WASHINGTON — Metro riders at two busy stations will not get a break from this heatwave. In fact, chilling units at Dupont Circle and Farragut North not been working for four years. There is a fix in-store, but it keeps facing new delays.
Fans have become a fixture at Dupont Circle Metro, perhaps one of the hottest underground stations in the entire transit system.
“It’s hot, it’s swampy,” said rider David Smith, who was on his way to work Thursday morning. He says cool air flowing into the station is long overdue. “It would be a big deal. This is the start of my workday right now and I’m going to be going in already sweaty and exhausted.”
Metro says the problem is with a 43-year-old air chilling unit. It uses water to send cool air to Dupont and Farragut North. Underneath Connecticut Avenue, a new unit was being installed. But crews were blocked by a lamppost, unmarked on drawings. Now Metro says cool air won’t be flowing until later this month, maybe next month.
Outside the station Thursday it was 95 degrees at noon, but inside the temperature was not much cooler-- only 91 degrees according to our thermometer.
“It’s unbearably hot,” said Ted Greenfield, who posted up near one of the fans. “The fans help a little bit but all they do is keep the hot air moving they don’t really provide any relief.”
Metro says its crews are now working on an accelerated schedule while riders can’t wait to speed away from the system’s hottest stations.
“Crews continue work to install new pipes under Connecticut Avenue, a complicated project that required major excavation,” said Metro spokesperson Sherri Ly. “Metro now has permission from D.C. to move the lamp post.”
Metro stresses that riders will not have to wait long in the heat. It says the average gap between trains at rush hour is two minutes.