Glenmont station

Early planning

Glenmont was planned to be the location of the end of a line in the original layout of the Metrorail system that was approved in 1968.^[3] Two months later, the Glenmont Vicinity Citizens Association and several other citizens' groups attempted to have the line end at Silver Spring instead because they did not want the added development, and they thought the extended lines would be too expensive.^[4] There were also concerns that the line would eventually be extended to Olney, which would change its rural character.^[5][6] The House Interior Appropriates Subcommittee was not convinced, and the plan went along unchanged.^[4] At the time, the station was planned to open in 1979.^[7]

As of 1970, the site for building the station was vacant land zoned for residential use and owned by Georgia Avenue Baptist Church.^[7] Safeway wanted to build a supermarket on the site,^[8] and it petitioned the county to change the site from residential to commercial zoning in 1970.^[7] Metro had not planned to purchase the land until 1975.^[9] WMATA protested, saying that rezoning would add $750,000 to the value of the land, which would increase its costs when it later needed to purchase the land.^[7] WMATA could not purchase the land at the time because engineering studies determining the exact placement of the station had not yet been completed and, regardless, it had not appropriated the funds to purchase the land yet.^[7] Metro asked Montgomery County to purchase the land to hold for its eventual use, but the county declined when WMATA could not guarantee that engineering studies would later find the site suitable for the station.^[10] Because the surrounding land was already classified as commercial and because WMATA would not need the land for the station for at least eight more years, the Montgomery County Council said it had no authority to decline the rezoning request.^[7] Days later, a deal was struck, whereas WMATA pledged to purchase the land within three years, Montgomery County would reserve the land for WMATA, and Georgia Avenue Baptist Church would not be required to pay property tax on the land.^[10]

1977 plans

In May 1977, Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams questioned extending the Red Line to Glenmont, citing the increased costs projected after engineers determined that the bedrock required building the tracks much deeper than had been anticipated.^[11] Under pressure from the Office of Management and Budget and President Jimmy Carter's administration,^[12] Adams requested that the line be studied again to determine whether a bus, trolley, or highway would be a good alternative to extending the red line to Glenmont.^[13] Montgomery County Executive James P. Gleason responded, saying that the line had been studied extensively already, and he considered pulling all county funding from building the Metrorail system if the Glenmont extension did not go forward.^[14]

By June, a compromise had been reached; cost-cutting measures would be studied, but the Red Line would indeed be extended to Glenmont.^[15] The following month, Gleason decided to withhold all funding to WMATA until the Department of Transportation guaranteed in writing that the Metrorail extension to Glenmont would be built.^[12] The Montgomery County Council voted in disagreement with Gleason's decision, thinking that the action might also jeopardize the Metrorail extension to Shady Grove, but the Council did not actually have the power to force him to send the money to WMATA.^[12] Maryland Secretary of Transportation Hermann Intemann also decided to withhold state funding to WMATA until Adams guaranteed the line would be built.^[16]

In October, consultants suggested building Forest Glen and Wheaton stations as two small separated tubes rather than using one large cavernous design that had been used for nearly every other underground station.^[17] The consultants said that changing the design of those two stations would save $352.6 million.^[17] Glenmont station would still be built with the cavernous underground design.^[17] Gleason praised the study because it saved significant money without sacrificing the stations,^[17] and he decided to release Montgomery County's construction funding after plans surfaced for a study by region-wide task force.^[18] In February 1978, the Department of Transportation approved engineering studies of the Glenmont line extension, which suggesting it was warming to building the line after all.^[19] The study by a regionwide task force ended up approving the routing of stations on other Metrorail lines but it did not review the routing of the red line at all.^[20] In August, WMATA board members approved a Metrorail plan that included building the Glenmont extension as the latter phase of a two-phase construction schedule.^[21] WMATA released the plan to the Department of Transportation.^[22]

Delays

In July 1979, Adams released all held-up federal funding for all of Metrorail's lines.^[23] With all federal construction delays resolved, Glenmont metro station was scheduled to open in 1986.^[23] By 1982, the station's opening was rescheduled to 1991.^[24]

In 1984, President Reagan's administration limited the number of miles of track that could be built, effectively preventing the extending the red line from Wheaton to Glenmont.^[25] Later that year, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to lift the construction limitation.^[26] The Reagan administration continued to block federal funding, and opening of the Glenmont station was pushed back to 1994.^[27] In 1985, the Office of Management and Budget recommended halting all federal funding of construction, further jeopardizing the Glenmont extension.^[28] In 1991, Congress approved construction funding, and WMATA said the Glenmont station was scheduled to open in 1998.^[29]

President Bill Clinton's administration approved funding of the Glenmont extension in 1993.^[30] WMATA broke ground on construction of the station in 1993,^[31] and workers began laying rail lines in 1996.^[32] The station opened on July 25, 1998.^[33]

Glenmont is the only station on the Red Line to feature the six-coffer arch design, which is also seen on the Green Line. It is also unique as the only underground terminus station in the Washington Metro, and until 2006, it was also the only station in the system lit with sodium lamps. These lamps gave the station a warm orange glow and were later replaced with the mercury vapor lamps found in other underground stations. The Glenmont rail yard is located just beyond this station and has the ability to store 132 rail cars.^[34]

There are two street-level access points for the station, located on either side of Georgia Avenue (Route 97). Unlike older Metro stations, there are two street elevators serving the mezzanine, though there is only one elevator between the mezzanine and platform levels. Many Metrobus routes serve the station.^[35]

There is a parking lot north of the station that was originally purchased by the county for the proposed Foxhall Elementary School and Layhill Junior High School, neither of which were built.^[36]

G	Street level	Exit/entrance, buses, parking
M	Mezzanine	Fare gates, ticket machines, station agent
P Platform level	Westbound	← toward Grosvenor–Strathmore or Shady Grove (Wheaton) → termination track →
	Island platform
	Westbound	← toward Grosvenor–Strathmore or Shady Grove (Wheaton) → termination track →

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Coffer

Coffer

A coffer in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also called caissons ("boxes"), or lacunaria, so that a coffered ceiling can be called a lacunar ceiling: the strength of the structure is in the framework of the coffers.

Green Line (Washington Metro)

Green Line (Washington Metro)

The Green Line is a rapid transit line of the Washington Metro system, consisting of 21 stations in the District of Columbia and Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The Green Line runs from Branch Avenue to Greenbelt. It was the last line in the original Metrorail plan to be constructed, and is one of three north–south lines through the city of Washington. The Green Line shares tracks with the Yellow line from L'Enfant Plaza to Greenbelt.

Metrobus (Washington, D.C.)

Metrobus (Washington, D.C.)

Metrobus is a bus service operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). Its fleet consists of 1,595 buses covering an area of 1,500 square miles (3,900 km2) in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. There are 269 bus routes serving 11,129 stops, including 2,554 bus shelters. In 2021, the system had a ridership of 60,603,600, or about 284,800 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2022.

Red Line (Washington Metro)

Red Line (Washington Metro)

The Red Line is a rapid transit line of the Washington Metro system, consisting of 27 stations in Montgomery County, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is a primary line through downtown Washington and the oldest and busiest line in the system. It forms a long, narrow "U", capped by its terminal stations at Shady Grove and Glenmont.

Grosvenor–Strathmore station

Grosvenor–Strathmore station

Grosvenor–Strathmore is a rapid transit station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro in North Bethesda, Maryland. Grosvenor–Strathmore is the last above-ground station for Glenmont-bound Red Line trains until NoMa-Gallaudet U; south of the station, trains cross over the Capital Beltway before descending underground. It is one of a number of stations on the Rockville Pike corridor in Montgomery County.

Shady Grove station

Shady Grove station

Shady Grove is a Washington Metro station in Derwood in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. The station was opened on December 15, 1984 as part of a four-stop extension of the line from Grosvenor–Strathmore station out to Shady Grove. The station is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

Wheaton station (Washington Metro)

Wheaton station (Washington Metro)

Wheaton station is a Washington Metro station in Montgomery County, Maryland on the Red Line. The station serves the suburb of Wheaton, and is located at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Reedie Drive. The station contains 230-foot-long (70 m) escalators, which are the longest set of single-span escalators in the Western Hemisphere.

Island platform

Island platform

An island 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 twin-track routes due to pragmatic and cost reasons. They are also useful within larger stations where local and express services for the same direction of travel can be provided from opposite sides of the same platform thereby simplifying transfers between the two tracks. An alternative arrangement is to position side platforms on either side of the tracks. The historical use of island platforms depends greatly upon the location. In the United Kingdom the use of island platforms is relatively common when the railway line is in a cutting or raised on an embankment, as this makes it easier to provide access to the platform without walking across the tracks.

• Brookside Gardens
• John F. Kennedy High School
• The Barrie School
• Wheaton High School
• Wheaton Regional Park

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Brookside Gardens

Brookside Gardens

The Brookside Gardens are public gardens located within Wheaton Regional Park, at 1800 Glenallan Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland. The gardens are open daily without charge. However, certain annual events there are held that may charge a fee. The gardens hosts a "Garden of Lights" exhibit that features a light display during the holiday season.

Wheaton High School

Wheaton High School

Wheaton High School is a U.S. four-year public high school in Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located in the unincorporated Wheaton-Glenmont section of Montgomery County, near Silver Spring, about 5 miles north of Washington, D.C.

Wheaton Regional Park

Wheaton Regional Park

Wheaton Regional Park is a public park and county-designated protected area, located in Wheaton, Maryland. It is operated and managed by Montgomery County Parks, a division of a bi-county agency, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M–NCPPC), which serves both Montgomery and Prince George's counties in the Washington, D.C. suburbs of the state of Maryland. The park was established in 1960, incorporating several large parcels of land into one of the county's largest parks, at the size of 538.7 acres.