WASHINGTON — This week, Northern Virginia Metro riders will have to deal with station closures along the Orange Line. Four stations — Vienna, Dunn Loring, West Falls Church, and East Falls Church— will be shut down for rail replacements.
Monday morning commuters on the Orange Line woke up to a new routine. Randy Schlegel and dozens of others waited for their buses in Vienna.
“Figure I'll just see how it goes doing the exact same routine as I usually do and see If I have to make adjustments later,” he said.
Metro workers showed commuters the buses to go on and the new routes to take to get them to work, hopefully on time.
“I’ve got a little anxiety, but that’s to be expected, it’s Metro,” Randy said.
For the next three weeks, Metro crews will replace the tracks along four Orange Line stops. The station shutdown at East Falls Church will also disrupt the Silver Line.
For Orange Line commuters during rush hour, shuttle service will run the route to the Ballston stop every five minutes.
The stretch of the Silver Line that runs from McLean through East Falls Church to Ballston will also be replaced with shuttle buses. During rush hour they will run every 5 minutes as well.
There are also express buses running from Vienna to Rosslyn. For Dulles Airport travelers, you can avoid the entire shutdown area with the Silver Line Limited running from Rosslyn or McLean to Dulles.
“So far so good,” Randy said of the first morning commute.
The first wave of commuters seemed to find their way with minimal confusion or disruption. But Randy said it’s not the commute to work he is worried about.
“Let’s see how it is when I’m getting home. More rush hour, more traffic,” he said.