Aging escalators at the Dupont Circle and Foggy Bottom Metro stops are on track to be replaced as part of the $177 million Red Line rehabilitation project, which has left some riders praising the long-sought replacements and others questioning the timing.
The project is moving forward just weeks after the deadly June 22 crash that killed nine and injured more than 70. But Metro has called those two escalators among the “least reliable” of its 588 escalators. The agency has been repairing and rehabilitating them constantly, plagued with aging equipment made by manufacturers no longer in business. Replacing the escalators could create a long-term solution.
Rider Karen Brown of Van Ness said she would like to see the escalators at the south Dupont Circle exit replaced. The nearly two-minute ride is slow and sometimes jerky. Often the escalators are stopped, leaving riders to trudge up them like stairs.
“At least one of them is down every day,” she said. “I’ll be glad, but the delays will be tough.”
John Wells and Sarah Monke, who live in the District, disagreed. They said they wondered whether slow escalators should be Metro’s focus after the crash that has prompted calls for replacing some 290 rail cars deemed not “crashworthy.”
“There are a lot of old cars — shouldn’t they replace those?” Wells said. “Should this really be their highest priority?”
Monke agreed, saying the escalators should be replaced only if they are unsafe. In addition, the two said they wouldn’t mind walking up a stopped escalator or stairs, even though the escalators are notoriously long and steep.
Some Metro officials have voiced concern about spending money now on the project when they don’t know how much repairs and safety measures will cost from the June 22 crash.
“We’re shooting our shot here and it better be well aimed,” said Metro Chairman Jim Graham, a D.C. councilman whose district includes Dupont Circle.
Yet General Manager John Catoe told board members last week the transit system cannot wait to fix its aging infrastructure. “We may get so far behind we may never catch up,” he said.
Replacing the Dupont escalator would cost $11 million more than the $1.4 million budgeted to rehabilitate it, according to Metro. Replacing the Foggy Bottom escalator and adding stairs and a canopy will cost $8 million. The rest of the $177 million proposal would upgrade electrical equipment, replace crumbling platforms and some track along the Red Line.
Metro’s Finance, Administration and Oversight Committee approved the contract last week, and escalator replacements will take place if the board approves it later this month.
