WMATA is giving the Dupont Circle Metro station a makeover: Starting later this month, the transit agency will begin construction on a new canopy to cover the escalators at the north station entrance, where the lack of cover currently leaves riders exposed to the elements as they enter and exit the station.

The exposure can be annoying for riders who have to hoist umbrellas as they stand on the escalator on rainy days, particularly considering it’s the system’s sixth-longest escalator. But it’s particularly bad for the escalators, which suffer damage from the rain and snow. The north entrance has had this problem since Metro opened the station in 1977, according to a press release from the transit agency.

Additionally, new regulations require that any new escalators built on the system be protected from the elements. So with the new covering, Metro will be able to replace the escalators at the north entrance “when they reach the end of their useful current service life.”

Canopies weren’t originally in the design plans for Metro stations, the agency says, but after decades of repeated exposure to bad weather, some escalators started suffering from “reliability changes.” In 2003, the agency began installing canopies to prevent this problem.

The new canopy at Dupont Circle should be finished by early next year, according to WMATA.

But it will be a bit complicated to build—the north entrance to this station is is shaped oddly, and it’s also very large, Metro says. “The canopy structure will consist of 13 pre-fabricated steel frame modules, connected with bolted joints and supported by seven base brackets resting on the parapet wall,” the transit agency writes. “More than 200 individually framed glass panels will form an elliptical canopy 97 feet long by 82 feet wide. Multiple light fixtures will be integrated into the canopy to provide ambient lighting, highlighting the structure and illuminating the iconic Walt Whitman inscription on the parapet wall below.”

As the agency builds this gargantuan structure, the north entrance will remain open “with some modifications to pedestrian flow.” Bike racks and lockers will have to be relocated, and the agency will uproot some trees (and put them back after construction is done).