Per WMATA/Metro:

December 7, 2021:
Metro today announced that Shady Grove and Rockville stations will reopen on January 16, 2022, after a four-month shutdown for the Rockville Canopy Replacement Project. During the closures, Metro demolished the canopy at Rockville Station, erected a new steel canopy structure, and completed customer improvements– including installation of new information screens, brighter lighting, and modern faregates.

In addition, Metro teams are using the shutdown to perform track repairs that will improve service reliability and install more than 7.3 miles of fiber optic cable to enhance radio communications. Without the station closures, these upgrades alone would have required nine months of weekend shutdowns and overnight work.

The final stage of the canopy project – installing glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) panels on the canopy’s steel structure – will not be complete when the stations reopen. In January, the canopy will provide cover for customers but will remain temporarily unfinished until Metro determines the best type of exterior cladding needed to complete the project.

“Shady Grove and Rockville stations will be ready to welcome back Red Line customers for rail service on January 16,” said Metro General Manager/CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld. “Our project team continues working to ensure the completed canopy meets Metro’s quality standard and provides customers with a safe and comfortable place to wait for the train.”

The interim canopy at Rockville Station will include brighter LED lighting, new Passenger Information Displays (PIDS), higher quality PSA speakers, and new CCTV cameras. Metro and its contractor are working quickly to develop a permanent solution for the canopy and will communicate additional details when available.

At Rockville Station, the Park & Ride is fully repaved to provide customers with safer and more accessible parking, new faregates are installed in the mezzanine, and the Rockville Pedestrian Bridge rehabilitation is complete. At Shady Grove Station, the platform canopy, roof, and escalators are being repaired and modernized faregates are being installed.

The closure also allowed Metro to perform safety-critical work on the tracks between Shady Grove and Rockville including repairs to the signal system, track maintenance, third-rail power cable inspections and repairs, and switch machine replacement.

“Metro’s capital program is focused on maintaining and improving the system for decades to come, including our rail stations and facilities,” said Wiedefeld. “We appreciate the community’s patience as we ensure our long-term plans for Rockville Station meet quality and safety standards.”

About the Rockville Canopy Replacement Project

Metro’s Rockville Canopy Replacement Project will replace the aging canopy structure over the platform at Rockville Station and make additional customer improvements. Free shuttle bus service will remain available until the stations reopen on January 16, 2022. More information is available at wmata.com/rockvillecanopy.

Construction Delays and unexpected railyard access needs have delayed the construction ongoing during the Shady Grove and Rockville Station Closures, forcing the project to be extended several months longer than expected.

Originally, the closure was expected to last until early December.

Constriction and material issues have posed a challenge to contractors replacing the Rockville Metro Canopy.

Additionally, the contractor was forced to demobilize portions of their work zone when Metro unexpectedly needed to move some railcars through the work zone, bringing them from the Shady Grove railyard into the rest of the system to be placed back into service.

Currently, the Shady Grove and Rockville Stations are predicted to reopen in mid-January.

The Burger King located at 16004 Shady Grove Rd has been temporarily closed for renovations since the start of 2021.

We stopped by earlier to take a look at the progress and it looks as though the exterior of the building is almost ready to go, but there’s plenty of work to be done on the interior and in the surrounding parking and drive-thru areas (photos below).

We are awaiting response from Burger King regarding a reopening date.

At the beginning of the year Burger King unveiled its “new” retro logo and announced that all stores would be undergoing remodeling.

Prior to this, the “Home of the Whopper” last updated its logo back in 1999.

Red Line customers are reminded that beginning Saturday, September 11 and continuing through Saturday, December 4, Metro will close the Rockville and Shady Grove stations for the demolition and replacement of the canopy over the Rockville Station platform.

Per WMATA:

As part of the project, additional customer improvements will be made to the platform canopy,  including brighter, more efficient LED lights, an upgraded speaker system for station announcements, larger and more Passenger Information Displays (PIDS) and new closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

The closures, first announced last fall, will allow Metro to do the work more safely and efficiently by working continuously to complete the project in less than three months. Doing the same work on weekends and overnights would have taken years.

During construction of the Rockville canopy, Metro will utilize the closure to also perform work at Shady Grove Station, including canopy repairs and completion of the new mezzanine stairway. Additionally, with the tracks out of service Metro will perform safety critical track work, radio cable installation and other state-of-good repair maintenance.

Full details about the Rockville Canopy Replacement Project, including information on free shuttle bus service and Red Line rail service during the station closures, are listed below and available at wmata.com/rockvillecanopy.

Customer information (September 11 – December 4):

Service

• No rail service at Shady Grove and Rockville.
• Free shuttle buses replace trains:
  • Local service with stops at Shady Grove, Rockville and Twinbrook stations, every 10 minutes when the Metrorail system is open.
  • Express service between Shady Grove and Twinbrook, between 4:30 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. weekdays only, every 5 minutes during peak periods, 10 minutes off-peak.
• Shady Grove and Rockville customers should consider parking at Twinbrook or White Flint as an alternative. Visit wmata.com/parking for more information about parking availability.
• Amtrak and MARC service will continue to operate during construction with no service disruptions at Rockville.

Parking and Bus Relocation

Rockville

• The bus loop on the west side of Rockville is closed and buses relocated to Rockville Pike and the west Kiss & Ride Lot, which is closed to passenger vehicles.
• Customers should use the east Kiss & Ride Lot during this time to pick-up and drop-off.
• The parking lots at the station will remain open during construction. Due to the Surface Parking Lot Improvement Project, there may be limited parking in the Park & Ride.

Shady Grove

• The West Kiss & Ride Lot is closed to provide shuttle bus service.
• Customers should use the east Kiss & Ride Lot during this time for pick-up and drop-off.

About the Rockville Canopy Replacement Project

Metro’s Rockville Canopy Replacement Project will replace the aging canopy structure over the platform at Rockville Station and make additional customer improvements. More information is available at wmata.com/rockvillecanopy, including a multi-lingual communications toolkit for organizations to share the service changes with the community.

Metro’s Capital Improvement Program

Metro is investing in system safety, reliability and the region’s economy through its capital program, which is funding repairs and replacements of platform canopies across the region. These efforts ensure platform structures are in a state of good repair while providing a safe and reliable experience for Metro customers.

Lidl Proposes Mixed-Use Project that Includes Grocery Store and 200 Units of Affordable Housing in Rockville

Lidl, a German international discount supermarket chain, has proposed a mixed-use project consisting of a 30,000-square-foot grocery store and up to 200 units of affordable multi-family housing at 15931 Frederick Road. The application for this proposal was received last month.

Lidl recently opened  stores in Takoma Park and Glenmont and is working on a third Montgomery County store in Montgomery Village.

Per the City of Rockville:

The mixed-use development would be located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Frederick Road with King Farm Boulevard on the west and the Shady Grove Metro access road on the east, adjacent to the Shady Grove Metro Station parking lot.

The proposed development would introduce Rockville residents to Lidl, the world’s fifth-largest grocery store chain. Lidl is a German company with its U.S. headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. Lidl aims to deliver superior quality products, with a focus on organic produce and meats, at the lowest possible price. Its stores emphasize an efficient, modern layout.

For the residential component of the project, Lidl has partnered with Foundation Housing, an affordable housing developer based in Rockville, Maryland with a 30-year track record developing, owning and operating best-in-class affordable housing communities across the country.

Foundation Housing proposes an eight-story multi-family building with up to 200 one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom dwelling units. All units will be affordable, with approximately 20 units affordable to households with incomes at 30 percent of the area median income (“AMI”), 20 units affordable at 50 percent of AMI, and 160 units affordable at 60 percent of AMI. Residential parking will be provided in two levels of above-ground structured parking.

The proposed project would take advantage of the Subject Property’s location abutting the Shady Grove Metro Station by offering high-density, affordable housing with excellent transit access and by providing a grocery store to serve residents, employees, and passersby in the vicinity.

Site History and Existing Conditions

The Subject Property is bordered by Frederick Road to the west and the Shady Grove Metro access road to the north. To the east, it confronts the Shady Grove Metro Station parking lot across Somerville Drive, a two-lane local road. To the south, the Subject Property abuts properties developed with commercial uses.

The Subject Property is currently occupied by a single-story building set back off the road behind a large surface parking lot. Substantially all of the site is paved, with vegetation limited to perimeter landscaping, parking lot islands, and a landscaped area near the building entrance.

In 2012, the Subject Property was annexed into the City of Rockville at the property owner’s request.

The annexation agreement provided as follows:

• Property to be classified in the MXTC zone.
• Density limited to maximum 458,225 square feet of floor area for a period of five years.
• All uses permitted in the MXTC zone allowed, provided that any required site plan, site
plan amendment, or special exception is approved.
In 2016, Level 2 Site Plan STP2016-00267 was approved for the Subject Property. The site
plan anticipated a 405-unit multi-family building and associated parking garage, with 15% Moderately Price Dwelling Units (“MPDUs”) and potential ground floor retail. That project was not implemented, and the Subject Property is under contract for sale to Lidl.