Woodley Park station
| Company type | Washington Metro station |
|---|---|
| Industry | Public transportation |
| Founded | December 5, 1981 |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. , United States |
Area served | Woodley Park and Adams Morgan neighborhoods, Washington, D.C. |
Woodley Park station—also referred to as Woodley Park–Zoo/Adams Morgan—is a subterranean stop on the Red Line of the Washington Metro. Positioned at the intersection of 24th Street and Connecticut Avenue Northwest, it primarily serves the Woodley Park and Adams Morgan neighborhoods in Northwest Washington.
Station layout
Breaking from the standard downtown Washington design featuring waffle-patterned coffered ceilings, Woodley Park was the first to incorporate a more straightforward four-coffer arch. This approach enabled precasting of components in Winchester, Virginia and subsequent assembly on site, resulting in cost savings compared to the traditional cast-in-place waffle-style arches.
Access to the station’s mezzanine is provided by two banks of three escalators connected via a brief corridor just beneath street level. The primary entrance is located at the southwest corner where Connecticut Avenue meets Woodley Road. An elevator facilitates movement between street level and the mezzanine, which contains fare gates and leads down to the island platform. Additionally, a knockout panel is present for a pedestrian tunnel that was planned but never constructed.
Built using rock-tunneling techniques, Woodley Park station sits roughly underground, making it the second deepest station after Forest Glen. Its escalators have a vertical height of , ranking as the longest within Washington, D.C., and third longest in the entire system after those at Wheaton and Bethesda stations.
History
The station commenced operations on December 5, 1981, coinciding with the Red Line extension northwestward from Dupont Circle station and the simultaneous opening of Cleveland Park station and Van Ness–UDC station.
Initially named "Zoological Park," community feedback in 1979 led to renaming it "Woodley Park–Zoo," as the original name was considered misleading given that the National Zoological Park is approximately away. In 1999, "Adams Morgan" was appended to reflect the adjacent neighborhood across Duke Ellington Bridge. On November 3, 2011, the official designation was shortened to "Woodley Park," while "Zoo/Adams Morgan" became a subtitle.
On November 3, 2004, an accident occurred when an out-of-service train rolled backward into a stationary train at Woodley Park. The collision injured around 20 passengers and resulted in $3.5 million in damages. Operator fatigue was identified as the cause.
Between 2015 and 2018, the station’s original escalators were replaced to enhance safety and operational dependability.