Comprehensive canopy program — protecting our escalators
List of canopiesIn the fall of 2002 Metro's Board of Directors approved the Comprehensive Escalator Canopy Program. The program consists of a pilot program, which has been completed, and an overall comprehensive program. In the pilot program, four entrances were covered at L'Enfant Plaza and Brookland stations in Washington, DC; Medical Center station in Maryland; and Virginia Square station in Virginia.
Once the pilot phase was completed, the remaining exposed escalators within the Metrorail system were reviewed to determine which would have canopies installed.
Contingent upon issuance of construction permits, construction of additional canopie at the locations indicated below is expected to last three months per canopy. In preparation for canopy construction, a temporary wood roof will be installed over the entrance(s)/exit(s) of each station. This activity will take place when Metrorail is closed.
Canopies to be built
Canopies will be built at the following locations by the end of 2006:
Benning Road |
Pentagon City West |
Background Information
In April 2000, Metro's Board of Directors approved a resolution to install canopies over 52 exposed escalators throughout the Metrorail system, shielding them from rain, snow and salt, and to protect customers from inclement weather. Also, a new provision in local building codes requires that all escalator undergoing rehabilitation have canopies in place.
Metro's Board of Directors requested a canopy design competition, conducted in the spring of 2001. Designs were evaluated by an independent consultant for compliance with competition criteria, structural adequacy and cost.
Four final designs, out of 167, were presented to Metro's Board Planning and Development Committee on July 12, 2001. The Committee unanimously recommended a vault-like glass and steel design by Lourie & Chenoweth, an architectural firm from Silver Spring, Md.
At the July 19, 2001 Metro Board of Directors meeting, the Board approved the Lourie & Chenoweth design and requested that a cost analysis be conducted on making the structure of stainless steel and on maintainability. In the fall of 2001, the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission approved the canopy concept design.
