Woodley Park station explained

Woodley Park
Style:WMATA
Symbol:red
Symbol Location:washington
Address:2700 Connecticut Avenue NW
Borough:Washington, D.C.
Coordinates:38.9245°N -77.0524°W
Platform:1 island platform
Depth:[1]
Tracks:2
Structure:Underground
Bicycle:Capital Bikeshare, 8 racks
Passengers:3,279 daily[2]
Pass Year:2023
Pass Rank:26 out of 98
Opened:[3]
Accessible:Yes
Code:A04
Former:Zoological Park (during construction)
Woodley Park–Zoo (1981–1999)
Woodley Park–Zoo/Adams Morgan (1999–2011)
Woodley Park (2011–present)
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Custom:
Shape:none
Line:none
Marker:rail-metro
Marker-Color:
  1. e31837
Zoom:15

Woodley Park station (also known as Woodley Park–Zoo/Adams Morgan) is an underground station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro. Located at 24th Street and Connecticut Avenue Northwest, it serves the neighborhoods of Woodley Park and Adams Morgan in Northwest Washington.

Station layout

Woodley Park was the first in the system to deviate from the waffle-like coffers found at most underground stations in downtown Washington, instead using a simpler four-coffer arch. The advantage of the four-coffer arch was that it was pre-cast in Winchester, Virginia, and then hauled underground and installed on-site, while the waffle-style arches used in other stations had to be cast in place. This was done as a cost-saving measure.[3]

Access to the station's mezzanine is provided by two sets of three escalators, connected by a short walkway just underneath street level. The entrance is located at the southwest corner of Connecticut Avenue and Woodley Road. An elevator connects to the street with the mezzanine, which contains fare control and access to the island platform.

Like other stations on the Red Line constructed with rock-tunneling methods, it is rather deep, at below ground. After Forest Glen, it is the second deepest station in the system.[4] [5] The escalators have a vertical rise of ; they are the longest in the District of Columbia and the third longest on the Metrorail system (behind Wheaton and Bethesda).

History

The station opened on December 5, 1981.[3] Its opening coincided with the completion of 2.1miles of rail northwest of the Dupont Circle station and the opening of the Cleveland Park and Van Ness–UDC stations.[3] [6]

Originally known as simply "Zoological Park", in 1979 its name was changed to "Woodley Park–Zoo" because neighbors believed that the name was misleading, as the National Zoological Park is located 0.5miles from the station.[7] The Adams Morgan neighborhood lies at the other end of the nearby Duke Ellington Bridge, and "Adams Morgan" was added to the station name in 1999 to reflect this.[8] On November 3, 2011, the station was renamed to "Woodley Park", with "Zoo/Adams Morgan" as a subtitle.[9]

On November 3, 2004, an out-of-service train rolled backwards into the station and collided with an in-service train. The non-fatal collision injured about 20 people and caused $3.5 million in damages. An investigation determined that the operator of the runaway train was likely asleep.[10]

The original escalators were replaced in 2015–18.[11]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Levy . Claudia . New Metro Stop Is Way Down Under: Curious in Md. Take Preview Plunge Into Area's Deepest Station DOWN UNDER IN SILVER SPRING . 6 February 2021 . The Washington Post . 1989-11-06. .
  2. Web site: Metrorail Ridership Summary . Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority . February 8, 2024.
  3. News: Burgess. John. The New Northwest Passage. The Washington Post . B1 . December 4, 1981.
  4. News: See some of the reasons why Metrorail is hard to maintain . 6 February 2021 . Washington Post . en.
  5. Levy, Claudia (November 6, 1989). "New Metro Stop Is Way Down Under;Curious in Md. Take Preview Plunge Into Area's Deepest Station". The Washington Post. p. B3.
  6. Web site: Sequence of Metrorail openings . Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority . July 2009 . August 1, 2010.
  7. News: Eisen . Jack . Zoological Park Subway Stop Name, 9 Others Changed by Metro Board . The Washington Post . C5 . August 7, 1979.
  8. News: Metro in brief . The Washington Post . B3 . June 11, 1999.
  9. Station names updated for new map . . November 3, 2011 . November 5, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111105211316/http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=5081 . dead . November 5, 2011 .
  10. News: Sun . Lena H . Dozing Operator Blamed in Rail Crash . The Washington Post . March 23, 2006 . May 19, 2007.
  11. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20150101145528/https://www.wmata.com/about_metro/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=5832 . January 1, 2015 . Replacement of 6 Woodley Park escalators to begin January 5 . Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority . December 2014.