Opinion ID: 3035921
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: City Hall Station and Courtyard

Text: The second subject of the present dispute is SEPTA’s replacement of an escalator that carried passengers from the concourse above the City Hall Station platform to City Hall Courtyard.8 Located near the 15th Street Station, City Hall Station is one of the busiest stops on the Broad Street subway line and serves as a transfer point between the Broad Street Line, the Market-Frankford Line, and Regional Rail Lines. For 8 The parties dispute whether this escalator is an exit from the City Hall Station platform or from the City Hall Station mezzanine, a concourse one level above the platform. DIA asserts that the escalator “serves as an exit for patrons disembarking from the Broad Street Subway City Hall Station and pedestrians traversing the concourse.” SEPTA admits that the escalator “serves as an exit for pedestrians traversing the concourse” but denies that it is “an exit for patrons disembarking from City Hall Station.” Apparently, the City Hall Courtyard escalator does not extend beyond the mezzanine level so that passengers exiting onto the City Hall Station platform must take another escalator to the mezzanine level, then board the City Hall Courtyard escalator to reach street level. At this stage of the proceedings, we reject SEPTA’s hyper-technical definition of “exit.” Michael Foods, 498 F.3d at 208, 212. The District Court may consider the relevance, if any, of this dispute on remand. 13 instance, from the concourse below City Hall Courtyard, passengers can access the 11th and 13th Street MarketFrankford Line platforms without using stairs. The City Hall Courtyard project was part of SEPTA’s Escalator Replacement Program, launched in 1999 to improve the safety of escalators throughout the system. SEPTA included funding for the program in its FY 2001 Capital Budget after holding a public meeting to discuss the improvements on May 22, 2000. Although no representative of DIA attended the meeting, DIA’s Executive Director testified that DIA reviews SEPTA’s Capital Budget each year and was aware of the project. By August 17, 2001, SEPTA had barricaded the area around the City Hall Courtyard escalator and posted signs that read “Project of the Pennsylvania Public Transportation Assistance Fund; Escalator Replacement at Erie, Spring Garden, City Hall & 30th Street Stations; Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.” SEPTA removed the existing escalator, extended the wellway and relocated the truss upon which it sat, and installed a new escalator. Construction was completed and the escalator was opened to the public on or about August 24, 2003. The finished project did not include an elevator. On February 15, 2005, DIA filed its Fourth Amended Complaint, adding allegations regarding this project.