WASHINGTON — This December, the D.C. metro is shutting down a few stations for construction.
Downtown Blue, Orange and Silver lines will be closed for 11 days while the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority works on tracks, signaling and more. They plan on replacing grout pads, replacing fasteners and studs, welding open joints and upgrading platform edge lighting.
The shutdowns begin Dec. 20, and all affected stations will reopen Dec. 31.
Here are the dates and stations affected:
Dec. 20-26: Farragut West, McPherson Square and Metro Center’s lower level with Blue, Orange, Silver lines will be closed.
Dec. 27-30: Farragut West, McPherson Square, Metro Center’s lower level, Federal Triangle, Smithsonian and L’Enfant Plaza’s lower level with Blue, Orange, Silver lines will be closed.
While stations are closed, WMATA will offer free shuttle buses at the stations to replace train service.
Metro says they chose these specific dates because ridership is typically low during that time of year and believe it will minimize customer impact. Without this shutdown, Metro says, they would have to have months of weekend shutdowns.