Silver Spring Station Adding New Entrance

The Metro board of directors yesterday approved the construction of a new south entrance at the Silver Spring Metrorail station, making access easier for Red Line passengers who work at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Discovery Communications Inc. and those who live between East-West Highway and 16th Street.

The project is expected to cost $400,000, including construction and installation of fare collection equipment, and will be paid for by Montgomery County. Construction is scheduled to start this summer and last about six weeks.

4 Routes' Fares Lowered for Project

Fares on four Metrobus routes that will be detoured in July and August, when District officials will close the South Capitol Street Bridge for a major construction project, will be temporarily reduced, the Metro board said.

The fare on the A9 route will go from $1.25 to 75 cents, and the express bus fare on the P17, P19 and W13 routes will drop from $3 to $1.25 during construction. The routes will temporarily end at Metrorail stations on the Green Line to help buses and commuters avoid traffic detoured by the bridge closing. The A9 (South Capitol Street Line) will end at the Anacostia station, and the P17, P19 (Oxon Hill-Fort Washington Line) and W13 (Bock Road Line) routes will end at the Southern Avenue Metrorail station.

The routes carry almost 2,400 passengers a day during rush hours. Once the bridge is reopened to traffic, routes and fares will return to normal. Metro will detail when the changes will take effect as soon as the District announces a start date for construction.

Shelter Land May Become Garage

Metro directors agreed yesterday to work with the District on a plan to build a new Metrobus garage on land at the D.C. Village homeless shelter, provided that the city finds other spots for the shelter beds. The new garage would replace the Southeastern Bus Garage, which is a block from the new stadium for the Washington Nationals. A $10 million Metro Transit Police training facility will also be located at D.C. Village.

The board approval allows Metro to advertise for the first phase of the construction contract, estimated to cost $61 million, and apply for a Federal Transportation Administration capital grant.

2 Workers Who Saved Life Commended

Shortly after midnight Feb. 10, two Metro employees spotted a man who had fallen face down on the tracks at Union Station. Custodian Robert Vessels, who was on his way to clean another station, jumped onto the track bed to pull him out of harm's way, Metro General Manager John B. Catoe Jr. recounted to board members yesterday.

Station manager Maurice Rich, a 17-year veteran of the agency, was off-duty and on his way home. He saw that the train display sign showed another train arriving in one minute. He ran to cut off power to the electrified third rail for that portion of the tracks and then helped Vessels with the rider.

Catoe and board members singled them out for praise yesterday, noting that their actions were the kind of service the public rarely hears about.