Bethesda station
Bethesda is a rapid transit station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro system in Bethesda, Maryland. It is one of the busiest suburban Metro stations, serving on average 9,142 passengers each weekday in 2017.[1] The Purple Line, currently under construction, will terminate at Bethesda, providing rail service to other inner Maryland suburbs such as Silver Spring as College Park, each of which has additional north-south connections by Washington Metro, and New Carrollton, which has Amtrak and MARC connections to both Washington, D.C. and Baltimore.
Bethesda | |||||||||||||
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Location | 7450 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland | ||||||||||||
Coordinates | 38.984605°N 77.094586°W | ||||||||||||
Owned by | WMATA | ||||||||||||
Platforms | 1 island platform | ||||||||||||
Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||||
Connections | |||||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||||
Structure type | Underground | ||||||||||||
Depth | 165 feet (50 m) | ||||||||||||
Bicycle facilities | 48 racks, 44 lockers | ||||||||||||
Disabled access | Yes | ||||||||||||
Other information | |||||||||||||
Station code | A09 | ||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||
Opened | August 25, 1984 | ||||||||||||
Traffic | |||||||||||||
Passengers (2017) | 9,142 daily[1] | ||||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||||
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Location
Located at the center of the area's central business district, Bethesda station lies underneath Wisconsin Avenue at its intersection with Montgomery Avenue. In the direction of Shady Grove, it is the first station wholly within Montgomery County, as Friendship Heights straddles the border between Maryland and Washington, D.C.
Nearby landmarks
- Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School
- Capital Crescent Trail
- Chevy Chase Bank headquarters
- Consumer Product Safety Commission
- Bethesda's Madonna of the Trail monument
History
The station opened on August 25, 1984.[2][3] Its opening coincided with the completion of 6.8 miles (10.9 km) of rail northwest of the Van Ness–UDC station and the opening of the Friendship Heights, Grosvenor, Medical Center and Tenleytown stations.[2][3][4] It is relatively deep; prior to the opening of the Wheaton station, the Bethesda station had the longest escalator in the Western Hemisphere, at 212 feet (65 m).[5] In October 2014, the replacement of the first of three 106-foot (32 m)-long entrance escalators at the station began. The escalator site preparation, demolition, construction, installation and testing was projected to take approximately 42 weeks to complete. The $8.4 million project was completed on March 22, 2017.[6][7]
The station's construction has been a major boon to the area, with several office buildings being built on (in the Bethesda Metro Center complex) and around it.
Station layout
The main escalators descending to the station are located on the west side of Wisconsin Avenue, adjacent to the station's underground bus bays. A Metro-style tunnel connects connects passengers to the southeast corner of Wisconsin and Old Georgetown Road. Within the station, a mezzanine provides fare control and access to the station's island platform.
G | Street level | Exit/entrance, buses |
M | Mezzanine | Fare gates, ticket machines, station agent |
P Platform level |
Westbound | ← |
Island platform | ||
Eastbound |
References
- "Metrorail Average Weekday Passenger Boardings" (PDF). Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. May 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- Staff Reporters (August 25, 1984), "Red Line adds 6.8 miles; Opening ceremony for new segment set for today at Friendship Heights", The Washington Post, p. B1
- Brisbane, Arthur S. (August 26, 1984), "All aboard; Metro festivities welcome latest Red Line extension", The Washington Post, p. A1
- "Sequence of Metrorail openings" (PDF). Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. 2017. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 2, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- Johnson, Matt (July 8, 2014). "What are the 10 longest Metro escalators?". Greater Greater Washington. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- Massimo, Rick (March 22, 2017). "Metro unveils new escalators in Bethesda". WTOP. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- "Metro completes major escalator replacement project at Bethesda station" (Press release). Washington, DC: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. March 22, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bethesda (WMATA station). |