“Escalator replacement project will close L’Enfant Plaza north entrance for seven months”

photo by Beau Finley

From WMATA:

“Beginning Monday, May 9, Metro will close the north entrance at L’Enfant Plaza Station at Maryland Ave and Seventh St to replace the three entrance escalators. The entrance will remain closed for approximately seven months. The work is part of a seven-year, $179 million escalator replacement project to install 130 new escalators by 2028.

The project will replace the current escalators with brand-new ones that are more durable and reliable. Construction will require Metro’s contractor, Kone, to close the entrance to remove all three escalators at once and install a new support beam.

During this time, people will still be able to access the station from the two remaining entrances and elevator located at:

D St. between 6th St & 7th St SW
L’Enfant Plaza Mall Concourse, 9th St & D St SW
DOT Courtyard, 7th St & C St SW (Elevator)

Metro’s escalators are custom built to fit each entrance and cannot be purchased off the shelf. The three escalators at the north entrance are more than 39 years old and at the end of their useful life after last undergoing rehabilitation in 2001.

Once the north entrance is complete, Metro will begin work to replace the remaining six entrance escalators at L’Enfant Plaza. Construction is expected to take place from September 2023 – October 2025.

Metro’s latest escalator replacement project kicked off in May 2021 and will deliver brand new escalators to one-third of all Metro stations. The project builds on previous work from 2011-2019 that replaced 145 escalators, improved reliability and slashed the average age of escalators from 27 years to just 11.3 years.

Another 89 escalators throughout the system are also being rehabilitated to “like-new” condition under a separate contract, replacing all the major components such as motors, steps, handrails, and electrical systems. Overall, 517 of the system’s 618 escalators will be replaced or rehabilitated since the program began in 2011.”

In other metro news:

“Metro ridership is outpacing projections through the first three quarters of fiscal year 2022 by nearly 40 percent. Through March, ridership has exceeded the initial forecast by 28 million passenger trips as more people chose bus and rail for travel throughout the region. Metrobus leads the way, accounting for 60 percent of overall Metro ridership, compared to about 40 percent for rail.

People returning to offices, higher gas prices, the return of large-scale events, and robust tourism are driving the resurgence. Ridership more than doubled as of March. Parking usage has tripled over the same period.

“These numbers are encouraging and welcome news for our regional mobility and economy,” said Board Chair Paul C. Smedberg. “While the Board’s budget assumed conservative ridership forecasts in the interest of fiscal responsibility, we are delighted that people are returning to the system more often than expected.”

Following a slowdown in ridership recovery during the emergence of Covid variants, Metro ridership rebounded in March, boosted by businesses resuming in-person work, as well as visitors attending activities and events during cherry blossom season. Average weekday rail ridership peaked Tuesday through Thursday at 230,000 and bus at 280,000.

Ridership continued to trend up in April, reaching as high as 300,000 on Metrobus. During peak times the number of riders continued to climb, showing an uptick in SmartBenefits® usage. SmartBenefits users nearly tripled since January with a pandemic high of 66,000 riders.

“People returning to Metro reduces traffic, combats climate change, and delivers clients, customers and employees to federal workplaces and local businesses,” said General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Paul J. Wiedefeld. “As the region transitions out of the pandemic and our services continue to improve this summer, we expect more residents and visitors will choose Metro.”

The trend is positive news for Metro’s bottom line, improving the financial outlook for the fiscal year ending June 30. More riders also mean more revenue from advertisers looking to capitalize on Metro’s increasing customer base. Advertising revenue sold in the system has more than doubled and is $2 million ahead of last year’s budget. Revenue from advertising supports Metro operations.

While ridership is expected to remain below pre-Covid numbers as the region’s travel behaviors change, Metrobus has reached 61 percent of pre-pandemic ridership levels. The positive trends for bus and rail are expected to continue, as the Board-approved budget continues more frequent bus service through the next fiscal year and rail frequency improvements are anticipated in late summer with the restoration of the 7000-series railcars to the fleet.”