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IT'S NOT A GOOD MORNING for Red Line riders. A cracked rail near the Takoma station has forced trains to single-track between Silver Spring and Fort Totten at the height of the morning rush.
The transit agency warns of delays of at least 20 minutes. According to a press release, track crews are working to repair the problem.
Ready for that three-day weekend yet?
» UPDATE 8:38 a.m.: The crack has been repaired and single-tracking has ended, Metro says. Read the full press release below.
Continue Reading "Cracked Rail Spawns Delays on Metro's Red Line" »
MORE BAD NEWS for Metro's Red Line: Ultrasonic testing overnight turned up another set of flaws on a different part of the heavily traveled corridor, a development that will continue the slowdowns riders have been experiencing throughout the week.
The flaws were detected in sections of track at the Forest Glen, Takoma and Fort Totten stations, Metro says. Those flawed sections of track come in addition to the imperfections discovered earlier in the week between the Medical Center and Friendship Heights stations.
The transit agency says that track workers will be installing new sections of rail while the system is closed — work that's expected to be completed overnight and into the weekend. Until it's finished, though, trains will operate at a reduced speed — 35 miles per hour instead of the usual 44 — in the spots where track flaws were found as a safety precaution. Those speed restrictions have been in place all week between Friendship Heights and Medical Center.
Metro's cautioning riders to be on the lookout for minor delays.
» "Rail Flaws Continue to Cause Minor Delays Today on Parts of the Red Line" [WMATA]
You Can Drink Near Van Dorn St., But Not Cheverly
Map It:
Cheverly Dunn Loring East Falls Church Federal Center SW Fort Totten Greenbelt
THREE MEN IN LONDON recently completed a liver-quivering task: a pub crawl featuring stops at all 275 stations on the British capital's Underground rail network. That's not 275 stations in one trip, mind you — it took place over five years. It's still quite the feat, though. And too many pints to count...
Since our Metrorail only has 86 stations, it'd be much easier to do a D.C. subway pub crawl, right? Not exactly. While stations like Gallery Place-Chinatown, Clarendon and Bethesda have plenty of options to choose from, there are some stations that aren't known for being hubs of nightlife — they're better places to park a car than to throw back a pint.
So we used our very own Metro Links mapping tool to see whether there are drinks to be had near some of Metro's outlying stations.
» VAN DORN STREET: Yes, sort of, but you have to walk over the CSX tracks to Pickett Street. Options include Shenandoah Brewing Company (you make your own beer) and Nick's Nightclub ("a well-known spot for county music and line dancing").
» CHEVERLY: No.
» GREENBELT: No, but wait a few years.
» EAST FALLS CHURCH: Well, sort of. You just have to walk 10-15 minutes into Falls Church.
» FORT TOTTEN: An emphatic no.
» DUNN LORING-MERRIFIELD: Yes! There's a Shark Club billiards location nearby. Who knew?
» FEDERAL CENTER SW: Yes. The hotel bar at the Holiday Inn called 21st Amendment Bar & Grill. (We've actually been there. It's the crown jewel of the neighborhood.)
» "Five-Year Pub Crawl Tours Entire Tube" [This Is Local London via Londonist]
» "MetroLinks" [Express]
FOR YEARS AND YEARS, commuters have been riding Metrorail, probably the best example of brutalist architecture in the nation's capital. Advertising has been limited, musicians have been barred and the color scheme has been brown and concrete gray. Pretty drab. But just as sanctioned performance artists have been introduced into the system and Metro's general manager wants to expand advertising, Metrorail is getting much more lively.
As we've noted, Metro has been expanding the use of flashing red platform-edge lights across the system. First, they went in at Gallery Place-Chinatown, at right. And recently, they've popped up at stations like Metro Center, L'Enfant Plaza and Fort Totten. As recently observed at Metro Center, the lower level Blue and Orange line platform has taken on a reddish hue in parts. So has the lower-level platform at L'Enfant Plaza. When we noticed that Fort Totten acquired the new lights last week, we waited with anticipation for a train to arrive at the lower level platform for the Green and Yellow lines. Why?
For those who don't know, Fort Totten is a unique station architecturally. It was built halfway into a hillside with the other half sitting in an open cut, covered by curved canopies. We thought that the so-called "gull-wing" canopies, seen on the above-ground portion of the Red Line platform, would be bathed in red light when the platform edge lights started flashing, creating an interesting architectural effect.
TRAVELING ON the Red, Blue, Yellow or Green lines this weekend? Be prepared for delays due to scheduled track maintenance and rail car testing.
Riders traveling on the Blue and Yellow lines to and from Reagan National Airport and Alexandria will experience major delays of up to 30 minutes between the Pentagon City and Braddock Road stations because of track maintenance. Trains between those stations will share a track from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Alternating Blue Line trains traveling to Franconia-Springfield station will terminate at Pentagon City and return to Largo Town Center, and alternating Yellow Line trains traveling to Huntington will terminate at Pentagon City and return to Fort Totten. Those traveling south of Pentagon City should plan accordingly, and build extra time into their schedules.
Those heading through Bethesda on the Red Line can expect 15 minute delays between the Friendship Heights and Medical Center stations due to track maintenance. Trains between those stations will share a track starting around 10 p.m. today through 10 a.m. Saturday, and again from 10 p.m. Saturday until 10 a.m. Sunday.
Riders on the Blue Line between the District and Prince George's County may face 15 minute delays between the Stadium Armory and Addison Road-Seat Pleasant stations for track maintenance. Trains between those stations will share the same track starting today at 10 p.m. until 10 a.m. Saturday, and from 10 p.m. Saturday until 10 a.m. Sunday.
Those traveling on the Green Line in Southeast D.C. between Navy Yard and Southern Avenue stations should add 20 minutes to trips for scheduled track maintenance. Trains between those stations will share one track from 7 a.m. to midnight on Sunday.
Also on the Green Line in Prince George's County, riders should expect 10-15 minute delays between the Greenbelt and College Park stations for regular rail car testing. Trains will share a track during testing, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
When There's Red Line Trouble ...
Map It: Cleveland Park Dupont Circle Fort Totten Rhode Island Ave Silver Spring Tenleytown Woodley Park
THIS MORNING'S MASSIVE RED LINE delays were yet another reminder of the kind of misfortune that can befall Metrorail commuters who don't know what alternatives are available to them if trains are going nowhere fast.
Metro calls this knowledge being PlanBdextrous. And we're here to help.
In this morning's case, trains were forced to single-track through the morning rush hour because of an electrical problem between Woodley Park and Dupont Circle.
Alternate travel options are harder to find the further from the District you are, but assuming you can get to a station like Silver Spring, Cleveland Park, Woodley Park, Tenleytown or Rhode Island Avenue, you can transfer to Metrobus; or in the case of Fort Totten, transfer to a Yellow or Green Line train. Sometimes it takes a well-honed commuter instinct to know when to bail and try a surface option, but here are some examples of what works:
IT'S NOT EVERY DAY you come across a statement like this:
Those dirty white doves lying by the curb alongside three little samurai hats made of coconut, their car-flattened heads some distance away — they're not just some sick coincidence, a bored metalhead's idea of art or a Hot Topic teen's notebook dream rendered real. According to my neighbor, they're part of a spell meant to discredit him in the DC Santeria community and rob him of some of his prominence and prestige.
That's from Jeff Simmermon, the local blogger behind And I Am Not Lying, For Real, who lives in the borderlands of Adams Morgan and Mount Pleasant. It all started last week when Simmermon and a friend stumbled upon "two decapitated doves, tied together at the feet" in the street. So Simmermon asked his neighbor, who happens to practice Santeria, what that might symbolize. And now, it seems that he's "living in the crossfire of an escalating epic battle between two Latin voodoo priests."
The truth, it seems in this case, is stranger than fiction. If you're not offended by some mild profanity and photos of decapitated doves, you should study up on the situation. Eleggua, the Santeria trickster-god, is now somehow involved, and there's no telling what could happen next. Says the blogger:
My friend will retaliate, and nothing's going to stop him. He's not telling how or when, only that "a shield is built and the divination said that the situation is 'an eye for an eye.'"This writer isn't an expert on Santeria, but this situation digs up memories of an odd Animal Watch item buried in The Post's District Weekly from 2004. It details what might have been a similar situation in the woods of Fort Totten.
From Animal Watch:
Police reported that a male lamb had been found in the woods, in a small crate soiled with feces. A Humane Society officer found the animal and a group of men. A candle, a bottle of liquor and a bottle of barbecue sauce were also at the scene, and a knife was confiscated from one man. The lamb was impounded at the society shelter, then taken to an animal sanctuary.
Any experts out there want to enlighten us? We're all ears in comments.
» "Brujeria: Son of the Pirate Witch Queen" [AIANLFR]
» "When the Doves Die" [AIANLFR]
» "Lamb Rescued in Woods" [WaPo, sixth item]
Photo courtesy Jeff Simmermon
YOU MIGHT ONLY catch a brief glimpse of South Dakota Avenue while going over Riggs Road heading in and out of the Red Line's Fort Totten station. But now that the Yellow Line has been extended to Fort Totten, establishing yet another connection between downtown and this sort-of-desolate, woodsy area in Northeast, the South Dakota Avenue corridor is expected to see some changes.
This evening, the D.C. Department of Transportation will be hosting a public meeting on options for improving traffic flow, transit access and streetscaping.
What's around the station now? Not much. It's essentially an isolated commuter hub, tucked away from major roads and partially obscured by a forested ridge. But last year, Clark Realty started construction on apartments on seven acres of land owned by Metro under terms of a 99-year lease. It's part of a larger plan to bring retail and housing to the station area.
To the north of the site, closer to the broad, triangular juncture of Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue (toward the top in the DDOT map at right) there is even more development in the works.
Safety will likely be one issue tonight's DDOT meeting will address. South Dakota Avenue is a fairly sedate residential thoroughfare, although it sees some dangerous traffic conditions, and the DDOT study shows that the 25 mph speed limit is largely ignored. With a large big-box development slated for the Fort Lincoln New Town area closer to New York Avenue, South Dakota Avenue could see even more traffic in the years to come.
» "Fort Totten" [MetroLinks/Express]
» "DDOT to Hold Public Community Meeting on South Dakota Avenue Transportation and Streetscape Study" [DDOT]
» "South Dakota Avenue Transportation and Streetscape Study" [DDOT/Wilbur Smith]
» "Fort Totten, the New Lap of Luxury" [Free Ride/Express]
» "Dakotas Condo Project Near Fort Totten Ready to Roll" [D.C. Mud]
» "Washington Gateway Retail Center" [D.C. Marketing Center]
Image courtesy DDOT
Around Town: Air Force Spires Taking Shape
Map It: Fort Totten Friendship Heights Pentagon Silver Spring
IF YOU'VE DRIVEN on I-395 or Columbia Pike near the Pentagon in recent weeks, you've seen a new monument take shape. The U.S. Air Force Memorial, which is being erected next to the Navy Annex on a hill overlooking the Pentagon and beyond it, the monumental core of the nation's capital, is nearing completion and will be dedicated on Oct. 14, featuring a performance by Lee Ann Womack. The memorial grounds will open to the public on Oct. 15.
Unlike some memorials or monuments in the city, the Air Force memorial can be enjoyed from afar, adding a dramatic new element to the Arlington skyline at one of D.C.'s major gateways, I-395.
According to a July article by The Post's Rick Weiss, the architect of the memorial, the late James Ingo Freed, was inspired while watching television:
He happened upon footage of a team of Air Force jets performing the dramatic bomb-burst formation, in which several planes shoot skyward in unison and then peel off from each other, creating high-rising vapor trails that curl over at their tops.The tallest spire reaches 270 feet, the shortest 201 feet. But the engineering for the stainless-steel spires, currently wrapped in blue covering, is quite complex, as the concrete foundation extends 40 feet below the surface.
Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images
» "Air Force Memorial a Tribute to Flight and Engineering" [WaPo]
» Air Force Memorial Foundation
» FORT TOTTEN: Despite plans in the works for years to improve a municipal trash transfer station located on Bates Road NE, the area smells, unlike a Benning Road trash transfer station that smells like vanilla. [City Paper]
» SILVER SPRING: Part 341 in a continuing series ... Franchises are invading Silver Spring, setting up shop and improving its once barren downtown, but at what cost? Blogger Media Concepts slams the corporatized redevelopment, saying it leaves "no lasting impression." Blogger Silver Spring Singular counter slams the "so-called 'attempt at critical thinking.'" Feel free to join the fray. [Media Concepts; SSS]
» FRIENDSHIP HEIGHTS: The entrance linking the Mazza Gallerie shopping center to Metrorail's Frienship Heights station at Western Avenue will close Monday for additional remodeling. The upscale retail center in undergoing renovation and its link to Red Line will feature updated lighting and tile work when completed. [WMATA]
BREAKING NEWS from Metro: A man was struck by a Green Line train at the Fort Totten station around 8:30 a.m. An investigation of the incident continues and trains are sharing the same track through the area, so expect delays through the morning.
From Metro:
Eyewitnesses told officials that the man was on the tracks intentionally. Emergency medical personnel removed the man from the tracks at 9:07 a.m. and transported him to a local hospital in serious condition.As with all such situations facing this section of the Green Line, taking the Red Line to downtown might be the best option to avoid the delays.
» UPDATE, 11:06 a.m. Metro is reporting that service on the Green Line has returned to normal.
Addison Road