http://wtop.com/tracking-metro-24-7/2016/06/wtop-track-work-guide-first-surge-june-4-16/
12:08 pm, June 2, 2016
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For everyone from riders facing more delays to drivers who may have to sit in much more traffic, to bartenders or baseball fans stuck without a way home late at night, Metro’s nearly yearlong work beginning this weekend will have wide-ranging effects. But there are some other ways to get around it.


The first major construction work will have the largest impact on Orange and Silver line riders between Ballston and Vienna and Wiehle-Reston East during two weeks of work between Ballston and East Falls Church, an area identified as a priority by the Federal Transit Administration.

There will also be significantly fewer trains than usual to Stadium-Armory. Blue Line trains will remain on normal schedules. And Silver Line trains will run only once every 18 minutes. Metro estimates that will lead to 47 percent fewer trains than usual at rush hour in the area.


Metro suggests all riders take the first available train headed in the right direction, even if it will require getting off on a platform farther down the line to transfer.

Since Metro will run some extra Orange Line trains between Ballston and New Carrollton, riders heading toward D.C. in the morning may be able to find some breathing room by getting off at Ballston and boarding an inbound train from the opposite platform.

Riders through stations between Ballston and Stadium-Armory downtown and between New Carrollton and Stadium-Armory should also expect to see fewer trains than usual.

Across the system, Metro will shut down at midnight on weekends beginning Friday. The midnight closures are planned to last for at least the next year, but Metro is not offering any additional late-night bus service or other alternatives.

Off-peak riders can also expect delays, as Metro will continue to work on more routine maintenance in other parts of the system alongside the safety surges. Riders who take Metro between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. or after 8 p.m. weekdays, or on weekends, can also expect to run into work zones.

Northern Virginia workarounds

Metro riders who usually drive to Vienna, Wiehle-Reston East or other stations west of Ballston should consider driving to a different station, because trains will only run from each of those stations every 18 minutes at rush hour. For residents of Loudoun, Prince William and western Fairfax counties, other options include Virginia Railway Express or driving to the parking garages at the Franconia-Springfield, Van Dorn Street and Huntington Metro stations.

Related Gallery


A guide to Metro’s SafeTrack program
A step-by-step guide to what lines will single track, and which stations will be closed, during Metro’s yearlong reconstruction project.
Commuter bus services are also an option, including PRTC from Prince William County and Manassas, Loudoun County Transit and the regular Fairfax Connector routes as well as temporary rush-hour express service Fairfax Connector will provide between the Pentagon and the Reston North Park and Ride and Vienna Metro Station.
Prices for the alternative options vary, although parking is free in most cases at non-Metro lots.

One-way fares on PRTC OmniRide buses are $8.30, Loudoun County Transit commuter buses cost $8 with a SmarTrip card; Fairfax Connector fares for the special service will be $4.

Metro is also adding additional 5A buses between the Herndon-Monroe Park and Ride and Rosslyn. The 5A’s usual trips between L’Enfant Plaza, Rosslyn, Herndon and Dulles Airport will remain on their usual schedules. A Metro representative said that riding any of the buses marked 5A will require the full $7 airport bus fare.

For riders who cannot drive or take a bus to a different station than usual, Metro is adding additional bus service on the 2A (Dunn Loring-East Falls Church-Ballston), 3A (East Falls Church-Annandale), 3T (East Falls Church-McLean), 3Y (East Falls Church-Rosslyn-Farragut Square-McPherson Square), 15K & 15L (East Falls Church-Rosslyn), and 26A East Falls Church-NoVa Annandale) lines.

There will also be free shuttle buses between Ballston and East Falls Church and West Falls Church.

From the bus shelters in front of the Ballston station, a number of bus routes can help riders reach destinations without paying the rail fare.

The 1A runs between Vienna and Ballston, 1B between Dunn Loring and Ballston, 1E between Seven Corners and Ballston, the 10B between Hunting Point and Ballston, the 22A and 22C between Ballston and the Pentagon, 23B between Crystal City and Ballston, 23T between Shirlington and Tysons Corner Center, 25B between Ballston and Van Dorn Street and the 38B between Ballston and Farragut Square.

Metro plans to add extra rush-hour buses on the 38B route, which stops at all Orange Line stops between Ballston and Farragut West.

ART Bus in Arlington also has several routes that may provide options: ART 52 (Ballston-Va. Hospital Center-East Falls Church), ART 53 (Ballston-Old Glebe-East Falls Church), ART 55 (East Falls Church-Lee Highway-Rosslyn), and ART 62 (Courthouse-Lorcom Lane-Ballston).

For all of these alternatives, it is important to check the schedules carefully of multiple potential options for the earliest departures in the morning, the service available in the middle of the day and the latest departure in the afternoon or evening.

Metro says its trip planner is updated to reflect this first stretch of 24/7 work, but General Manager Paul Wiedefeld acknowledged Wednesday that Metro will still face problems with equipment such as railcars or insulators that could affect the schedule.


Prince George’s County workarounds

For Prince George’s County Metro riders, there are no additional options during the first work period, despite the major reduction in service between Largo Town Center and Stadium-Armory.

TheBus will run full regular service but cannot add additional buses or routes. And Metrobus has not added any routes.

Blue or Silver Line riders who can get to a different station may want to drive to an Orange Line station between New Carrollton and Minnesota Avenue, because there will be more frequent trains. All of those Orange Line stations have Metro parking garages.

MARC trains from New Carrollton or Riverdale could be another alternative for riders in northern Prince George’s County.

For riders from southern Maryland and some other areas, MTA commuter buses might be the best choice. Routes run from areas such as La Plata and Waldorf to the District.

With all of the complications, more commuters could choose to drive, which regional transportation leaders say could create more traffic jams.

They are ready to adjust traffic lights. And some areas may have special bus-only lanes to try to move more people through more quickly.

Carpooling, group rides and other options

For commuters across the region, carpooling or other shared-ride options may help smooth out commutes through HOV lanes or toll lanes. In Northern Virginia, the options also include slugging.

Drivers new to group rides will need to be sure they have an EZPass Flex to take advantage of a free ride in the 95 or 495 Express Lanes. While those require three people in the car or a toll, the HOV rules on Interstate 66 only require two or more people to use the HOV lane outside the Beltway. Inside the Beltway, I-66 is HOV only toward D.C. in the morning and back in the afternoon.

The transition that will allow solo drivers to pay a toll to use the lanes during an expanded rush hour will not happen until summer 2017.

In Maryland, HOV lanes on Route 50 require two or more people in the car to use the lanes at any time of day. (Maryland also has HOV lanes on Interstate 270 that could see a surge in use during later stretches of track work that impact the Red Line).

Both Maryland and Virginia expect the HOV rules to remain in effect during the Metro work.

What’s next

The situation for many riders on the Silver, Orange and Blue lines is not slated to get better, even after this first surge of work is done because the next work zone also impacts all the three lines.

The round-the-clock single tracking between East Falls Church and Ballston is scheduled to run from June 4-16. Next, Metro plans to shut down the tracks on the Blue, Orange and Silver lines entirely between Eastern Market and Minnesota Avenue/Benning Road. That closure is set to run from June 18 to July 3.

Fairfax Connector plans to run similar special express bus service during that second work period while other agencies plan to announce potential changes later.

The Office of Personnel Management has said that individual agencies will have to decide how best to help federal employees cope with the service reductions.

If it hadn't been for years of anti-tax TEA Party fuckwads trying to bleed the system dry, all this work would have been funded and completed long ago with much less inconvenience to the public. Thanks for nothing, right-wing assholes!

Fucked up enouigh already Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If it hadn't been for years of anti-tax TEA Party
> fuckwads trying to bleed the system dry, all this
> work would have been funded and completed long ago
> with much less inconvenience to the public.
> Thanks for nothing, right-wing assholes!

Actually, it was your nigger friends sleeping on the fucking job and niggering up the tracks for decades that's finally coming home to roost. Just like a dumb fucking liberal to notice we spent billions on something and say we should have given the niggers even more money to waste.

What the fuck do you care, you ride a fucking trike to your McJob anyway.

Nog hauler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What the fuck do you care, you ride a fucking trike to your McJob anyway.

I'm sure that made you -- a lower-class, white-trash, scum-sucking asshole -- feel much better. The facts of the matter meanwhile remain that -- like FCPS -- Metro was sent careening into its present difficulties by assfuck right-wing morons convinced that under-funding the system for decades was a great idea that would have no deleterious effects at all. Metro (or FCPS) would simply get creative and find ways to get by without having anywhere near the funds needed to do what they were being asked to do. Nothing bad would ever happen. That's just how totally fucking stupid you braindead right-wing assfucks actually are!

You should see what goes on behind the scenes at metro for the last few decades. I can tell you for a fact that funding had precious little to do with the system now circling the bowl. And this SafeTrack bullshit is a band-aid on stage 4 cancer. Keep blaming the republicans though. That usually works.

DU7L3 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You should see what goes on behind the scenes at
> metro for the last few decades. I can tell you
> for a fact that funding had precious little to do
> with the system now circling the bowl. And this
> SafeTrack bullshit is a band-aid on stage 4
> cancer. Keep blaming the republicans though. That
> usually works.

Blow it out your ass, you fucking degenerate. You couldn't reliably tell me today's date, and you for sure don't know a damned thing about the financing and operations of Metro. You're nothing more than an old blind dog howling at the fire engines as they rumble down the street. Go put a sock in it, Fido. This Metro mess is the product of exactly what you assholes wanted. Sensible people tried to tell you what would happen if we went down this road. Now exactly that has happened and you shits want to claim that it's everybody's fault but YOUR OWN. Go suck on a donkey dick, you mindless, dork-brained loser.

The outer limits of stupid Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> DU7L3 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > You should see what goes on behind the scenes
> at
> > metro for the last few decades. I can tell you
> > for a fact that funding had precious little to
> do
> > with the system now circling the bowl. And
> this
> > SafeTrack bullshit is a band-aid on stage 4
> > cancer. Keep blaming the republicans though.
> That
> > usually works.
>
> Blow it out your ass, you fucking degenerate. You
> couldn't reliably tell me today's date, and you
> for sure don't know a damned thing about the
> financing and operations of Metro. You're nothing
> more than an old blind dog howling at the fire
> engines as they rumble down the street. Go put a
> sock in it, Fido. This Metro mess is the product
> of exactly what you assholes wanted. Sensible
> people tried to tell you what would happen if we
> went down this road. Now exactly that has
> happened and you shits want to claim that it's
> everybody's fault but YOUR OWN. Go suck on a
> donkey dick, you mindless, dork-brained loser.


Lack of capital funding is not and never has been Metro's problem. It ends up with a surplus in CIP in most years. The primary shortfall isn't in money for capital improvements, maintenance, or safety programs. The gap that some are trying to fill by calling for more funding is on the revenue side since it can't realistically raise fares enough to keep up with anticipated increases in operating costs, primarily increasing personnel costs.

Now you might justifiably blame cheaping out in the initial two-track design for greater impact when there are problems and making maintenance more difficult. And the cumbersome mechanism by which it gets its funding. But capital funding itself has not been the issue.

FTA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The outer limits of stupid Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > DU7L3 Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > You should see what goes on behind the scenes
> > at
> > > metro for the last few decades. I can tell
> you
> > > for a fact that funding had precious little
> to
> > do
> > > with the system now circling the bowl. And
> > this
> > > SafeTrack bullshit is a band-aid on stage 4
> > > cancer. Keep blaming the republicans though.
> > That
> > > usually works.
> >
> > Blow it out your ass, you fucking degenerate.
> You
> > couldn't reliably tell me today's date, and you
> > for sure don't know a damned thing about the
> > financing and operations of Metro. You're
> nothing
> > more than an old blind dog howling at the fire
> > engines as they rumble down the street. Go put
> a
> > sock in it, Fido. This Metro mess is the
> product
> > of exactly what you assholes wanted. Sensible
> > people tried to tell you what would happen if
> we
> > went down this road. Now exactly that has
> > happened and you shits want to claim that it's
> > everybody's fault but YOUR OWN. Go suck on a
> > donkey dick, you mindless, dork-brained loser.
>
>
> Lack of capital funding is not and never has been
> Metro's problem. It ends up with a surplus in CIP
> in most years. The primary shortfall isn't in
> money for capital improvements, maintenance, or
> safety programs. The gap that some are trying to
> fill by calling for more funding is on the revenue
> side since it can't realistically raise fares
> enough to keep up with anticipated increases in
> operating costs, primarily increasing personnel
> costs.
>
> Now you might justifiably blame cheaping out in
> the initial two-track design for greater impact
> when there are problems and making maintenance
> more difficult. And the cumbersome mechanism by
> which it gets its funding. But capital funding
> itself has not been the issue.

Asshole Spotter sure is angry. At least this time he has a leg to stand on.

Nog hauler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Actually, it was your nigger friends sleeping on
> the fucking job and niggering up the tracks for
> decades that's finally coming home to roost. Just
> like a dumb fucking liberal to notice we spent
> billions on something and say we should have given
> the niggers even more money to waste.
>
> What the fuck do you care, you ride a fucking
> trike to your McJob anyway.


Did you copy this out of The Blaze?

FTA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lack of capital funding is not and never has been Metro's problem.

You're full of crap. Why did Congress have to pony up an emergency $5 billion in 2011?

> It ends up with a surplus in CIP in most years.

There should be a surplus in EVERY year, dummy. If there isn't, it means you have robbed Peter to pay Paul. This is no way to run any railroad. Capital programs are after all LONG-TERM programs. You need access to a flow of funds before you can commit them, but it will take years to see those funds completely expended. By which time of course, you will need to be on to the next batch. Do you simply not understand how any of this works?

> The gap that some are trying to fill by calling for more funding is
> on the revenue side since it can't realistically raise fares enough
> to keep up with anticipated increases in operating costs, primarily
> increasing personnel costs.

Want to blame niggers and unions??? The problem is that Metro has to go begging to every jurisdiction for funding every single year and those bodies have increasingly come under the malevolent influences of the Great Recession (itself a product of dumbfuck right-wing economics) and TEA Party morons whose answer to everything is to cut taxes and spending. This is of course nothing but a recipe for disaster, and that's exactly what it has produced. You simply have to pay the piper if you want the system to work properly.

What Metro has long needed in that vein of course is a reliable dedicated source of funding, one that is not within the day-to-day grasp or reach of the whims and passions of pandering politicians. Everyone who lives in this area benefits from Metro. A modest regional tax would have been enough to avoid current problems, and it still would be enough to ward off continuation of such problems into the future.

> Now you might justifiably blame cheaping out in
> the initial two-track design for greater impact
> when there are problems and making maintenance
> more difficult.

Visions of sugar plums. You could not have gotten a more than 2-track system built. And if it had somehow been built, the carping assholes of today would be complaining that it never should have been -- that it was all just a giant sop to liberals, immigrants, and construction unions resulting in a giant white elephant money pit! Want something a little more potentially practical to push for? Try lobbying for cross-color connections at line intersections. GGW has more on that, not much of it very encouraging.

scorekeeper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Asshole Spotter sure is angry. At least this time
> he has a leg to stand on.

This latter I imagine is a situation you have often wondered about but never actually experienced for yourself.

"Metro estimates that will lead to 47 percent fewer trains than usual at rush hour in the area."


So will they give us a 47% refund or discount to make up for the service we're paying for but not getting?

Metro is simply an effing joke. The MD and DC libs want it funded by the feds or some other magical source. Metro is obviously nowhere near self-sufficient - the fares are overly subsidized by the feds as it is. Metro is a jobs program for some residents of PG County and if it sometimes gets their passengers safely where they want to go - well, that's an accidental side-benefit.

LOL! It's almost like "The Douche Circus" is in town.

The outer limits of stupid Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> FTA Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Lack of capital funding is not and never has
> been Metro's problem.
>
> You're full of crap. Why did Congress have to
> pony up an emergency $5 billion in 2011?


It didn't as any kind of a short-fall. The Metro board approved an additional $5 billion safety improvement program as part of its CIP budget for 2011 with funding it received from the ARRA with additional funds provided by local entities. Which btw completely undercuts your argument that they didn't receive adequate funding. In fact, they got much more than was planned and the money specifically was dedicated to safety and infrastructure improvements.

Even Wiedefeld said in the hearing held last week that funding is not the problem.

> > It ends up with a surplus in CIP in most years.
>
>
> There should be a surplus in EVERY year, dummy.
> If there isn't, it means you have robbed Peter to
> pay Paul. This is no way to run any railroad.
> Capital programs are after all LONG-TERM programs.
> You need access to a flow of funds before you can
> commit them, but it will take years to see those
> funds completely expended. By which time of
> course, you will need to be on to the next batch.
> Do you simply not understand how any of this
> works?
>

Duh. That's why they do the CIP budget on a six-year basis and that's how it is funded. An operating surplus not budgeted CIP money not yet spent.


> > The gap that some are trying to fill by calling
> for more funding is
> > on the revenue side since it can't realistically
> raise fares enough
> > to keep up with anticipated increases in
> operating costs, primarily
> > increasing personnel costs.
>
> Want to blame niggers and unions??? The problem
> is that Metro has to go begging to every
> jurisdiction for funding every single year and
> those bodies have increasingly come under the
> malevolent influences of the Great Recession
> (itself a product of dumbfuck right-wing
> economics) and TEA Party morons whose answer to
> everything is to cut taxes and spending. This is
> of course nothing but a recipe for disaster, and
> that's exactly what it has produced. You simply
> have to pay the piper if you want the system to
> work properly.
>

WTF was that, some kind of Tourette's episode? lmao

Despite your inability to control yourself, the fact remains that according to Metro itself, growth in personnel costs are the primary factor in its anticipated overall cost growth with pension expenses being the largest component.


> What Metro has long needed in that vein of course
> is a reliable dedicated source of funding, one
> that is not within the day-to-day grasp or reach
> of the whims and passions of pandering
> politicians. Everyone who lives in this area
> benefits from Metro. A modest regional tax would
> have been enough to avoid current problems, and it
> still would be enough to ward off continuation of
> such problems into the future.

Yeah, well unfortunately the reality of its service area and how the money flows doesn't match your fantasy world. There is no 'regional' authority to implement any such tax and regardless how you might do it, ultimately the money would come from the same places where it now does.

And if you hadn't heard, right now it's our Democratic Governor who's threatening to withhold money along with the Obama administration's FTA until Metro gets it's own act together.

Quote

RICHMOND, Va. (ABC7) — Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe signed an Executive Directive Wednesday morning during his "Ask the Governor" segment on WTOP instructing transportation officials to create a new Metro Safety Commission working in partnership with the District and Maryland. "We are very serious about this, I am sick and tired of it. I'm very concerned about the system," he said. The governor added that if the safety protocols aren't met, the state plans to withhold funding from Metro. "I want accountability and I want people taking responsibility for their actions," he added.

Currently, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has temporary oversight of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority's (WMATA) rail system. The new safety oversight committee would still need legislative approval. Governor McAuliffe's directive also instructs the state's Department of Rail and Public Transportation to take several steps including reviewing all accident investigations. The legislation to create the new commission will be introduced to the DC Council later this year and next year during the Virginia and Maryland legislative sessions.

>
> > Now you might justifiably blame cheaping out in
> > the initial two-track design for greater impact
> > when there are problems and making maintenance
> > more difficult.
>
> Visions of sugar plums. You could not have gotten
> a more than 2-track system built. And if it had
> somehow been built, the carping assholes of today
> would be complaining that it never should have
> been -- that it was all just a giant sop to
> liberals, immigrants, and construction unions
> resulting in a giant white elephant money pit!
> Want something a little more potentially practical
> to push for? Try lobbying for cross-color
> connections at line intersections. GGW has more
> on that, not much of it very encouraging.

Another Tourette's outburst. Do you actually read first or just decide that you're going to argue whatever rant that you want to go off on and then work back into some nonsense from there? lol

Fact is that, as I said, the initial design as a two-track system results in and increases the effect of problems and makes maintenance and repairs more difficult. Likewise the service area and cumbersome associated funding vs a system entirely located within one state makes things more difficult. But that has nothing to do with not having enough money. There may be battles along the way to get there, but Metro has always been provided the money that it has requested if not more.

The Silver line is most in need of fixing??????

Isn't the Silver Line brand new?????

So while I have to wait 15 minutes to cram into a train that's gonna be filled with goat fuckers and jiggaboos that want to steal my fitbit or rifle around my backpack, I'm paying peak fare to fund half the dice games that happen EOTR every weekend?

Got it.

Silver Line? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Silver line is most in need of fixing??????
>
> Isn't the Silver Line brand new?????


The "new" Silver line itself, from Reston to East Falls Church, is actually fine. It just shares a boatload of track that starts just outside of Arlington and goes well into PG County.

Fucked up enouigh already Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If it hadn't been for years of anti-tax TEA Party
> fuckwads trying to bleed the system dry, all this
> work would have been funded and completed long ago
> with much less inconvenience to the public.
> Thanks for nothing, right-wing assholes!


 
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