BETHESDA METRO

ELEVATORS

BACK IN BUDGET...

FOR NOW

Construction of new elevators at the Bethesda Metro Center has been in doubt since Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett excluded funding for them from his proposed CIP budget.

Yesterday, a county council committee restored the funding, which has the support of Council President Roger Berliner.

Now the issue will go to the full council.

The elevators, further south on Wisconsin Avenue from the existing Metro entrances, are planned to also provide access to the future Purple Line station under the road and Air Rights Building.

The Purple Line itself is currently unfunded, but continued escalator breakdowns at Bethesda have added a sense of urgency to the elevator project.

I expect that funding to be restored as well. But while we wait for the Purple Line, today's Red Line riders need a reliable and safe entrance.

These elevators would provide that. Failure to build them will continue to reduce Metro ridership while traffic is worse than ever in downtown Bethesda.