With construction well under way, Silver Spring’s new multimodal transit center is rising quickly from the ground. It seems a good time to share details of this important project.

The new center will consolidate just about every mode of transit imaginable into a single station, to be named for former US Senator Paul Sarbanes. It will include:

• 34 bus bays for use by local, commuter, and intercity buses.
• Kiss & Ride facilities for cars.
• A taxi stand.
• The Metropolitan Branch bike/ped trail.
• Bike racks (and maybe a bikesharing station, if Montgomery County joins Capital Bikeshare).
• Improved connections to the existing MARC and Metrorail platforms.
• A commuter store.
• Three major parks/plazas for civic use and passenger waiting.

Overall, Sarbanes Station will become the largest multimodal transportation depot in the Washington region, after Union Station.

Plans and renderings of the project are below, courtesy Montgomery County.

Overview rendering, showing Metro at bottom right and Colesville Rd at bottom left.	Lower level plan, showing plazas at the Metro entrance and Wayne Avenue, bus bays, the transit store, and the trail.
Middle level plan, showing bus bays and the Wayne Avenue entrance/park.	Upper level plan, showing Kiss & Ride and taxi facilities.
Two views of plaza in front of the Metro station entrance.
The trail, in its temporary pre-Purple line location.	The future Purple Line’s addition.
View of mid-level bus bays.	View of mid-level plaza.

The design under construction is at least the third iteration. The previous two versions of the design were both quite different. For the sake of posterity, here they are:

The original design featured a grand stair, but didn’t leave room for the Purple Line.

The second design was focused around a luxurious “hanging garden” waiting room. Courtesy Torti Gallas.

 Cross-posted at Greater Greater Washington.