(Photo by Elvert Barnes)

By WAMU’s Jordan Pascale

Metro is fixing the platform at Rhode Island Ave. station where settling has created a small gap between the train and platform. It’s no longer ADA-compliant in some places and Metro put stickers down to identify the safest boarding areas.

Now it’s time for the permanent fix.

Metro is shutting down the station for 45 days from July 21 to September 3 to fix concrete issues at the system’s oldest outdoor station, built in 1976. Years of weather exposure and salty de-icer has eroded the concrete over time.

In 2016, pieces of the concrete ceiling fell onto the platform twice within a week. No one was injured, but the station closed for emergency repairs.

Nearby Brookland station will also be closed.

Metro will use the shutdown to do major work on two switches in the Brentwood Rail Yard near Rhode Island Ave station, fix power cable and rail, fastener and tie replacement.

In stations, Metro will work on canopies, roofs, bus loops, upgrades, elevators, lighting and more.

Both stations saw 11,000 boardings on an average weekday in 2016, the latest data available. But the gap will disrupt service for five other stations north of Brookland, which see about 30,000 boardings on an average weekday.

The work was scheduled to begin after the MLB All-Star Game week. Metro likely wanted the entire system working for the game that brought in people from all over the country. It suspended disruptive track work the weekend before the game.

But the work will stretch into the school year, affecting 18 schools for the first 10 days of classes. Metro says it has worked with D.C. Public Schools to give students information and flyers with travel alternatives.

Metro decided to close the station entirely to speed up construction. Other rebuilt stations took up to three years to complete in phases.

Marcus Donovan, a rider who uses Rhode Island Ave., hasn’t quite found an easy route to work. And he says this 45-day project only makes his commute worse.

“It’s frustrating because I just stopped going to West Hyattsville because they took all their parking spots away, so I came here because it’s more convenient, now again I have to change my pattern to work.”

Other riders like Edan McAnney say shutting down stations every so often is necessary.

“It is an old system and you have to pay to upgrade it in order to keep it running. If it ends up my being safer on the Metro, it’s a good thing.”

Shuttle buses will bridge the gap from Fort Totten to NoMa/Gallaudet. Riders can also use the Green Line to get into downtown.

The District Department of Transportation is also putting temporary dedicated bus lanes on Rhode Island Avenue NE between North Capitol and 12th Streets NE to help speed bus travel downtown.

More disruptions continue this summer and fall with work on the Blue, Silver, Orange and Yellow lines.

The full-station closures will continue in coming years. Metro plans to rebuild platforms at 20 stations beginning next summer.

More:
How Metro Is Planning To Handle A 45-Day Partial Red Line Shutdown This Summer