Shady Grove - Focus Terminus Ep. 2

[@mjscheinberg]

Old guy here -- I was 12 when the five northernmost stations were added to the western branch of the red line. Living in Rockville I was very enthusiastic about being able to take Metro everywhere! From 1988 to 2007, I-370 was a spur that came off of I-270 with pretty much one purpose: to funnel traffic to Shady Grove Metro station. In fact, the alignment of I-370 was such that the highway ended right at the access road for the Metro station. In 2007, I-370 was repurposed as a connector road to MD 200 (The Intercounty Connector). It was kind of cool at the time to see an interstate highway built specifically for a Metro station!

[@sammymarrco47]

thanks for watching! Highway and metro working together is rare but in this case it makes sense as I270 breaks from the red line.

[@tylerweihrauch444]

Loving your videos on the WMATA. I’m amazed how well the system seems to run. I live in Boston and the MBTA is a hot mess.

[@sammymarrco47]

MBTA has so much potential, part of it is the age/ up keep costs, WMATA runs pretty well but we're not immune to closures or delays! Looking forward to checking out Boston sometime!

[@Shortline819]

Here's a fun fact about Shady Grove. The orginal red line terminus was going to be Rockville, but Rockville was concerned with the amount of traffic a large park-and-ride station would bring. Planners instead extended the red line one more stop to Shady Grove and let it be the big park-and-ride station for suburban Montgomery county.

[@29downtheline]

I think it’s good that the park-and-ride was built slightly further out: it has better highway access than it would have had in Rockville and doesn’t destroy walkability in downtown Rockville!

[@sammymarrco47]

last stations being a big P&R is fine, unless they're never full (before covid lots were often at capacity).

[@dctraining407]

Was going to leave a snarky comment about Mt. Vernon Square, but wow. Really gets less riders than this suburban park and ride!

[@sammymarrco47]

MVSQ is a line terminus but not a ROW terminus, ig it depends how u define it

[@elitettelbach4247]

The on platform fare gate really is such a nice bonus when getting off at the end of a long trip back from downtown. The stroad you’re talking about is just the continuation of Rockville Pike, at that point called Frederick Road (which yes does go all the way up to Frederick, MD). Also the S in Grosvenor is typically not pronounced - it’s more like Grove-nor (although you will hear some people say it Groves-nor lol) Enjoying this series though! Maybe add some percentages to the ridership report card, at least for the line if not the system as a whole. Would help put some of these numbers into greater context.

[@sammymarrco47]

like % to 2019 levels for the post covid numbers?

[@elitettelbach4247]

@@sammymarrco47 I was thinking more along the lines of Shady Grove has x amount of riders per week, which is y% of red line riders per week or z% of total metro riders per week. If you had that data for both 2019 levels and post covid levels it would be interesting to see if the percentages are still roughly the same even though ridership still hasn't fully recovered.

[@mm-yt8sf]

hi! i saw you on trains are awesome (the model train festival)...and now here i am 😀

[@sammymarrco47]

thanks for stopping by, hope you continue to watch!

[@Hyperletsplay488]

Great video! I like your style in editing. I do have a video idea. Speedrunning the whole dc metro system.

[@adammoldover8769]

It's certainly something that can (and has) been done. I did it with friends a few years ago, but this was 2 weeks after the 7ks were taken out of service. (Plus, Shady Grove and Rockville were closed for construction so we didn't get to EVERY station). If you do it, I'd honestly do it with you :)

[@Hyperletsplay488]

Yeah thats nice!

[@29downtheline]

I tried it twice last month with some friends before the Red Line closed north of Fort Totten-it’s really up to chance with the trains being on time. Would’ve broken the record by 25 minutes but a bunch of things went wrong! Regardless, I’d be willing to try it a third time! It’s certainly an experience to remember!

[@SeanCakaBroncoFan623]

I would love to try to speedrun the system at some point

[@sammymarrco47]

yeah I've never really thought ab it, there was a recent attempt (before RD closure) but idk if they broke the record!

[@SirKenchalot]

You can add something about the etymology of the name of these stations (where it's not obvious) as well as bicycle infrastructure in the area.

[@sammymarrco47]

good to know! Ive already edited more but ill add it to the dock!

[@thisisaname3283]

If you ever get up to Philly, 69th Street Terminal is insane

[@sammymarrco47]

oh yes, I'm well aware of 69th, is it busiest during afternoon rush hour or another time of day? My grandparents live near Philly so I wanna make some videos Nov when I go up there for thanksgiving!

[@29downtheline]

Great video! I had no idea Shady Grove had such high ridership (compared to other termini). Maybe that extension to Metropolitan Grove isn’t such a bad idea!

[@sammymarrco47]

there's not much near M-grove, if they TOD'd the heck of out the area, maybe id be worth it but i'd cost billions of $ and WMATA is focused on Roslyn tunnel relief as the next major project. A station near Gaithersburg downtown would be cool tho!

[@Drknnja]

Should use the M-83 right of way and extend into the already developed neighborhoods. Even additional MTA light rail along this alignment would be welcomed.

[@kedwards4377]

Considering Shady Grove and Glenmont terminals are less than 10 miles apart, I wonder if WMATA ever considered making the red line a full loop?

[@sammymarrco47]

yeah it makes sense on paper but the loop connecting part would be in a very low density area

[@commercialcritic4676]

Sweet!

[@sammymarrco47]

dulce tbm

[@DwightPatel]

The station in the late 80s and 90s wasn't near any civilization... closest thing then was the county Recyling center now its popping sort of they need a really good pizza place near the metro... you should do videos on Good Pizza Places near metro ... IMHO best one is Glenmont Station right next to the Stained Glass Pub where you can find the best pizza in Maryland

[@sammymarrco47]

I'm allergic to pizza (dairy and wheat) so I cant do that.

[@TheGAMWolferz]

I guess you can say… there’s nothing shady… about Shady Grove! 🤓

[@sammymarrco47]

I saw one or two people that many would say were "shady looking" but they didn't do anything disruptive, lesson: don't judge a book by its cover.

[@glowingfish]

I think apartments have unique names because they are trying to market them as being quaint and classy.

[@sammymarrco47]

yep, that's the trend nowdays

[@glowingfish]

@@sammymarrco47 And they have to call them something! "Apartment Block #56" sounds pretty dystopian! So "Bennington Terrace Estates" it is!