Metro says it will not operate troubled Silver Spring hub

[marmar]

from the WaPo:



By Bill Turque and Dana Hedgpeth, Published: April 25


Metro has told Montgomery County it will not operate the Silver Spring Transit Center as planned because construction and design flaws plaguing the $120 million facility have made it too expensive to maintain.

Under the terms of a 2008 agreement, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is supposed to take control of the three-level bus-and-train hub from the county after completion. Metro would operate the center, which is adjacent to its Silver Spring station, as a part of its regional system.

The opening of the center is more than two years behind schedule because of concerns about the strength of the concrete and the adequacy of steel supports in some areas. WMATA has said several times that it would not accept the facility unless it was satisfied with the repairs, which are expected to get underway this summer. But A. Robert Troup, Metro’s deputy general manager of operations, told county officials in an April 12 letter that the building falls short of standards outlined by the agency in the agreement.

The issues are of a “magnitude and severity,” Troup said, that even if repaired “would unnecessarily place an inordinate maintenance burden onto WMATA.” ...........................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/metro-says-it-will-not-operate-troubled-silver-spring-hub/2013/04/25/7a3edfdc-addf-11e2-8bf6-e70cb6ae066e_story.html