Split of Metro Line Has Many Riders Singing the Blues

By Dr. Gridlock
Sunday, November 16, 2008

Metrorail riders turned all kinds of colors when we asked them to discuss the Metro staff's proposal to split Blue Line service.

Under the proposal, some trains would take the Yellow Line bridge over the Potomac River rather than battling Orange Line trains at the Rosslyn tunnel.

In response to staff writer Lena H. Sun's request for comment ("Breaking the Blue Line Jams," Oct. 26), we received seven e-mails in favor and 21 against. Some other writers just wanted to offer a color recommendation to designate the new service. Pink seemed a favorite, with one writer saying it would help to calm commuters.

Almost all the writers offered detailed remarks, and those from Arlington County were particularly passionate. Whether people were for or against the change often depended on where they live and work.

If the Metro board approves a rerouting, it probably wouldn't happen till mid-2009.

These are excerpts from some letters:

Metro correctly understands that the only way to decongest Rosslyn is to reduce the number of trains entering the tunnel and have some Blue trains enter downtown Washington via L'Enfant Plaza instead.

This would help relieve the Rosslyn- Foggy Bottom mess. Although this may inconvenience some Blue Line travelers, the trade-off should be well worth it, improving the commute for thousands of Orange Line travelers.

Harvey Bronstein

Arlington

Many of the Franconia-Springfield line passengers that I ride with each morning make a mass exodus at Farragut West downtown.

I don't see how rerouting trains onto the Yellow and Green lines will improve the commute.

Jennifer Topping

Alexandria

Metro's proposal to deal with the chronic choke point at Rosslyn by diverting some Blue Line trains up through L'Enfant Plaza to Greenbelt is a brilliant solution.

The original design [of Metrorail] fixated on Metro Center as the center point of the system, but when the Green Line was completed, it created a flexible box downtown of several high-use stations.

Virginians can benefit from using the new line to connect via Greenbelt to the B30 Metrobus to BWI and its range of less-expensive airlines. And Marylanders can get directly to National Airport.

The open box at the center allows Metro to start to approximate the really major subways of London and Paris, which allow a multiplicity of connections. The color for the new line? Brown is too boring. How about hot pink?

Catherine Donnelly

University Park

I don't care what color designation Metro uses for the Blue Line trains they're going to take away to "break jams" at Rosslyn. This is an absolutely disastrous plan.

This means less service for riders who live along the Blue Line corridor and work near Farragut West, McPherson Square and Metro Center -- very busy stations during commuting and business hours.

What are they supposed to do? Allocate an extra half-hour to their commutes to change trains at L'Enfant Plaza and backtrack through town? Aren't our fares the same as everyone else's?

Lynda Meyers

Arlington

The Blue trains that continue to serve Rosslyn will be even more crowded, and the platforms at Rosslyn will experience dangerous overcrowding.

I realize that Orange and Blue trains often bottleneck at Rosslyn. It extends my commute by one to two minutes. I'm willing to live with that.

Reducing Blue service will replace the train bottleneck with a human bottleneck, creating more problems than it solves. In contrast, adding cars to Yellow trains will solve the capacity problem on that route.

Jim Vedda

Alexandria

A Seasonal Suggestion

Dear Dr. Gridlock:

In many previous years on Thanksgiving, the Dr. Gridlock column has run letters from readers about kindnesses given to them when they have car trouble. Thanksgiving is the best time for that, I think. Or maybe Christmas?

Kay Habeger

Falls Church

We don't need to limit the "thank you's" to roadside assistance. There are good Samaritans on our trains, buses, trails and sidewalks as well. Let me know at drgridlock@washpost.comif you have benefited from a traveler's kindness.

Dr. Gridlock appears Thursday in the Extras and Sunday in the Metro section. You can send e-mails to drgridlock@washpost.com. Include your name, community and phone numbers. Some letters are published. Get There: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/getthere.