance has been closed since the renovation began at the former DOT heaquarters in 2007. Constitution Center is supposed to be complete by 2010.

Bus Depot Coming to L'Enfant Plaza

According to this article from the Examiner, DDOT will establish a depot for low-cost private bus companies such as BoltBus, DC2NY, and the Chinatown buses that currently pick up and drop off passengers at different spots around downtown DC to a site at L'Enfant Plaza. A soon-to-be launched 1-year pilot program will require buses to queue just south of the intersection of 10th Street & D Street, a covered area below L'Enfant Promenade. By locating these buses away from busy streets near Chinatown and Dupont Circle, DDOT hopes to eliminate a safety hazard and bring more organization to intercity bus service. L'Enfant Plaza is connected to four Metro lines (the Red Line doesn't go to L'Enfant) and is proximate to I-395 and I-295. The 5A Metrobus currently takes passengers from the L'Enfant Plaza Metro to Dulles International Airport. This pilot program may be a prelude to the inter modal facility that DDOT wants to create at L'Enfant Promenade and Banneker Overlook to better connect the National Mall to the Southwest Waterfront.