Building the New Northern
Northern Bus Garage on 14th Street, NW is a 114-year old facility in need of complete replacement. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) will demolish the structure behind the historic 14th Street façade and rebuild a new modern garage. The purpose of the project is to build a safe and more sustainable facility in accordance with Metro’s 2025 Energy Action Plan. The LEED-certified garage will hold 150 clean diesel and hybrid-electric buses (75 of which will be articulated buses) and will include infrastructure to house a future electric bus fleet.
Comprehensive Site Assessment (CSA)
In partnership with the District Department of the Environment (DDOE), Metro has completed a Comprehensive Site Assessment (CSA) to identify soil and groundwater conditions at the Northern Bus Garage site. This in-depth review, along with guidance from DDOE, will inform Metro’s environmental remediation plan. You can read the CSA at the links below:
Documented Categorical Exclusion (DCE)
Northern Bus Garage will be funded partially by a grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). As part of the grant application process, FTA was required to complete a NEPA review. FTA advised Metro that the probable class of action for the project was a documented categorical exclusion. Documentation supporting the review was provided to and reviewed by FTA.
On April 20, 2022, FTA advised Metro that a Documented Categorical Exclusion (DCE) has been approved for the Northern Bus Garage reconstruction project. In keeping with our commitment to the community, the DCE documents are now available for review at the links below:
- Northern Bus Garage DCE Final document
- Northern Bus Garage DCE Appendices 1-5
- Northern Bus Garage DCE Appendices 6-13
FTA, the District of Columbia Historic Preservation Office, and WMATA executed a Memorandum of Agreement to document actions to minimize and mitigate adverse effects to the Northern Bus Garage historic structure.
Project Schedule
Clark Construction Group has been selected as the primary designer and builder. The following timeline details Metro's process for design, review and approval, and construction surrounding the Northern Bus Garage Reconstruction Project. Dates for the start of demolition and construction activities will be established upon conclusion of the historic preservation review process. All dates reflect the latest project status and may be updated as needed.| Awarded contract | August 9, 2019 |
| Notice to Proceed | October 24, 2019 |
| Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) Meeting | May 28, 2020 |
| HPRB Hearing #2 for demolition permit review (denial of the demo permit provided formal referral to the Mayor's Agent) | September 24, 2020 |
| Virtual Community Engagement Meetings | October-November 2020 |
| Present revised plans to HPRB | December 2020 |
| Begin Mayor's Agent process | January 2021 |
| Mayor's Agent Record of Decision | September 2021 |
| Completed Section 106 | December 2021 |
| Documented Categorical Exclusion Approved | April 20, 2022 |
| Demolition start | TBD |
| Construction start | TBD |
| Project completion | TBD |