It took the government eight months to build the Pentagon. Construction of the Empire State Building took just over 11 months. And it can take Metro just as long, if not longer, to fix a single escalator. The issue is nothing new to Metro riders, who regularly encounter escalators throughout the subway system blocked by barriers, forcing them to walk up and down adjacent escalators-turned-staircases for months on end.
An escalator between the mezzanine and platform at Farragut North station — one that normally carries riders up to the K Street exit fare gates — is among the repair jobs that has been regularly extended. The repairs were supposed to be done in March. That was delayed until April. It’s now expected to reopen in May.
“They just need to fix it quicker,” said Alex Kaplan, who’s been commuting to the station since February.
It’s been irritating and inconvenient to wait in the long lines that build up each morning as riders exit the trains and cram onto the one open escalator leading toward K Street, Kaplan said. It’s quicker to take the escalator toward L Street and double back around to avoid the crowd, he said.
The Farragut North escalator is a part of a larger Red Line rehabilitation project, a $175.5 million contract awarded to Mass Electric Construction Co. in September 2009. Metro officials would not say how much the escalator repair at Farragut North has cost, and calls to Mass Electric were not returned.
Escalators typically take three to four months to rehabilitate, according to Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel. A report released in February, however, concluded that Metro’s escalators have been breaking down more often and are taking longer to fix.
The Farragut North Station, which opened in 1976, is a part of Metro’s increasingly problematic aging infrastructure, which officials say has contributed to their additional repair woes.
“That’s one of our oldest stations in the rail system,” said Taubenkibel. “Sometimes when mechanics go in and start disassembling parts and pieces of equipment they may find things that need additional work.”
In the Farragut North case, a critical escalator component — one that ensures the proper alignment of the escalator steps — needed more attention than the contractor anticipated, Taubenkibel said.
The problem is not limited to one station, however. On Thursday, Metro reported 92 escalators out of the 588 in the system were under repair.
At Farragut North, riders such as Rebecca Webber are tired of the waiting game. Webber, who had a cast removed from her foot about a week ago, arrives in the station every other day on her way to physical therapy. While she works to rehabilitate her foot, walking up the 20 steps of stationary escalator stairs isn’t an option.
“It’s terribly inconvenient for me,” Webber said. “I’m still going to have to walk around here every other day. … I just didn’t know it was this bad.”
