Friday, October 29, 2010

No Exit

The Examiner reports that although the Foggy Bottom metro station is the 8th busiest in the system and handles more passengers per day than Baltimore's light rail system, there are no plans to add a second extrance to the station.  Meanwhile, just across the water and one stop away on the blue/orange line, workers are installing a second entrance at the Rossyln station, which has less than half the daily use of Foggy Bottom.

Why?  Virginia and Rosslyn area developers are paying for the new entrance at Rosslyn.  The District and George Washington University, which is in the midst of a massive project just above the metro, are not.  Given GWU's ownership of such an immense area, its increases in student enrollment, its hospital patients, and its substantial development plans, I'm left wondering why it was not required to do invest in increasing the capacity and convenience of the station as a condition of approval of the project?

Any thoughts from Foggy Bottom / West End residents?  Is there a downside to promoting metro use in the neighborhood?

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