Report: Safety Problems Could Keep Metro from Accepting Silver Spring Transit Center

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has the right to not accept ownership of the Silver Spring Transit Center once complete, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. 

“If we’re not satisfied [with it] we won’t accept it,” Dan Stessel, chief spokesman for WMATA, told The Post. “If the facility is not safe or there are issues regarding its long-term maintainability, we have the right to not accept it.”

The transit authority intends to take ownership of the three-tiered transportation junction, which will create space for buses, taxis and parking near the Silver Spring Metro and Marc stations. 

A 100-page inspection report by an outside engineering firm, available online, was made public Tuesday, detailing a slew of problems with the $112 million facility. KCE Engineering found improperly poured concrete, poorly constructed columns and the absence of cabling to hold concrete pour strips together, ultimately calling the transit center unusable and unsafe without major repairs. 

Fixes to the facility will move forward, with no timeline for completion and indefinite delays to the opening, county officials said Tuesday.

Stessel told The Post that the transit authority may seek a plan that protects it from having to pay for any problems that may arise in the future. 

Patrick Lacefield, County Executive Isiah Leggett's spokesman, told the newspaper his office will talk to WMATA about its concerns.