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Chilled air system coming to Dupont Circle Metro after years of delay

The station has been without air conditioning for three years.

NORTHWEST, D.C. — Metro riders at Dupont Circle are the transit system's hottest.

We mean that literally.

The station has been without air conditioning for three years.

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Now, WMATA has finally secured permits to fix its underground air chilling units. The system pumps cool air into the sometimes sticky station, 114 feet underground.

The chillers, designed to keep the station five degrees cooler than outside, went offline in 2015. A fix was held up by red tape. Metro said it required digging up busy Connecticut Avenue on District property.

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"Metro has all of the necessary permits in place," said Metro Spokesman Dan Stessel on Tuesday.

Now, Metro will dig up one lane of Connecticut Avenue going north. The broken chiller pipes are between between L and Desales Streets NW. The permanent fix won't be done until this fall, the transit agency said.

In the meantime, WMATA says a temporary cooling tower be put in place sometime this week and will stay in place until October.

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