Weekend Wakeup: Silver Line construction to close four Metro stations

Dave Dildine, wtop.com

WASHINGTON – There will be a few work zones worth avoiding on parts of the Metrorail system this weekend.

Riders on the Orange Line will face a detour as crews work to join the Silver Line tracks to the Metrorail system in Falls Church.

Road construction should not cause any major disruptions to travel. The various projects scheduled along parts of Interstate 95, the Capital Beltway, Interstate 270 and New York Avenue in Northeast D.C. will occur during the overnight and morning hours. In Southeast D.C., demolition work is scheduled on Sunday near the 11th Street Bridge. A short stretch of M Street is expected to be blocked near the Navy Yard.

Wet weather may hinder work crews Saturday. Drivers should prepare for slippery conditions and road spray, especially south and east of Washington.

On Metro, detours and delays

Metro riders who use the Orange Line this weekend in Virginia should expect delays.

The Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project continues construction of the Silver Line. There will be no rail service between Ballston and Vienna.

There will also be two work zones on the Red Line this weekend. Metro cancelled its previously scheduled testing of railcars along the Green Line this weekend. The Blue and Yellow lines are expected to run at normal intervals.

Orange Line

  • Free shuttle buses replace trains on the Orange Line between Vienna and Ballston.
  • Vienna, Dunn Loring, West Falls Church and East Falls Church stations will be closed.
  • Work begins on Friday at 10 p.m. and lasts through system closing Sunday.
  • Express buses will connect riders directly between Vienna and Ballston. Delays up to 25 minutes are possible.
  • Local buses will ferry customers to each of the four closed stations. Delays up to 50 minutes are possible.

Red Line

  • Single tracking between Friendship Heights and Van Ness.
  • Single tracking between Takoma and Rhode Island Avenue.
  • Riders traveling through either work zone should expect delays of up to 20 minutes.
  • Red Line trains will operate at maximum of 24 minute intervals, with increased service during the daytime hours downtown.

Road work ahead, weather permitting

Crews plan to work on a guardrail along I-270 between Clopper Road and Route 118 in Germantown if the weather cooperates. Crews may block up to two lanes either way at times throughout the day. Delays are not expected to result from this work.

Bridge inspection on I-270 under Route 28 in Rockville is scheduled on Sunday from 5 a.m. until noon. Up to two northbound lanes may be closed during this time.

Saturday night repair work on the Beltway is scheduled to block the express lanes ramps to and from Gallows Road. The repair work will last until 8 a.m. Sunday.

Monthly maintenance testing of the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge is scheduled for this Sunday morning, Feb. 24, from 5 a.m. through 8 a.m. The bridge will be fully open much of that time and traffic will not be able to get by.

M Street and bridge demolition

On Sunday, a portion of M Street Southeast will be blocked for demolition of the old inbound span of the 11th Street Bridge. The work is scheduled to take place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Most of the old bridge has already been dismantled but the defunct abutments remain exposed on the western edge of the Anacostia River, south of M Street.

The demolition will require crews to block the off-ramp from the current inbound 11th Street Bridge to M Street. Travelers headed to Navy Yard should exit onto 8th Street SE instead. The main bridge will remain open but the inbound side of the smaller Local 11th Street Bridge between Anacostia and Navy Yard will be closed.

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