Cost to Repair Silver Spring Transit Center Climbs Again

The price to make structural repairs to the embattled Silver Spring Transit Center, which must be fixed before it is safe to open, has climbed by another $21 million.

The Washington Post reports the project is now four years behind schedule and carries a $141 million pricetag, more than $50 million higher than initial estimates.

A memo from Montgomery County officials this summer said work is needed to strengthen beams, girders, pillars and cracked concrete for the center, News4Washington reports.

After several weeks of meetings among county leaders, Metro officials and contractors, the project designer and engineer agreed to a plan for the strengthening interior beams and girders, the Post says.

The $21 million added to the repair fund should be enough to complete the repairs by late April or early May, county officials tell the newspaper. That doesn’t mean the center will open then.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which will operate the center, has up to 60 days to inspect the facility once work is done and decide whether it is ready for use.

Earlier this year the ongoing repairs were a campaign issue in the Montgomery County race for county executive. Doug Duncan, a Democratic candidate for county executive, sent a letter to County Executive Isiah Leggett asking to him to fire the county’s general services director in charge of the project.

Duncan said someone must be held accountable for the “unmitigated disaster” of the Silver Spring Transit Center — a future hub for Metrorail, Metrobus, MARC trains and the proposed Purple Line, in downtown Silver Spring at Colesville Road and Wayne Avenue.

Leggett has repeatedly said the county will file suit against the contractors to recoup the additional costs.

Related stories:

• Flawed Silver Spring Transit Center Becomes County Executive Campaign Issue
• Latex-Concrete Mix May Fix Transit Center Flaws
• Transit Center Repairs Go Forward Despite County and WMATA Disagreements