Report: Metro Says It Will Not Operate Silver Spring Transit Center

Metro was supposed to be the one operating the Silver Spring Transit Center when it opened, as part of its regional transit system.

But now it's backing away from the deal, citing the "magnitude and severity" of the problems and delays associated with the transit complex, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

Montgomery County officials are not taking this move as a final decision by Metro, but rather as an opening round in negotiations, the Post reported.

Read more at The Washington Post.

The transit center was scheduled to finally open this summer after years of delays, but when inspectors found cracks in the facility's foundation that led to an independent review of the $120 million structure, it was deemed unsafe and unusable without major repairs. 

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

The report also cited inadequcies in the transit center's original design and in the contractual, periodic inspection of the facility. All three companies named in the report—Parsons Brinckerhoff, the center's designer; Foulger-Pratt, the general contractor and Robert B. Balter Company, the inspectors—denied the report's findings about their work.

The fixes should begin at the end of this summer, although county officials say they are working to accelerate this timeline. 

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