Now I have the story. According to the project's manager at Pepco, who was very helpful in providing information about the project, the utility is remodeling its substation at 5210 Wisconsin Avenue N.W. in Friendship Heights. As part of that, they are upgrading a segment of underground transmission line that leads into the substation from the parkway on one end, and from the 3600 block of Van Ness Street N.W. on the other end. To replace the segment, they must access the feeder lines at both locations.
The liquid nitrogen is being used to freeze fluid in the Pepco "pipes" so that they can be opened. This is not a one-nighter project. Work on the first feeder will continue until Christmas of this year. The second feeder project will run from March 2019 to the first week in June 2019.
Apparently, Pepco was not required to hold public meetings on the project. They do have a permit to perform the work, and according to Pepco, they have alerted the Maryland State Highway Administration and Montgomery County Department of Transportation.
However, there was no reference to the project in either of the two September email update newsletters MCDOT put out. Montgomery Parks officials said that, while they were aware of the project plans, they did not get a heads-up from Pepco, and said they would be sending staff out to the site after being contacted for this report. Pepco apparently did not hold a standard pre-project meeting with Montgomery Parks before starting the work, either.
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| Pepco's Harrison Street substation, which is connected to Little Falls Parkway by underground power lines. Who knew? |
9 comments:
Went thru there last night in the rain. Worst section of road in the area now made worse by this.
This is good reporting. Nicely done Mr. Dyer.
Remember how they dug up River Road from Little Falls into DC and then over to Wisconsin months ago? All part of the same thing.
Kudos to Dyer for actually contacting people and getting the full story. Keep it up!
"Pepco's Harrison Street Substation at 5210 Wisconsin N.W. was designated a historic landmark by the District last year. Built in 1940, it has an Art Moderne design to blend in with other commercial buildings that surround it."
Not "commercial buildings". It was streetcar barn that later became a bus garage. Have you ever actually been on that block?
10:37: If you bothered to click on the link to the article I referred to, you would find that Curbed DC stated what I said. Why would we believe an anonymous troll over Curbed DC?
In contrast, what you have described is a building surrounded by a Fed Ex Field-size car barn. LOL. 5210 was never surrounded 360 degrees by a giant car barn. There were other - duh! - commercial buildings around it in the neighborhood. Think about it.
Yes, I have been on that block, and every other block of Wisconsin in Northwest. Unlike you, I grew up here.
Odd that you did not include the second paragraph in Curbed DC's article:
"Despite succeeding in becoming a historic landmark, Founder and President of Greater Greater Washington David Alpert writes, 'Maybe some substations in the city should be designated, maybe not. This one especially just does not seem to be that significant.'"
"In contrast, what you have described is a building surrounded by a Fed Ex Field-size car barn. LOL. 5210 was never surrounded 360 degrees by a giant car barn."
I never said that the Western Car Barn/Western Garage (.75 acres) was any near the size of FedEx Field (200 acres).
I never said that it was "surrounded 360 degrees" by anything. That would be literally impossible for anything that fronts the street.
Stop trying to attribute stuff to others that nobody ever actually said.
#Dyer'sArmyOfStrawMen
There was a used car dealer on the north side of the substation, which was demolished in late 2015. But that building was built long after the substation. There is a small bank on the south side that might be, might not be described as "Art Modern". So yes, I do take issue with the description of the substation as being "surrounded by Art Moderne commercial buildings", whether by Dyer or by CurbedDC.
The bus garage certainly isn't "Fed Ex Field-size", but it occupies nearly 2/3 of the large block between Wisconsin Avenue, Harrison, Jennifer and 44th Streets NW.
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