Bethesda Metro Entrance Gets Funding Boost

The proposed new south entrance to the Bethesda Metrorail station recently received a boost: $2.3 million in funding from the Maryland Board of Public Works for engineering costs, Maryland Reporter reported.

Altogether, the entrance is estimated to cost about $80 million, Bethesda Now reported last winter.

The entrance will connect the Bethesda Metrorail station with the proposed Purple Line. Funding from the Board of Public Works will pay for the engineering costs of the entrance, and the county will pay for the entrance's construction, Maryland Reporter added.

The entrance will consist of a bank of elevators at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Elm Street and will help alleviate congestion on the escalators, the Action Committee for Transit reported.

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot approved the Board of Public Works' funding, but was "visibly skeptical" about the project, adding, "[let] me know if the south entrance ever gets built," Maryland Reporter added.

Greater Greater Washington reported last winter that "the Maryland MTA has already stated that construction on the entrance would have to begin by 2016 in order to meet a projected 2020 start of operations for the Purple Line."

Read more on Maryland Reporter, Greater Greater Washington, Bethesda Now and the website for the Action Committee for Transit.