Van Ness–UDC station is a

Washington Metro The Washington Metro, often abbreviated as the Metro and formally the Metrorail, is a rapid transit system serving the Washington metropolitan area of the United States. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ...

station serving the Forest Hills and North Cleveland Park neighborhoods of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, United States. The

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

ed station was opened on December 5, 1981, and is operated by the

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional public transit agency that operates transit services in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA provides rapid transit servic ...

(WMATA). Providing service for the Red Line, the station is on the 4200 block of Connecticut Avenue NW, with exits on either side of the street. The station is also close to the

University of the District of Columbia The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C., United States. The only public university in the city, it traces its origins to 1851 and opened in its current form in 1 ...

(UDC), as well as to both

Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the old ...

and the Edmund Burke School.

Station layout

Van Ness–UDC station is the northernmost station in the tunnel beneath Connecticut Avenue, one of Washington's busiest thoroughfares. After northbound trains leave the station, the tunnel shifts westwards underneath Yuma Street and at the next station, Tenleytown–AU, the tunnel then parallels the route of

Wisconsin Avenue Wisconsin Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Washington, D.C., and its Maryland suburbs. The southern terminus begins in Georgetown just north of the Potomac River, at an intersection with K Street under the elevated Whitehurst Freeway. Wisco ...

into

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. Architecturally, Van Ness–UDC is similar to other stations along the underground stretch of the Red Line between Woodley Park and Medical Center. Because of the high cost of the four-coffer waffle design and the relative large depth of these stations, pre-fabricated concrete segments were shipped to the construction site and placed together to form the structure of the station. This resulted in what is now known as the "Arch I" station design of the Washington Metro. Access to the station is provided by banks of escalators on either side of Connecticut Avenue, north of Veazey Terrace, which meet in an upper mezzanine and connect to a set of three long escalators to reach fare control. An elevator on the southwest corner of the intersection connects directly to the main mezzanine.

History

The station opened on December 5, 1981. Its opening coincided with the completion of of rail northwest of the

Dupont Circle station Dupont Circle station is an underground rapid transit station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro in Washington, D.C. Located below the traffic circle, it is one of the busiest stations in the Metro system, with an average of 16,948 entr ...

and the opening of the

Cleveland Park Cleveland Park is a residential neighborhood in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. It is located at and bounded approximately by Rock Creek Park to the east, Wisconsin and Idaho Avenues to the west, Klingle and Woodley Roads to the sou ...

and Woodley Park stations. It served as the northwestern terminus of the Red Line until the opening of an extension to the then-named Grosvenor station on August 25, 1984.

References

External links

Station entrances on Google Maps Street View
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Ness-UDC station Forest Hills (Washington, D.C.) Washington Metro stations in Washington, D.C. Stations on the Red Line (Washington Metro) Railway stations in the United States opened in 1981 Railway stations in Washington, D.C., at university and college campuses 1981 establishments in Washington, D.C. Railway stations located underground in Washington, D.C.