Metro plans to fix a section of Orange Line track that its says has become misaligned because of a nearby private development, with the damage forcing all trains that pass through to slow down for safety.
The Metro board of directors agreed Thursday to shift $9.7 million from other projects to repair the section of track near the Cheverly station in Prince George’s County that has become misaligned.
The transit service plans to force the developer to pay for the work. “We will recover our money from the developer through whatever means possible,” Metro General Manager John Catoe said.
Yet Paul Millstein, a spokesman for D.C. company Douglas Development Corp., told The Examiner: “We don’t feel anything we’ve done has created any of WMATA’s problems.”
Both sides say the dispute could end up in litigation.
Millstein said his company had a distribution warehouse in Cheverly that burned down near the tracks. The company tore down the building and has been clearing the site.
Metro says the stockpiling of materials there shifted the earth, putting pressure on the tracks at the base of the slope.
They say they noticed in December 2007 that the alignment of a section of tracks had shifted near Beaver Dam Creek, causing bolts to snap on the beams that hold an elevated portion of the tracks.
Transit agency photographs of the tracks show a slight shift in what should be a straight section of rail.
Since then, Metro says it has been monitoring the tracks and repeatedly adjusting the rail.
Now, all trains that pass through the section must slow down, traveling no more than 40 mph in a 55 mph zone, said Metro’s managing director of engineering, David Couch.
Metro officials asked Prince George’s County to intervene, but say the developer has not made repairs, so they decided to go ahead with their own plan.
Following Metro’s Thursday vote, Couch said, the agency could begin seeking a contractor immediately. The track work could take a few months, he said.
