County: Metro Can't Back Out of Silver Spring Transit Center

A 2008 agreement between Montgomery County and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is legally binding and prevents the transit agency from backing out of plans for Metro to operate the beleaguered Silver Spring Transit Center once it opens, county officials said Wednesday.

Accelerating the schedule for fixing the transit center's structural problems depends in great part on WMATA's willingness to cooperate, county officials told the Montgomery County Council at a briefing on Wednesday.

WMATA does not appear ready to cooperate. In an April 12 letter to the county, the agency's deputy general manager of operations said Metro would not operate and maintain the transit center. The letter later said WMATA "would operate Metrobus service from the facility when the County advises the facility is ready to operate"—language county officials called confusing. (See the attached PDF for the full text of the letter.)

County Attorney Mark Hansen told the council the September 2008 memorandum of understanding between the county and WMATA is legally binding and WMATA cannot abandon the project.

Tim Firestine, the county's chief administrative officer, called the letter "pure legal posturing by WMATA." His words did little to allay council members' concerns about the latest in a series of problems associated with the transit center.

The center was scheduled to open this summer after years of delays. But inspectors found cracks in the facility's foundation. An independent review of the $120 million structure deemed it unsafe and unusable without major repairs. 

The review, by independent firm KCE Engineering, found issues with the center's concrete, girders, columns, support beams and—most disturbing to inspectors—an absence of support cabling on one level of the three-tiered facility.

Haven't been following along? Get caught up on the Silver Spring Transit Center. 

The council pressed the executive branch Wednesday about how soon the transit center could open.

David Dise, the director of the county's Department of General Services, said he couldn't give a definite schedule until a remediation plan is in place. A plan should be ready in a month, he said.

Dise described a "collaborative effort" between the county government, contractors and others to minimize design and review time and send the plan to the permitting stage as quickly as possible. The county hopes to begin repairs this summer.

WMATA has declined invitations to participate in the collaborative meetings, Dise said. According to the memorandum of understanding, the county must submit the remediation plan to WMATA, which then has 15 days to review and submit comments. A failure to comment results in approval, Dise said.

"None of this should be difficult," Dise said. "We simply need their attention."

WMATA was not represented at the council briefing.

The county is constructing the center, but WMATA is responsible for owning and operating the transit center once it's done, Dise said.

"I can finish it. I can't open it. That's their job," he said.

The next council briefing on the transit center is scheduled for June 18.