WASHINGTON — Heads up, Orange Line riders: Metro is warning commuters that one station parking lot will close and two will have fewer spaces starting in March as crews prepare to completely rebuild platforms.
While Metro’s 2020 summer shutdown on the Orange Line is still more than three months away, "pre-construction" activity to support the massive platform-rebuilding project will begin in a matter of weeks, including major parking changes.
Metro is urging customers who park at these stations to start planning now.
Metro's 2020 summer project will rebuild the four outdoor Orange Line stations in Virginia, all located in the median of I-66: Vienna, Dunn Loring, West Falls Church, and East Falls Church.
Due to the stations' location and extreme space limitations, Metro said construction crews will need to utilize surface parking lots to stage heavy equipment and tons of material.
Beginning March 15, the surface parking lots at East Falls Church, West Falls Church, and Vienna stations will be closed for seven to nine months as construction contractors begin the process of moving material and machines into place.
Once the three lots close, there will be no parking available at East Falls Church, severely limited parking at West Falls Church, and reduced parking at Vienna Station.
The good news: parking at Dunn Loring station will not be impacted.
According to Metro, the platform work is necessary to fix years of concrete structural deterioration that, left unaddressed, could pose a safety risk to riders.
Metro said they will use the time to make improvements that enhance customer experience with a higher level of safety, accessibility, and convenience -- with the major renovations including new slip-resistant tiles throughout the stations, brighter energy-efficient LED lighting and illuminated handrails, new stainless steel platform shelters with charging ports and digital map/information displays, and new Passenger Information Displays (PIDs) with larger digital screens to improve visibility.
According to Metro officials, about 50% of spaces at West Falls Church will be unavailable; leaving about 1,100 parking spots open in the garage — all of which are expected to be taken by 7 a.m. each day.
The Vienna station will lose about 10% of spots, leaving 4,200 spaces available each day. The Kiss & Ride lot at the East Falls Church station will remain open for pick-up and drop-off only, Metro officials said.
Anyone parked in a spot that will close after midnight on March 15 could be towed, according to Metro.
Just last summer, WMATA closed six stations on the Blue/Yellow Line last summer during phase one of the Platform Improvement Project.
"Metro provided shuttle bus service that successfully provided 26,000 trips per weekday," WMATA said in a press release.
Metro also noted that last summer's construction work ended on time.
Four Green/Yellow stations that need platform work will be rescheduled to a later phase of the project.