Politics & Government
Metro Presents 10,000 Feet of Test Track, Two Structures
WMATA presents $88 million plans to lay 10,000 feet of test track and erect two structures by 2013.
On Tuesday, a small envoy of Metro managers presented the city council with a proposal to lay 10,000 feet of “test track” between the College Park and Greenbelt Metro stations.
The $88.3 million plans would also involve a new parking structure and two-story facility composed of maintenance bays and office space located on the rail yard found just north of the Capital Beltway and Greenbelt Metro Drive.
John Thompson, tasked with managing the project, said the proposed track is the “only place in the entire (Metro) system” that meets test-track criteria — 10,000 feet of above-ground rail, coupled with a slope from top to bottom that doesn’t exceed one percent.
Stretching from Paint Branch Creek to the Greenbelt Metro station, the 10,000 feet of steel would sit between Metro's existing track and the CSX rail, according to Thompson. Should the project materialize, Thompson said the track would help Metro replace some 300, 1000-series metro cars that date back to the 1970s.
These are the same railcars that crumpled under the pressure of a collision that killed nine Red Line riders in 2009.
Another 128 railcars would also be replaced under WMATA's 2012 plans, potentially cutting the process of testing out the new railcars in half, said Thompson.
The city council seemed lukewarm over the proposal, with some — including Patrick Wojahn (Dist. 1) and Denise Mitchell (Dist. 4) — wondering how the project would impact commuters and city residents.
“There’s going to be some disruptions in service, but the goal is to minimize that,” Thompson said. Noise may be a problem, too, he added, though construction would not involve latenight skies.
“We try to be as good as neighbors as we can.”
Meanwhile, Mayor Andrew Fellows wondered how visible the third, test track might be. Thompson said residents “probably” wouldn’t detect a difference.
Wojahn indicated that North College Park’s civic association would be interested in hearing more from WMATA over the project. Ditto Councilwoman Stephanie Stullich (Dist. 3), who said she would let her respective association know of the plans.
WMATA reps also estimated that the two-story facility would draw an additional 80 Metro employees to the area, and that the spring 2012 project would stretch about 15 months.
