Repair work closes two Metro stations for the weekend

We'll go into a cool down this weekend, but travel conditions still should be fine in the D.C. area, at least when it comes to the weather. Metro will launch its President's Day weekend track projects at 10 p.m. Friday. The main impact is the closing of Smithsonian and Federal Triangle stations, which severs the Blue and Orange lines in central Washington till the system's midnight closing Monday. Meanwhile, there's plenty of work going on along the Capital Beltway in Virginia. In Maryland, workers are getting part of the Intercounty Connector ready to open at 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Metrorail weekend delays

From 10 p.m. Friday through the midnight closing on Monday, President's Day, there will be no service on the Blue and Orange lines between Metro Center and L'Enfant Plaza. The Federal Triangle and Smithsonian stations will be closed. Metro will replace track switches outside the Smithsonian Station and make other repairs.

The Blue Line will operate between Franconia-Springfield and Metro Center, and between Largo Town Center and L'Enfant Plaza. The Orange Line will operate between Vienna and Metro Center, and between New Carrollton and L'Enfant Plaza.

All Blue and Orange Line trains will be scheduled to operate every 12 to 15 minutes during the daytime, and every 20 minutes at night. As usual, Metro will provide free shuttle buses to bridge the gap between the line segments.

The buses will operate between the stations at Metro Center (12th Street, north of G Street), Federal Triangle (12th Street, south of Pennsylvania Avenue), Smithsonian (Independence Avenue and 12th Street) and L'Enfant Plaza (Maryland Avenue).

Metro also will be working on the Red Line during the holiday weekend. Trains will share one track between Shady Grove and Twinbrook, and between Rhode Island Avenue and New York Avenue.

Beltway in Tysons Corner

Drivers in Tysons Corner see a large horizontal crane, also known as a truss, positioned near the Capital Beltway. The Dulles Metrorail project will use the truss to build the bridges that will carry the tracks over the Beltway at Route 123, requiring many nights of Beltway lane and ramp closings for safety.

These overnight closings will occur Friday, then continue nightly Sundays through Fridays for the next five weeks. Drivers should expect significant delays each night.

Three lanes of the inner loop (northbound Interstate 495) are closing from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. In addition, the ramps from the inner loop to both northbound and southbound Route 123 are closing overnights. Work crews will begin to shut down some lanes as early as 9:30 p.m.

To reach Route 123 from the Beltway when the ramps are closed, follow detour signs north to Georgetown Pike (Route 193), then loop around to return south on the other side of the Beltway to Route 123.