Bethesda Metro station escalator repair, controlled blasting

WMATA is making "minor" repairs to the oft-broken escalator between the plaza and bus bays at the Bethesda Metro station. In related news, there is expected to be controlled blasting near the Metro station for the Purple Line light rail project between now and the end of the year.

When blasting occurs, Metro trains will be held outside the station for several minutes. Passengers inside the station will be directed to exit by personnel, and then re-enter following the detonation. WMATA says to "expect loud noises during this time."

One caveat to all of this, is that the Purple Line contractor has said it will abandon the light rail project in the middle of construction as of today, June 20, unless they are compensated for cost overruns. Stay tuned.

Bethesda Metro escalators: Oh, no, not again!

I am shocked...shocked!...to report that some of the same escalators are out of service again at Bethesda Metro Center. The plaza-to-bus-bays escalator has been closed early this week for what WMATA calls a "major repair." WMATA also reports that a bus bays-to-mezzanine escalator will be out of service for at least part of today for an "inspection repair."

Riders have fled the system for their own personal vehicles or Uber, and only those who get free rides from the government or other employers are returning. The Washington Post has hilariously published recent editorials acknowledging that Metro is still terrible, and demanding that someone devise a way to force people to use it anyway. "Someone figure out how to keep those darn stagecoaches in business!" Good luck!

Breakdown! Oft-broken Bethesda Metro escalator offline again (Photos)

The plaza-to-bus bays escalator so often out of commission was back offline again during the evening rush hour last night...just weeks after being repaired yet again. It was functioning as a very expensive staircase. This breakdown appropriately came on a day in which the Washington Post revealed that WMATA inspectors not only falsify reports, but have gone as far as using old photographs to fool those reading their false reports. Sad!

Metro's surge and SafeTrack efforts have utterly failed to improve conditions in the system. Is there any truth to the rumor they are changing one word of their latest motto, so it will now be "Back 2 Bad?" Pay a new sales tax for this? Hell, no!

WMATA misses another escalator deadline at Bethesda Metro station (Photos)

WMATA promised the extremely-behind-schedule repair of the plaza-to-bus bays escalator at the Bethesda Metro station would be completed this week, and that it would be back in service yesterday. Wrong. The escalator was out of service Friday.

“SafeTrack has been very successful in terms
 of safety performance, work completed,
and schedule achieved.” - WMATA

Metro has been blasted by riders now that the final results are in for the "surge" and "Safe Track" efforts, and they have been an utter failure. They didn't even fix the water leaks at Bethesda, and are going to start another Safe Track-style extended station closure scheme this month to "try" to fix it. In fact, the end of Safe Track brought a complete meltdown on the Red Line this week. As I told you all along, Safe Track was nothing more than a way for Metro to save money by not running trains, while "looking busy." This from the transit agency that can't even get automatic train control operational with eight years to fix it. Eight years!

"This is an enormous achievement."
- Metro Board member Jack Evans

Forgive me for having a few chuckles while listening to our inept Montgomery County Council give equally inept Metro boss Paul Wiedefeld a "Heckuva job, Brownie!" warm welcome in Rockville this week. Perhaps in their shared incompetence, they find P.W. a kindred spirit of sorts. It's a match, folks.

There's also some new art in the Bethesda Metro station, and I have to say, I don't like it. I tried to contain myself when the first mural was done around the upper rim of the bus bays. But it basically looks like someone vandalized the station. It would be fine in a different context on its own, but it just doesn't fit with the Metro architecture. When you think of the great artistic triumphs of Greece and the Roman Empire, and then consider public art in downtown Bethesda...Good God, what's happened to
us? We need someone to Make Public Art Great Again!

"The remainder of the system
is in good shape."
- Paul Wiedefeld

“We’ll see a continuation of the
improvement of our infrastructure."
- Joe Leader, Metro COO

Troubled Bethesda Metro escalator misses yet another repair deadline as WMATA fails to show result for surge (Photos)

The plaza-to-bus bays escalator at the Bethesda Metro station has missed yet another repair deadline. WMATA had promised the frequently-broken escalator would be back in service by May 24. Oops, today is June 1. Now Metro says it will be repaired by Sunday, June 4.

Right.

Give these crooks $15 billion
more? HELL, NO!

Commuters this week may chuckle or curse when reminded of bumbling Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld's March 22 comment on escalators at the busy Bethesda station:

"Today, our escalators are the most reliable they've been in six years and an example of the investments we are making to improve service for customers."

Now Wiedefeld is asking for $15 billion more, with no new financial oversight to ensure it isn't just flushed down the WMATA toilet like all the money we've given them up until now. Please.

The "surge," "SafeTrack," and rider-gouging fare hikes have all failed to show any results in safety, reliability, or customer service. They couldn't even restore automatic train operation, after years to work on it. Until there is an independent financial control board in place, Maryland's response to any request for new taxes or funding should be, "Hell, no!"

Plaza-to-bus bays escalator out at Bethesda Metro station (Photos)

Oh, no, not again! "Give us $15 billion more" WMATA can't even keep the often-repaired escalator between street level and the bus bays at the Bethesda Metro center operating. Metro says the escalator is expected to be back in service by Wednesday.

Long-delayed Friendship Heights Metro escalator now scheduled to reopen July 8 (Photos)

Metro's Safe Track project is getting all the attention these days, but one project that's dragged on since February 2014 at the Friendship Heights station may be near completion. The escalator installed between the bus bays and underground landing level in 1984 is being modernized. WMATA is now saying the finished product will open July 8.

Of course, they previously said it would reopen on July 19, 2014. And October 31, 2014. And November 2014. And October 2015. And December 22, 2015.

But I can report that there is indeed a new-looking escalator behind the wall there now, even though there are still signs of work being done around it. You can see some of the gleaming metal evidence in the photos here.

Friendship Heights Metro escalator reopening delayed - again! (Photos) #WMATA #DC

Is anybody believing WMATA apologist Dr. Gridlock's prediction that this year will be the one Metro turns it around? Not if they needed to ride a subway or bus earlier this week after the storm. And certainly not if they use the Friendship Heights Metro station.

The Western Avenue/Wisconsin Circle bus bays-to-middle-landing escalator at the station has been out of service for literally years now, during the world's longest modernization project. It was originally scheduled to reopen on July 19, 2014.

That date came and went. So did another. And another. And...well, you get the picture.

Now we have another postponement. And other another date.

July 2016. A full two years after the original reopening date.

Place your bets.

New Bethesda Metro escalator opening today (Photo)

You got a sneak preview of the newly-installed escalator at the Bethesda Metro station the other day. But today, you get to actually ride it. WMATA says the new escalator will open to the public this morning.

“We are excited to mark this milestone with the replacement of the first of the three long escalators at Bethesda,” prominent Bethesda realtor Jane Fairweather said in a statement Sunday. Fairweather, who also serves as chair of The Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce’s Metro Improvement Task Force, added that "We look forward to the improved reliability that local residents, employees, visitors, tourists and all users of the Bethesda Metro station will experience as they enter and exit the station."

Contractor KONE has two more escalators to go before the $8.4 million project is complete at the station. "This is a significant improvement for our customers at Bethesda Station," said Metro Interim General Manager and CEO Jack Requa. "This first new entrance escalator will provide more reliable service for the thousands of passengers who travel through the station each day."

A chance to ride a working escalator at the Bethesda Metro station - an exciting day indeed.

BUS BAY ESCALATOR UNDER " MAJOR REPAIR " AT BETHESDA METRO STATION (PHOTOS) #WMATA

That problematic escalator between the street level and bus bays at the Bethesda Metro station is acting up again, earning itself a "major repair" from Metro. Currently shut down as of this writing, the escalator is forecast to reopen tomorrow, in time for Election Day. Stay tuned!

MULTIPLE ESCALATOR OUTAGES AT BETHESDA METRO STATION (PHOTOS) #WMATA #DC

All down escalators were out of service early this evening at the Bethesda Metro station. Commuters were walking down the escalators. To boot, the now-infamous escalator between the Bethesda Metro Center plaza and bus bays was offline, as well.

According to WMATA, that surface escalator will be out until April 5. The surface-to-mezzanine escalator outage is estimated to be fixed by April 4.

In short, it's a mess at Bethesda Metro, as usual.

One technician on the
job tonight in Bethesda

Promoting better health
through walking at
Bethesda Metro Center

BETHESDA METRO PLATFORM ESCALATOR MISSES REPAIR DEADLINE

The escalator between the mezzanine level and the train platform at the Bethesda Metro station isn't going to be back in service on time this month. Like the plaza-to-bus bays escalator above the surface - that missed many deadlines before returning to service - it has a new project completion date. According to WMATA, it will be back in operation on April 21. The escalator is receiving a modernization overhaul.

THAT ESCALATOR AT BETHESDA METRO CENTER! (PHOTOS) #WMATA #DC

Working Friday. Not working Saturday. Working again Sunday, as you can see in these photos. The plaza-to-bus bays escalator at Bethesda Metro Center keeps things interesting for transit riders, just part of the entertainment value you get for your rising fares.

While there's nothing unusual about an escalator outage in the Metro system, this one is notable for having been undergoing maintenance for several weeks. Which you would have expected to fix any problems. I heard over the weekend that Maryland, DC and Virginia leaders agreed to increase funding for Metro. What I did not hear, is whether any of those leaders used the leverage of funding to force WMATA's leadership to change. If that's the case, what a missed opportunity, to the detriment of riders regionwide.

BETHESDA METRO CENTER ESCALATOR NOT WORKING AGAIN (PHOTO)

The saga continues. After the escalator between the Bethesda Metro Center plaza and bus bays resumed operation last week, things appeared to be back to normal. But now it is frozen again. It was accessible as a staircase yesterday, but not functioning otherwise.

BETHESDA METRO CENTER ESCALATOR WORKING AT LAST (PHOTOS) #WMATA #DC

The long-delayed reopening of the escalator connecting the plaza with the bus bays at Bethesda Metro Center has finally happened - and it actually moves this time! These intrepid commuters put it to work: