The Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center, right, at the nadir of its delays. Photograph by Flickr user Elvert Barnes.
In March 2006, the Montgomery County government revealed plans to add a three-floor transit center to the Silver Spring Metro station by mid-2009. Now, after nearly a decade of design and construction problems, it’s finally set to open on Sunday.
Metro promises the structure—officially named the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center in honor of the longest-serving senator in Maryland history—will contain more than 30 bus bays for Metrobus, Montgomery County Ride-On, VanGo, and the University of Maryland’s shuttle. It will also include amenities like real-time bus-scheduling information, public restrooms, water fountains, and enhanced neighborhood map displays.
But the pledge of decluttered vehicle lanes and clean, accessible toilets has proved difficult to deliver, thanks to myriad issues spanning from deficient building designs to recurring mistakes with pouring, solidifying, and inspecting the site’s concrete. The nightmarish string of setbacks culminated in a $166 million lawsuit filed last month by Montgomery County and WMATA against the project’s designer, general contractor, and inspection firm for “negligence” and “breach of contract.”
After years of bungling the project, though, all hands seem to be on deck for Sunday’s opening.
“We can state with convince that it’s safe, durable and meets the original objective of the project from way back in 2009,” says David Dise, the director of Montgomery County’s Department of General Services. “The fact that it took us a while to get here is a testament to the thoroughness we applied once we discovered things had been done wrong.”
As we wait for something else to go awry before Sunday, here is a timeline of the problems that have plagued the transit center so far.
A Timeline of Failure for the Silver Spring Transit Center
In March 2006, the Montgomery County government revealed plans to add a three-floor transit center to the Silver Spring Metro station by mid-2009. Now, after nearly a decade of design and construction problems, it’s finally set to open on Sunday.
Metro promises the structure—officially named the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center in honor of the longest-serving senator in Maryland history—will contain more than 30 bus bays for Metrobus, Montgomery County Ride-On, VanGo, and the University of Maryland’s shuttle. It will also include amenities like real-time bus-scheduling information, public restrooms, water fountains, and enhanced neighborhood map displays.
But the pledge of decluttered vehicle lanes and clean, accessible toilets has proved difficult to deliver, thanks to myriad issues spanning from deficient building designs to recurring mistakes with pouring, solidifying, and inspecting the site’s concrete. The nightmarish string of setbacks culminated in a $166 million lawsuit filed last month by Montgomery County and WMATA against the project’s designer, general contractor, and inspection firm for “negligence” and “breach of contract.”
After years of bungling the project, though, all hands seem to be on deck for Sunday’s opening.
“We can state with convince that it’s safe, durable and meets the original objective of the project from way back in 2009,” says David Dise, the director of Montgomery County’s Department of General Services. “The fact that it took us a while to get here is a testament to the thoroughness we applied once we discovered things had been done wrong.”
As we wait for something else to go awry before Sunday, here is a timeline of the problems that have plagued the transit center so far.
This timeline was compiled thanks in part to detailed record keeping over at Action Committee For Transit’s website.
Most Popular in News & Politics
Cheryl Hines Suddenly Has a Lot to Say About RFK Jr. and MAGA
Most Powerful Women in Washington 2025
Shutdown Hits Two-Week Mark, House Speaker Feels Threatened by Naked Cyclists, and Big Balls’ Attackers Get Probation
Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People of 2025
Eduardo Peñalver Will Be Georgetown University’s 49th President
Washingtonian Magazine
October Issue: Most Powerful Women
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
Want to Live in a DC Firehouse?
DC Punk Explored in Three New History Books
The Local Group Fighting to Keep Virginia’s Space Shuttle
Alexandria’s “Fancy Pigeon” Has a New Home
More from News & Politics
Washington Spirit Playoffs: Everything You Need to Know
Some Feds Are Driving for Uber as Shutdown Grinds On, Congressman Claims Swastika Was Impossible to See on Flag, and Ikea Will Leave Pentagon City
Brittany Pettersen on Being a New Mom While in Congress
Organizers Say More Than 100,000 Expected for DC’s No Kings Protest Saturday
Democracy Melted in Front of the Capitol Yesterday
Judge Halts Shutdown Layoffs—for Now; Virginia AG Candidates Will Debate Tonight; Flying Ferry to Be Tested on Potomac
Eduardo Peñalver Will Be Georgetown University’s 49th President
Cheryl Hines Suddenly Has a Lot to Say About RFK Jr. and MAGA