Orange and Blue lines to close downtown next weekend

Transit

Orange and Blue lines to close downtown next weekend

by Matt Johnson • October 1, 2010 11:53 am

Next weekend includes Columbus Day. Because lighter passenger volumes are expected that weekend, Metro is planning disruptive, but necessary trackwork.

The Blue and Orange Lines will be severed by the work zone. There will be no train service at Farragut West or McPherson Square. Blue and Orange trains will not call at Metro Center, either.

All weekend, beginning at 10pm Friday and lasting until Tuesday morning, Blue Line trains will operate from Franconia-Springfield to Foggy Bottom and from Largo Town Center to Federal Triangle. Orange Line trains will operate from Vienna to Foggy Bottom and from New Carrollton to Federal Triangle.

Additionally, on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday before 9:30pm, half of all Blue Line trains departing Franconia-Springfield will travel across the Yellow Line bridge between Pentagon and L'Enfant Plaza. Those trains will run from Franconia to Mount Vernon Square, allowing patrons to bypass the work zone.

~~In the week following the closure, riders should expect trains to travel very slowly though the area.~~ These slow zones are put into place for customer safety, but the agency is not in the habit of announcing this to customers. After last month's Red Line closure, many riders complained about the slowness, and Metro's only response was one belated tweet. Update: Metro has informed us that since these tracks will be affixed to concrete (as opposed to gravel ballast), there will not be a slow zone in place after the track work.

Downtown, Metro will be providing free shuttle buses to get patrons around the closure.

There will be two routes: A clockwise route and a counterclockwise route. They will make stops only at Metro stations, including the closed ones.

Diagram by author.

Metro is advising customers to add 40 minutes to their expected trip time. They are also strongly advising people to avoid the trackwork zone because long waits are expected for shuttle buses.

The work will replace the interlocking at McPherson Square. This replacement has been recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board, and the new interlocking should improve safety for customers. Metro is also using the closure to replace other components in the affected areas.

As always, you can keep track of planned Metro service disruptions on GGW's Disruption Calendar.

15 comments

Tags: Metro, service disruption, WMATA

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Matt Johnson has lived in the Washington region since mid-2007. He has a Master's degree in Community Planning from the University of Maryland and a BS in Public Policy from Georgia Tech. He has worked in the planning field since 2006 and lives in Greenbelt, where he serves on the city's Advisory Planning Board.

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What about this track-work that never happened?

http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=4278

Really getting sick of the speed restrictions between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom (inbound only)

by OutINVA on Oct 1, 2010 11:55 am • link • report

Sounds like a good time for DDOT and WMATA to promote the Rosslyn-Dupont Circulator route, but I doubt they will.

by Chris on Oct 1, 2010 12:57 pm • link • report

Ok, so that weekend I'm going to have to travel to Balston from Waterfront (and then back late in the evening). What will be the best way to do that? These are the options I've come up with:

1. I could just go straight though the construction zone, most likely using the Blue Shuttle route from Federal Triangle.

2. Use Cabi to get to Foggy Bottom

3. Get to L'Enfant, take Yellow to Pentagon, take Blue to Rosslyn, then Orange to Balston.

by Steven Yates on Oct 1, 2010 1:39 pm • link • report

@Steven: If I were you, I'd just take the shuttle. Take the green line to Gallery Place, shuttle to Foggy Bottom, orange line to Ballston.

Alternatively, take the green line to either Gallery Place or Mt. Vernon Sq., Circulator to Foggy Bottom, Orange Line to Ballston.

Or green line to Archives, one of the 30s buses to Foggy Bottom (32 and 36, I think), orange line to Ballston.

by Tim on Oct 1, 2010 1:54 pm • link • report

@ Steven Yates

To get home from Waterfront, take Green to Gallery Place, hop on the blue shuttle to Foggy Bottom, transfer to Orange.

by Michael on Oct 1, 2010 2:04 pm • link • report

@Steven Yates

Bike to Foggy Bottom seems like the easiest to me. The closest station to the metro is at 21st & I NW. Shouldn't take more than 25 minutes. If you factor in waiting for the train and then waiting for the shuttle I bet it'll be faster!

by MLD on Oct 1, 2010 2:20 pm • link • report

This may be a stupid question, but why does Metro even run these shuttles? I understand maybe it works for when they do track work on the end of the Red Line or something, but this seems like a waste of money. Wouldn't it make more sense for them to promote their regular bus lines that already run through that area like the 38B, 30's, Circulators, etc?

by Shipsa01 on Oct 1, 2010 3:27 pm • link • report

The reason they run shuttles is because a single train may have hundreds of passengers on it. Existing transit routes cannot handle the load.

That said, a creative solution might be to beef up the existing routes on the day of so they can handle the load. In that way, Metrorail passengers might learn about local buses that they can use for other trips.

On the other hand (contradicting myself), the beefed up service would be overkill, since it would only be needed for shorter sections of entire routes, so many buses would be running near empty for most of their routes.

Seems like an interesting thread to expand on. Other thoughts on the shuttles?

by Steve O on Oct 1, 2010 3:31 pm • link • report

@ Shipsa01

So are people supposed to pay for these rides on the 30's or 38B ?

by kk on Oct 1, 2010 3:53 pm • link • report

Pay for Metro or Bus? I use a smartrip - isn't that just play money that the Gov gives me every month? Seriously though, I guess they would have to pay, but maybe in the future they could work some deal that if you get picked up on a stop inside a certain zone it would be free (for anyone). Weekend ridership is pretty low anyway I would suspect and if it could get more people to learn the bus system, win-win, right?

by Shipsa01 on Oct 1, 2010 4:02 pm • link • report

Travelers on Amtrak and MARC-on-CSX have long been inured to stretches of slow going through delicate areas. Too hot (kinks), too soggy (washouts or squish-outs), too new (repairs just done), too old (repairs needed)...

The pokey progress is a nuisance, but on the other hand, it's reassuring that Metro lately (since Fort Totten) has been observing slow orders for track conditions.

But slow orders on top of the already out-of-control "sick passengers" are a bit much. The Riders' Advisory Council should take this opportunity to convince Metro to allow the seriously ill to simply decease in place, as on Amtrak.

by Turnip on Oct 1, 2010 8:16 pm • link • report

Why does the Blue Line run to Mt Vernon Sq during this period? I donÂ’t understand why Metro does this every time there is a significant closure. We had the same thing during Snowpocalypse with the Blue Line going to BallstonÂ… The Blue Line doesnÂ’t go to either Mt Vernon Sq or Ballston. For next weekend, why not just replace some of the blue line trains with Yellow line trains rather than confuse everyone with a temporary destination change?

by James on Oct 1, 2010 11:01 pm • link • report

Those trains really should be signed yellow line to Franconia. It would make so much more sense.

by Rob on Oct 2, 2010 8:05 pm • link • report

RE: What about this track-work that never happened?
http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=4278

The track work that was cancelled due to snow last Presidents Day weekend was completed over two seperate weekends in February and March and is not related to the current slowdowns between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom.

by metroopensdoors on Oct 4, 2010 1:33 pm • link • report

Metro has informed us that there will not be a slow zone following the trackwork. Because this section of track is in a tunnel, the tracks will be affixed to concrete (as opposed to gravel ballast), and therefore trains will not be forced to slow after the work has been completed.

I regret the error. The article has been updated.

by Matt Johnson on Oct 4, 2010 2:06 pm • link • report