Metro’s hexagon tiles out, printed concrete blocks in
By: Kytja Weir
Examiner Staff Writer
June 2, 2009
Bid goodbye to the slick floor tiles at almost half of Metrorail stations, the same terra-cotta-colored hexagons that have caused consternation for commuters.
Changing Metro’s design
Metro is lauded and known for the uniform and clean design of its rail system. But the transit agency has modified some aspects of station platforms from the original designs created more than three decades ago.
» It installed “bumpy tile” along the boarding edge of the platform to help blind passengers feel the edge.
» The agency also is replacing the white lights at the edge of platforms with red lights to help warn passengers of approaching trains.
The transit agency said Monday that it planned to replace some of the tiles that have lined its Metrorail station floors since the system opened in 1976 with 2-foot-by-2-foot precast concrete tiles. The new tiles promise to be more durable and safer.
“They aren’t as slick as the original tiles in the system,” Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said. “People are able to have better traction and footing.”
For traditionalists, the change may be jarring. But the iconic hexagon shape will remain in some respects. The new tiles will have that shape imprinted as a repeating pattern on the large rectangles. Their color is also similar to the current burnt orange.
Metro officials say they are switching tiles because the original style breaks frequently. “The typical life expectancy of the current tiles is about five years before we have to make repairs, or replacements,” Taubenkibel wrote in an e-mail. “This is due to being exposed to weather elements, temperature changes, expanding and contracting.”
The existing tile, with its unglazed surface, also has a relatively smooth surface that becomes slick when wet. The agency declined to say how many slip-and-fall lawsuits the system has faced from slippery floors.
By comparison, the new tiles have the rough texture of concrete. Metro tested them from December to April at the Takoma station, Taubenkibel said. “These tiles held up remarkably well during the winter months,” he said.
But Metro doesn’t plan to replace the tiles at all stations, or even along the entire platform. Instead, the transit agency plans to swap out the tiles along the uncovered area of the train platforms at the 39 above-ground stations, Taubenkibel said.
That means station entrances at underground stops and the areas under canopies at outdoor stations still will become slick when riders track in rain.
Metro officials estimate it will cost $1.2 million to $1.5 million to redo each station platform. The pilot cost $300,000. However, Taubenkibel said the agency believed the new tiles would require less maintenance and eventually less money. “It will actually help us in the long run,” he said.
Metro officials haven’t decided which stations will be upgraded first, he said. But work is slated to begin in the fall.
