Thursday, May 2, 2013
Council members: Post article was the first they heard of Metro's decision not to operate the center.
A communication breakdown over the Silver Spring Transit Center led to harsh words for Montgomery County officials by County Council members Wednesday. Of particular concern to council members was a letter the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority sent to the executive branch on April 12, stating the transit agency would not operate and maintain the transit center. (See the attached PDF for the full text of the letter.) Council members said they did not know of the letter before it was reported in The Washington Post on April 25. They demanded to know why the executive branch had not immediately shared the letter with the council. The executive branch intended to share the letter with the council, but wanted to first sort out the …
County officials: A remediation plan for the transit center should be ready in a month.
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 …
Friday, April 26, 2013
Letter addresses communication breakdown between Montgomery County Council and County Executive Isiah Leggett
The Montgomery County Council, surprised by news reports of Metro looking for a way out of its agreement regarding the Silver Spring Transit Center, sent a letter to County Executive Isiah Leggett Friday, asking him to appear before the council on Wednesday at 2 p.m. with an explanation. Haven't been following along? Get caught up on the Silver Spring Transit Center.
The Washington Post reports that Metro has told Montgomery County it will not operate the Silver Spring Transit Center because maintenance will be too costly.
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 …
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Doug Duncan, former county executive of Montgomery County, announced a transit hub for the area in 1997.
This year marks an uncomfortable milestone for the as-yet-unopened Silver Spring Transit Center: Plans for the transit hub turn 16 years old. 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 fixes should begin at the end of this summer. The Gazette newspaper archives feature a number of articles from the summer of 1997 when Doug Duncan, former Montgomery County executive, proposed a $20 million facility to better serve the Metrorail, MARC and Metrobus lines that fed into downtown Silver Spring. Action Committee for …
Monday, April 22, 2013
Stories on the Silver Spring radar this week.
Here's a quick look at what people are talking about in Silver Spring: “We Don’t Know If This Man Has Pictures of Our Children" Lawrence Joynes, a music teacher at New Hampshire Estates Elementary School in Silver Spring, was arrested in February and charged with possession of child pornography, Silver Spring Patch reported. Police said Joynes has other images, taken at the school, and parents are worried that their children may be in these pictures, The Washington Post reported. Read the full story at The Washington Post. A Train Station and a Trail The Washington Area Bicyclist Association has said that the nonprofit Montgomery Preservation, Inc. has been blocking progress on the Metropolitan Branch Trail because it would pass by a …
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
County officials will meet with the public about the Silver Spring Transit Center for the first time since a damning report was released last month.
While local lawmakers have requested regular updates on the progress of the $120 million Silver Spring Transit Center's fixes, members of the public have not been able to ask county officials questions about the still-unopened facility, deemed unsafe and unusable by an outside engineering firm. A public meeting with David Dise, director of general services for Montgomery County, will meet with four Silver Spring advisory groups Wednesday night and the public is invited. There will be time for questions. The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Silver Spring Civic Building. The four groups that will be represented are the Citizens Advisory Board, the Urban District Advisory Committee, the Transportation Management Advisory Committee and …
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
The Washington Post reports that Foulger-Pratt has been cozy with local leaders for decades.
Foulger-Pratt, general contractor for Montgomery County's unopened $120 million Silver Spring Transit Center, has deep ties to the community which, according to a feature in The Washington Post, may have been jeopardized by the facility's failure. Last month, an inspection 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 Transit Center was deemed unsafe and unusable with major repairs, which will begin at the end of this summer. The Post reported that since March's inspection, the Rockville-based builders seemed to be on the outside looking in on a county process they…
Thursday, April 11, 2013
After hearing remarks from David Dise, head of the county's general services department Tuesday, council members spoke to County Cable Montgomery.
Nearly a month after a disappointing report that the unopened Silver Spring Transit Center, now at about $120 million, was unsafe and unusable without major repairs, Montgomery County officials seem confident in the future of the transit hub. After hearing remarks from David Dise, head of the county's general services department Tuesday, council members spoke to County Cable Montgomery, the county's public cable station, about the remediation of the facility, which should begin at the end of this summer. "I think it's important to remember the council's responsibility, in terms of our oversight, is to ensure that this particular remediation takes place, that it takes place on time," said Council President Nancy Navarro (D-Dist 4), "and …
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
"The work needing to be done will be accomplished," a county official assured councilmembers.
David Dise, head of Montgomery County's General Services department, has advised the County Council that remediation of the much-delayed, $120 million Silver Spring Transit Center won't begin any sooner than late this summer. Dise wrote in an email to County Council President Nancy Navarro Friday that a schedule for when the fixes will be complete and the center will be open hasn't been established. Last month, an inspection 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. Contractors cited in the report have all denied faults in their work, The Washington Post …
Michael
9:50 pm on Sunday, May 5, 2013
if you think this is bad, wait to the county pursues the purple line, with union davis bacon, wage rates. a cost over run of 400% won't look so bad. more ›