Photo by David Bardin.

The west entrance to the Van Ness Metro station was supposed to start a three-year closure for escalator repairs today. But after pushback from nearby residents and DDOT, the project is on hold.

“I am putting WMATA on notice that all public space permits are suspended until further notice,” DDOT’s Matthew Marcou said. He spoke in response to an audience member’s question at a community meeting on Thursday, which ANC 3F Commissioner Mary Beth Ray organized.

Marcou, who chairs the DDOT committee that oversees permits to use public space for construction staging and other work, went on to explain that this means no trucks can bring any supplies or equipment to the site.

It’s not clear how long DDOT can hold up the work. ANC 3F has asked Metro’s interim general manager for a delay until the closed sidewalk at the Park Van Ness site reopens at the end of this year. Marcou is no stranger to the community or that project. He, along with ANC 3F and developer Saul Centers, hammered out the traffic safety control plans that have closed the Park Van Ness construction site to pedestrians since late 2013.

DDOT hasn’t had a chance to plan for the entrance being closed

During a community meeting with DC’s Office of Planning last Tuesday, DDOT’s Ward 3 transportation planner, Ted Van Houten, revealed that DDOT wasn’t notified of WMATA’s plans until April 21st, the same day as the general public. Further, at that point WMATA had not set up any meetings with DDOT to discuss the Van Ness station entrance being closed. At that same meeting, Council member Mary Cheh said she would be talking to WMATA and DDOT, and specifically asking DDOT about the possibility of a temporary sidewalk at the Park Van Ness site.

Because closing the Metro entrance will add more stress to this heavily-traveled stretch of Connecticut Avenue, Marcou explained at the meeting that all options for relief are on the table. Community members’ suggestions, which came in via written comments and questions, included:

  • Increasing crossing times for pedestrians at Windom Place and Veazey Terrace.

  • Marking a crosswalk on the south side of Windom

  • Installing a Barnes Dance crossing which stops cars coming from all directions so pedestrians can all cross at once.

  • A temporary sidewalk at Park Van Ness

    • The repairs at Van Ness will require a multi-step process

    WMATA sent Cedric Watson, its head engineer of escalators and elevators, to the meeting to explain the escalator replacement process. He gave a presentation and answered questions from ANC 3F commissioners.

    Watson stated repeatedly that WMATA had notified the community about the work at an ANC meeting about 18 months ago, when a representative spoke about a five-month closure of the east entrance at Van Ness that was also for replacing escalators. At the meeting’s end, however, Watson acknowledged that ANC 3F had not been given a date for the west entrance project.

    He explained that the Van Ness station has certain constraints that are going to keep it closed for a long time. Removing the escalator at the entrance will create a chute through which workers will drop sections of three longer escalators, some of the longest in the Metro system, down tot he mezzanine level. Also, a lot of the work can only happen at night, while the station is closed. Finally, there’s electrical work to do and structural upgrades to make since the escalators have been there since the station opened almost 35 years ago.

    Steve Strauss, DDOT’s Deputy Director of Progressive Transportation, asked whether closing the station over the weekends would have a significant impact on shortening this time frame. There wasn’t a clear answer, but the question appeared to warrant further discussion.

    ANC Commissioner Sally Gresham asked whether the entrance stairway could remain open. Watson said that might be possible if it remains structurally sound.

    Van Ness is only the first of a number of stations that need escalator repairs

    Asked about delaying the project for eight months, Watson said that would affect the timetable for the contractor, which will tackle the Cleveland Park escalators after this project is complete. He said an entrance will close for three years at that station as well. Medical Center, Woodley Park and Friendship Heights are other Red Line stations due for escalator replacements.

    Watson also said the decision about whether to delay the project or move forward with it ultimately rests with Jack Requa, the interim general manager at WMATA.

    3F Commissioner Malachy Nugent captured the frustration and anger at the meeting, stating that WMATA made working with its contractor a higher priority than getting input from the community. He warned that an injunction was not out of the question. This got resounding applause from the audience.

    It was clear that WMATA did not fully consider how closing a Van Ness station entrance would affect the community. But after the community meeting, the tone changed. DDOT’s Marcou and WMATA’s Watson met on Friday. And Ann Chisholm, WMATA’s head of government relations, told me that Metro needs to do a better job of outreach.

    To see Metro’s advisory addressing questions about the work itself, see wmata.com/vanness.

    This post originally appeared on Forest Hills Connection.