Why We Need to Build the South Entrance
to the Bethesda Metro Now - Part 2

     The cost of this project is $60 million.  Metro has completed planning and preliminary design studies.  Click here for the Study Summary, Study Main Text, and the Appendices. So far, the County has appropriated $5 million which covers the costs of design and preparation of bid documents.

     The new entrance will make the Red Line much more accessible to downtown Bethesda. The number of dwelling units within ¼ mile of a station entrance will increase by 68%, and the number of jobs will grow by 11%. Even without the Purple Line, this entrance would attract 700 additional daily trips on the Red Line at Bethesda by 2030. In addition, 9000 daily trips by people who would use the Red Line anyway will be faster because the new entrance will be closer to them.

     The south entrance will also relieve congestion on the escalators that connect the train platform to the mezzanine of the existing Bethesda station entrance. If the new entrance is not constructed, congestion on the escalators will reach unacceptable levels as ridership increases over the next ten years, and a new stairway or escalator will have to be built.  A second entrance will also make the station safer by providing a way out if an emergency were to block the north entrance.

     Passengers will take high-speed elevators down to the Red Line, as they do at Forest Glen and at the south end of Friendship Heights. When the Purple Line is built, the elevators will make a third stop in the tunnel under Wisconsin to provide the connection between the Purple Line and the Red Line.

     The Bethesda south entrance was in the county Master Plan long before the Purple Line. The station was built with “knock-out” panels to facilitate adding a south entrance.

     Even before it connects with the Purple Line, the Bethesda south entrance is comparable in cost-effectiveness to other transit investments being made in our region:
          9000 trips × 0.1 hr/trip = 900 hours saved per day
          $60 million/900 = $66,700 per daily hour saved
This is twice as cost-effective as the Phase 1 Dulles Metrorail Extension which will save 17,800 hours per day at a cost of at least $2.6 billion:
          $2.6 billion/17,800 = $146,100 per daily hour saved