It was a fairly small font mishap as far as font mishaps go, but that didn’t stop Metro watchers from noticing last month that the pylons at newly rebuilt Blue and Yellow line stations used a rather bolder font than usual.

The six stations will reopen on Monday, and the station names printed in Helvetica Black will remain in place for now, as first reported by Tom Roussey.

“Our focus is getting the stations open as quickly as possible as soon as they were safe for customers,” Metro spokesperson Ian Jannetta tells DCist. “This wasn’t an item that we were pushing to get done by the time the stations open, so we could focus on the critical items.”

Metro closed the Braddock Road, King Street – Old Town, Eisenhower Avenue, Huntington, Van Dorn Street, and Franconia-Springfield stations at the beginning of the summer to complete major platform projects (another 13 will be rebuilt over the next two years).

The contractor will replace the signs with the correct font (Helvetica Bold) at no cost to the transit agency before the project concludes this fall, according to Metro spokesperson Dan Stessel.

“New signs must be fabricated by the contractor, and that takes time. Of course, if this is the kind of thing we’re being asked about, we’re having a great day!” he tells DCist over email.

At the outset of the project, Metro said that it planned to reopen the stations on September 9, with possible additional work after that date, which is exactly what’s happening. Stessel notes that the stations are reopening “on the first date” that it is safe for customers, not necessarily when construction is completed.

“After all, that’s what everyone should expect, right? We’re not going to keep stations closed any longer than necessary,” he writes. “When customers return, they should expect to still see construction activity behind barricades, some screens might not yet [be] working, etc.”

Previously:
It’s The Last Weekend Of The Blue And Yellow Line Shutdown
Turns Out, Metro’s Contractors Got The Font Wrong At Rebuilt Station
Metro Is On Track To Reopen Six Stations Next Month