Medical Center Station (Washington Metro)
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Medical Center is an
island-platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
ed
Washington Metro The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,Google Books search/preview
station in Bethesda,
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,
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. The station was opened on August 25, 1984, and is operated by the
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States Con ...
(WMATA). Providing service for the Red Line, the station serves the
National Institutes of Health campus The National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus is located in Bethesda, Maryland. Most of the institutes house their Divisions of Intramural Research on this campus spread out among various buildings. Location The campus is located between O ...
and the
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), formerly known as the National Naval Medical Center and colloquially referred to as the Bethesda Naval Hospital, Walter Reed, or Navy Med, is a United States' tri-service military medi ...
, and is located at Rockville Pike and South Drive. Since there is little retail in the area and no commuter parking lot, this station is used almost exclusively by employees and visitors to those two institutions.


History

The station opened on August 25, 1984. Its opening coincided with the completion of of rail northwest of the
Van Ness–UDC station Van Ness–UDC station is an island platformed Washington Metro station serving the Forest Hills and North Cleveland Park neighborhoods of Washington, D.C., United States. The station was opened on December 5, 1981, and is operated by the Wa ...
and the opening of the Bethesda,
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, Grosvenor, and
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stations. In September 2009, Montgomery County submitted a $20 million federal grant application to build a pedestrian tunnel under Rockville Pike to improve access to the Medical Center stop from Walter Reed Medical Center. Currently, there is only a crosswalk here, with many passengers crossing the heavily travelled street from Walter Reed on the east side of MD 355 to get to the station on the west side. Construction would have originally occurred in 2011, but the project was not approved until 2013. The project is fully funded at $68 million, mostly through the
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, and includes installation of new deep elevators, improvement of surface bicycle and pedestrian facilities, as well as an extension of the left turn lane on southbound MD 355. The project began construction in 2017. The elevators and staircases of the MD 355 crossing underpass opened in late 2021 and the east side elevators to mezzanine, another elevator to platform, and a new staircase are opened on February 25, 2022.


Station layout

Medical Center is the last underground station heading towards , as north of this station, it emerges out of the tunnel onto a brief elevated section, crossing the
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. The station is one of 11 stations in the system constructed with rock tunneling and is accordingly deeper underground than most stations in the system. Its platform is located below its west entrance and more than below street level. Unlike most other Red Line stations, the escalator bank emerges above ground outside, rather than in a subterranean landing. These escalators are located at the southwest corner of Rockville Pike and South Drive, where bus bays and a
kiss and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system (r ...
lot are also located. The escalators are long and rise from the mezzanine to the entrance landing.


References


External links

* * The Schumin Web Transit Center
Medical Center Station
* NIH Gateway Center construction map


South Drive entrance from Google Maps Street View
{{Washington Metro stations navbox Buildings and structures in Bethesda, Maryland Railway stations in Montgomery County, Maryland Railway stations located underground in Maryland Stations on the Red Line (Washington Metro) Washington Metro stations in Maryland Railway stations in the United States opened in 1984 1984 establishments in Maryland Washington Metro stations located underground