Monday, April 8, 2013
The first report on remediation efforts for the Silver Spring Transit Center to be delivered Tuesday, April 10.
What's being done to fix the nearly $120 million Silver Spring Transit Center, Montgomery County's unsafe and unusable transit hub? County council members are expected to receive a briefing on remediation plans Tuesday, April 9 at 11 a.m. David Dise, head of the county's general services department, will present in the Council Office Building in Rockville. 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. Dise said at the time that there would be no immediate timeline for fixes because they were "far too complex." The Gazette newspaper …
Thursday, April 4, 2013
“The complexity and scale of this project requires an independent evaluation of the information we are being provided,” Ervin said in a statement.
In an attempt to get the Silver Spring Transit Center on track, Montgomery County Councilwomen Valerie Ervin (D-Dist 5), who represents Silver Spring, and Nancy Floreen, (D-At Large), asked that the county retain an independent industry expert to advise during the remediation of the facility. An independent inspection report completed by KCE Engineering revealed that the $112 million transit hub, years behind schedule and over-budget, was rife with inadequacies that left the building unsafe and unusable without major repairs. There is no current timeline for the completion. Ervin and Floreen voted Tuesday, along with the rest of the council, to plunk an additional $7.5 million into the center's budget, mainly going to retroactively pay …
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
The funds are in addition to the facility's $112 million price tag, the Gazette newspaper reports.
A request by Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett to add $7.5 million to the Silver Spring Transit Center's budget was approved Tuesday by the County Council, The Gazette newspaper reported. Most of the money will go to expenses already incurred, the newspaper said, and about $2.2 million will go towards delays. Leggett proposed the additional funds in January as an amendment to the 2013-2018 Capital Improvements Program to "cover site improvement, utilities and construction costs required to prevent further opening delays," Patch reported. The Transit Center, a hub for buses, taxis and Kiss and Ride cars next to the Silver Spring Metro and Marc stations, is almost three years behind schedule and over budget with the total cost at $…
Monday, April 1, 2013
Montgomery County Council President Nancy Navarro and Coucilmember Roger Berliner sent a letter to County Executive Isiah Leggett's office Monday.
After an independent inspection report revealed severe problems with the $112 million Silver Spring Transit Center, rendering the facility unusable and unsafe without potentially timely repairs, two members of the Montgomery County Council are asking for a more hands-on approach to overseeing the project. Council President Nancy Navarro and Councilman Roger Berliner (D-Dist 1), who leads the Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy, and Environment Committee, sent a memo to County Executive Isiah Leggett Monday requesting "regular briefings" on the progress of the Transit Center. "These briefings will help the Council keep the public informed and ensure public accountability for the project moving forward," Navarro and Berliner wrote. "…
In various letters to the editors of The Washington Post, people living in Silver Spring held differing opinions about the transit project.
Indefinite delays in the opening of the $112 million Silver Spring Transit Center were met with differing opinions by readers of The Washington Post who wrote into the editors of the newspaper. James Mallos of Silver Spring wrote a letter to the editor titled "Dump the Silver Spring Transit Center," that he was glad the Transit Center is delayed. He worte: Silver Spring has been looking more like a city lately, even a little glamorous in a twilight rush hour. Part of the reason is the integration of bus riders with the fabric of the city. For five beautiful years, bus riders have been dropped off closer to Silver Spring’s business center, and they have been waiting for buses in front of businesses and restaurants, just as they would in …
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
The Silver Spring Transit Center won't open until a lengthy list of repairs are complete, county officials said last week.
The cost of the litany of fixes required to make the Silver Spring Transit Center safe and operable won't be billed to Montgomery County taxpayers, County Executive Isiah Leggett promised, WAMU 88.5 reports. "We will pursue every legal and administrative remedy that we think is available, so that we make certain that the county taxpayers do not foot this bill for the additional costs that may have to be born as a result of remediation," Leggett told the radio station, which is Washington, DC's NPR affiliate. 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 public transit facility. KCE Engineering found improperly poured concrete, …
Saturday, March 23, 2013
A spokesman for Metro said the transit authority has the right not to accept the center if it isn't up to their standards, the Washington Post reports.
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 …
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
A much-anticipated report on construction issues with the transit center found safety concerns that will delay the opening.
The Silver Spring Transit Center is an "unusable facility" due to structural issues that have rendered it unsafe, John Markovs, deputy attorney for Montgomery County, told the County Council on Tuesday in Rockville. The transit center's opening will be delayed yet again and the county appears headed for litigation against the contractors building the project, county officials said. Markovs and David Dise, director of the county's Department of General Services, briefed council members on an outside engineering firm's report on problems with the $112 million transit center, which was supposed to open this fall after years of delays. County officials hired KCE Engineering to conduct a full inspection of the three-tiered structure after the …
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Wednesday, March 13, 2013
An outside consulting firm's report on structural problems was delayed four months.
A much-anticipated report on what may be wrong with the Silver Spring Transit Center is expected to be presented at next week's Montgomery County Council meeting, Councilman Roger Berliner (D-Dist 1) told Patch. Originally due in January, the analysis from KCE Engineering, a third-party firm, was reportedly delayed when unexpected structural issues were unearthed. The $112 million transit center, a future hub for buses, taxis and Kiss and Ride cars next to the Silver Spring Metro and Marc stations, was scheduled to open late this summer after more than two years of delays. County officials alleged that the concrete was not poured properly, resulting in a "higher than expected occurrence of cracking" in the three-tier structure. A full …
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
'We are talking about a number of things that weren't done the way they should have been done in the first instance,' Councilman Roger Berliner told NBC4.
Structural issues with the Silver Spring Transit Center may extend beyond the thickness of concrete, Montgomery County Councilman Roger Berliner told NBC4 Monday. More than two years delayed and $80 million over budget, the $112 million project has not opened because county officials alleged that the concrete was not poured properly—a charge the project's builder denies. "There are more issues unfortunately than just the thickness of the concrete. We are talking about pillars," Berliner, chairman of the council's committee on transportation, infrastructure, energy and environment, told NBC4. "We are talking about a number of things that weren't done the way they should have been done in the first instance." Read more about the Silver …
Kim Cooke
8:23 am on Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Who was asleep at the switch? Certainly not the taxpayers and yet we are footing the bill. No support cables? Concrete not poured to specifications? If it weren't so infuriating it would be funny. more ›