Dod security limits use of elevator from Metrorail station into Pentagon

Elevator use limited to employees with disabilities, medical conditions

Only Pentagon employees with disabilities or medical conditions will have permission to use the elevator that operates from the Pentagon Metrorail station's mezzanine directly into the Pentagon starting today as the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is limiting access to the building via the elevator. Use of that elevator is regulated and monitored by the DoD's division of Defense Protective Services, not by Metrorail officials.

Prior to September 11, Pentagon employees and visitors used to be able to access the building via escalators and an elevator that carried them from the Metrorail station's mezzanine directly into the building without going through a thorough security check. Since September 11, the escalator entrance into the Pentagon has been removed and the elevator remains in use only for Pentagon employees.

Pentagon employees who are eligible to use the escalator will be issued a special identification badge from the Pentagon Health Center.

Employees and visitors who arrive at the Pentagon via Metrorail or Metrobus and wish to enter the building must walk through the Pentagon Transit Center to a secure Pentagon entrance at Corridor 2 or take a free DoD-operated shuttle bus at the U-8 bus bay that runs during the peak hours of 7 to 9 a.m., 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. from the Transit Center to the Pentagon's Corridor 2 entrance.

A new entrance building to the Pentagon adjacent to the Transit Center is currently under construction by the DoD. Scheduled for completion this fall, it will allow Pentagon employees and visitors new secure access to the building that is more convenient to Metrobus and Metrorail customers.