Council Takes Montgomery County Officials to Task on Transit Center Communication

Council members: Post article was the first they heard of Metro's decision not to operate the center.

Council Takes Montgomery County Officials to Task on Transit Center Communication

Council members: Post article was the first they heard of Metro's decision not to operate the center.

A communication breakdown over the Silver Spring Transit Center led to harsh words for Montgomery County officials by County Council members Wednesday. Of particular concern to council members was a letter the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority sent to the executive branch on April 12, stating the transit agency would not operate and maintain the transit center. (See the attached PDF for the full text of the letter.) Council members said they did not know of the letter before it was reported in The Washington Post on April 25. They demanded to know why the executive branch had not immediately shared the letter with the council. The executive branch intended to share the letter with the council, but wanted to first sort out the …

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Council to Executive: Explain Status of Silver Spring Transit Center

Letter addresses communication breakdown between Montgomery County Council and County Executive Isiah Leggett

The Montgomery County Council, surprised by news reports of Metro looking for a way out of its agreement regarding the Silver Spring Transit Center, sent a letter to County Executive Isiah Leggett Friday, asking him to appear before the council on Wednesday at 2 p.m. with an explanation. Haven't been following along? Get caught up on the Silver Spring Transit Center.

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The Talk of Silver Spring: Transit Center, Teacher Arrest, Metropolitan Branch Trail

Stories on the Silver Spring radar this week.

Here's a quick look at what people are talking about in Silver Spring: “We Don’t Know If This Man Has Pictures of Our Children" Lawrence Joynes, a music teacher at New Hampshire Estates Elementary School in Silver Spring, was arrested in February and charged with possession of child pornography, Silver Spring Patch reported. Police said Joynes has other images, taken at the school, and parents are worried that their children may be in these pictures, The Washington Post reported. Read the full story at The Washington Post. A Train Station and a Trail The Washington Area Bicyclist Association has said that the nonprofit Montgomery Preservation, Inc. has been blocking progress on the Metropolitan Branch Trail because it would pass by a …

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Report: Transit Center Splinters Builder's Relationship with Montgomery County

The Washington Post reports that Foulger-Pratt has been cozy with local leaders for decades.

Foulger-Pratt, general contractor for Montgomery County's unopened $120 million Silver Spring Transit Center, has deep ties to the community which, according to a feature in The Washington Post, may have been jeopardized by the facility's failure. Last month, an inspection by independent firm KCE Engineering found issues with the center's concrete, girders, columns, support beams and, most disturbing for inspectors, an absence of support cabling on one level of the three-tiered facility. The Transit Center was deemed unsafe and unusable with major repairs, which will begin at the end of this summer.  The Post reported that since March's inspection, the Rockville-based builders seemed to be on the outside looking in on a county process they…

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'Our Focus Has to Be Moving Forward:' Councilmembers React to Silver Spring Transit Center

After hearing remarks from David Dise, head of the county's general services department Tuesday, council members spoke to County Cable Montgomery.

  Nearly a month after a disappointing report that the unopened Silver Spring Transit Center, now at about $120 million, was unsafe and unusable without major repairs, Montgomery County officials seem confident in the future of the transit hub.  After hearing remarks from David Dise, head of the county's general services department Tuesday, council members spoke to County Cable Montgomery, the county's public cable station, about the remediation of the facility, which should begin at the end of this summer.  "I think it's important to remember the council's responsibility, in terms of our oversight, is to ensure that this particular remediation takes place, that it takes place on time," said Council President Nancy Navarro (D-Dist 4), "and…

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Silver Spring Transit Center Fixes Won't Start For Months

"The work needing to be done will be accomplished," a county official assured councilmembers.

David Dise, head of Montgomery County's General Services department, has advised the County Council that remediation of the much-delayed, $120 million Silver Spring Transit Center won't begin any sooner than late this summer. Dise wrote in an email to County Council President Nancy Navarro Friday that a schedule for when the fixes will be complete and the center will be open hasn't been established.  Last month, an inspection report by independent firm KCE Engineering found issues with the center's concrete, girders, columns, support beams and, most disturbing for inspectors, an absence of support cabling on one level of the three-tiered facility. Contractors cited in the report have all denied faults in their work, The Washington Post …

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Ervin Wants Outside Opinion on Silver Spring Transit Center

“The complexity and scale of this project requires an independent evaluation of the information we are being provided,” Ervin said in a statement.

In an attempt to get the Silver Spring Transit Center on track, Montgomery County Councilwomen Valerie Ervin (D-Dist 5), who represents Silver Spring, and Nancy Floreen, (D-At Large), asked that the county retain an independent industry expert to advise during the remediation of the facility.  An independent inspection report completed by KCE Engineering revealed that the $112 million transit hub, years behind schedule and over-budget, was rife with inadequacies that left the building unsafe and unusable without major repairs. There is no current timeline for the completion.  Ervin and Floreen voted Tuesday, along with the rest of the council, to plunk an additional $7.5 million into the center's budget, mainly going to retroactively pay …

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Wayne Phyillaier

12:56 pm on Friday, April 5, 2013

I agree we don't need yet another party involved. But I also don't want to commit to solutions proposed by Parsons-Brinkerhoff or Folger-Pratt without having an independent evaluation. KCE Engineering might be able to do that - they are already very familiar with the structural problems, and should be able to give an independent evaluation fairly quickly without another major study. No way do I …   more ›

Report: Extra $7.5 Million Approved for Silver Spring Transit Center

The funds are in addition to the facility's $112 million price tag, the Gazette newspaper reports.

A request by Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett to add $7.5 million to the Silver Spring Transit Center's budget was approved Tuesday by the County Council, The Gazette newspaper reported. Most of the money will go to expenses already incurred, the newspaper said, and about $2.2 million will go towards delays.  Leggett proposed the additional funds in January as an amendment to the 2013-2018 Capital Improvements Program to "cover site improvement, utilities and construction costs required to prevent further opening delays," Patch reported.  The Transit Center, a hub for buses, taxis and Kiss and Ride cars next to the Silver Spring Metro and Marc stations, is almost three years behind schedule and over budget with the total cost at $…

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