Happy Near everyone!  The Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA) has asked our office to share information on upcoming scheduled plans that will affect services for  the next two holiday weekends.

Metrorail operations and service on the Red Line and the Orange and Blue Lines will be impacted during  the Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday Weekend (January 18-21) and the President's Day Holiday Weekend (February 15-18, 2008)  in order to facilitate major maintenance work at the Metro Center Station.

Deteriorating bearing pads under the structural abutments of Metro Center’s Red Line Platform are being changed because of wear that is creating stress on the supporting structure.  The new bearing Pads are an elastomeric type that are flexible, capable of expanding and contracting and returning to their original dimensions without fatigue.  These bearing pads also dampen vibrations and allow heavy loads to be uniformly distributed onto the supports. 

Replacement work is being performed on the Red Line Platform Bridge that spans over the Orange/Blue Line rail tracks below, and upon which Metro’s tiled platform is placed.  The bearing pads are at each end of a box beam that is supported on each side by concrete abutments.  The platform bridge consists of a concrete box beam that is the primary structural support, but also serves as a utility conduit. 

The replacement requires the use of jacks to lift each side of the bridge as much as 4 inches to remove the old bearing pads and insert new ones.  In addition to the worn bearing pads, the platform, over time, has sagged and will require building up to the level of the train car floor.  The work requires removal of the platform tiles so that the base and surface can be set to the appropriate level. Then the tiles must be replaced.

Work will be conducted around-the-clock during the two holiday weekends.  During Martin Luther King, Jr., and Presidents Day weekends, work will begin at 10 p.m. on respective Fridays and continue through 4 a.m. on Tuesday morning.  The project will be divided into four phases with phases 1 and 2 being done on Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday weekend, and phases 3 and 4 being done on President’s Day weekend. 

Doing this work on weekends is preferred because it impacts fewer riders and the holiday weekend’s provide WMATA staff with more time to complete the work.  Rail service on all three lines will be slower and single tracking will be required over portions of the lines.

Red Line Service Pattern:

• Red Line trains from Shady Grove and Glenmont stations will depart every 9 minutes.
• After 10 p.m., these trains from Shady Grove and Glenmont stations will depart every 15 to 18 minutes.
• Red Line trains between Farragut North and Judiciary Square stations will operate every 18 to 20 minutes, two at a time, sharing one track.
• During the day, it will take 18 to 20 minutes to get through the single tracking area.  However, during the evening the delay will instead be 15 to 18 minutes.  Trains could be holding approximately 6 minutes through the single-track area.  After 10 p.m., trains will travel every 15 to 18 minutes

Blue and Orange Line Service Pattern:

• Blue and Orange Line trains will depart from terminal stations - Vienna, New Carrollton, Largo Town Center and Franconia-Springfield - every 16 minutes.
• After 10 p.m., these Blue and Orange Line trains from Vienna, New Carrollton, Largo Town Center and Franconia-Springfield will depart every 20 minutes
• Blue and Orange Line trains will operate between McPherson Square and Smithsonian stations every 16 to 18 minutes, two at a time, sharing one track.

Customers should expect their trips to take up to 30 minutes longer than usual on these weekends.
 
WMATA will launch a major effort to inform our customers of these maintenance related changes to impact the Red Line and the Orange and Blue lines during the Martin Luther King, Jr. and President's Day holiday weekends in the next several days.