Nearly Month-Long Metro Shutdown Of 2 Blue Line Stations To Begin

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Metro riders in the Alexandria area are preparing for a nearly month-long Metro shutdown starting Saturday.

The Franconia-Springfield and Van Dorn Street stations will be closed from July 5 to 26. Free local and express shuttle buses will serve as alternatives during the shutdown, and free parking will also be offered at the Franconia-Springfield and Van Dorn Street stations.

Metro announced plans for the construction work in February. Crews will be upgrading the train control system, replacing the obsolete signal system and making system upgrades to provide a bridge to a potential new signal system. Metro said the alternative to a full shutdown would have been 10 weekend outages and 10 weeks of early weekday closures.

Shuttles planned during the shutdown are a local shuttle between Franconia-Springfield, Van Dorn St., Eisenhower Ave. and King St.-Old Town every eight to 10 minutes and an express shuttle between Franconia-Springfield and Pentagon every eight to 10 minutes.

While Yellow Line stations will remain open, single-tracking is planned on two weekends. Metro will have single-tracking between Huntington and Braddock Road on July 12 and 13 and July 19 and 20. Crews are replacing ties and fixing ballast that supports the tracks to make rides smoother. Metro said delays are possible during the single-tracking.

The shutdown will come the day after July 5 fireworks festivities in D.C., which typically draws higher Metro ridership. However, the Blue Line shutdown and Yellow Line single-tracking will happen during Alexandria's Birthday Celebration with fireworks on the evening of Saturday, July 12.

The next Metro shutdown will be on the Green Line, with the Naylor Road, Suitland, and Branch Ave being closed from Aug. 2 to 31.