November 20, 2008

What A Way To Run A Railroad

So last night and this morning only one escalator (out of three) was working at the Foggy Bottom Metro stop, meaning apart from the elevator, thousands of commuters had no other option but to walk in/out single-file. This meant a massive line several blocks long waiting to get in last night, and a giant crowd between the turnstiles and the escalators this morning waiting to get out (gawd help us if an emergency occurred). Last night, I took one look at the lines and decided to go to the next stop at Farragut North.

The three escalators at Foggy Bottom have been slowly (and I do mean slowly) refurbished over a period of several months. Ideally, one escalator would be replaced while two would function (one moving in peak direction, the other kept non-moving). But on several occasions the one escalator would be moving in the opposite direction, or both would be stopped, or the traffic on the two escalators would be so increased that we had a situation like today, where one of the two would break down. The worst case happened a few months ago, when all three escalators were broken and the station had to be temporarily closed.

If only the original system planners had foreseen that Foggy Bottom would be one of the most busy downtown stations that isn't a transfer point; with the various government organizations, non-profits, and GWU in the area, the designers could've added a second entrance on 22nd and I. With the giant construction project across from the hospital underway, I wonder how difficult/costly it would be to construct a new entrance as part of the building.

In the meantime, I'll go to Dupont Circle instead. Not much longer of a walk.

Ugh. Still, marginally less costly/troublesome than driving. For now.

3 comments:

Scoopernicus said...

Look at the stair climb as a chance to get some exercise!

John said...

I would, if I had any wind left after standing in the crush of people in the mezzanine waiting to get to the stairs...

Scoopernicus said...

Ok, so you can improve your boxing skills too.