Leggett: I'm Prepared to Wait to Get Silver Spring Transit Center Right

Frustrated about delays in the Silver Spring Transit Center's opening? Join the club, says County Executive Isiah Leggett. 

"I'm frustrated too, but I’m frustrated for a number of good reasons," he told WTOP. Leggett told the radio station that he wants to be sure the center is safe. 

"We want to make sure we get that right because we’re talking about something that will go for the next 25, 30 years," Leggett continued. "So having to wait a few extra months in order to have to get that right—I'm prepared to do that."

Read more about the Silver Spring Transit Center. 

The executive proposed an additional $7.5 million to prevent further delays in the opening in his six-year capital spending plan, announced Jan. 16. 

Leggett said he's going to pursue compensation for the delays, but it's unclear from whom. 

"The county intends to seek reimbursement for project delay costs to the maximum extent allowed under the law," he wrote in his budget proposal. Leggett told WTOP he is going through "the legal question of who should pay for this."

Montgomery County officials said improperly poured concrete resulted in a higher-than-desired number of cracks in the three-tiered structure, a problem which will need to be fixed before the center can open. The center, which will converge taxis, Kiss and Ride cars and a network of buses near the Silver Spring Metro and MARC stations, is expected to open late this summer.