Eric Fergus McKinzie Erickson
@ Dupont Circle
Q:If your dog was a celebrity, who would it be?
A:"Lindsay Lohan. My dog is popular for no good reason. "
WATCH OUT, VRE RIDERS. There's a service disruption planned for tomorrow that will affect both lines into the District.
In the morning, the Manassas Line will terminate at a temporary station near the Van Dorn Street Metrorail stop, just after VRE's Backlick Road station, from which riders can continue their trek into the city. Trains will pick passengers up in the same spot in the evenings. (There's more from VRE's site, including timetables, here.)
The Fredericksburg Line will end its run at the Franconia-Springfield station in the mornings, then originate there in the evenings at the regularly scheduled stop times for that station. (Get more from VRE's site here.)
VRE says it instituted the one-day change to allow for track signal testing.
Photo by Gerald Martineau/The Washington Post
Confusion Surrounds Report of Person Hit by Train
Map It:
Braddock Road Franconia-Springfield
King Street Van Dorn Street
EVENING COMMUTERS on the Blue and Yellow lines faced big delays in Alexandria and Fairfax County yesterday as Metro investigated reports of a person being hit by a Blue Line train at the Van Dorn Street station around 5:45 p.m. A search for the victim lasted for about two hours but personnel could not locate the individual. Metro Transit Police asks that any witnesses to the alleged incident call 202-962-1792.
Blue Line trains heading to and from the Franconia-Springfield terminal had to share the same track between the Braddock Road station in Alexandria and Franconia-Springfield in Fairfax County — a stretch that boasts Metrorail's longest sections of track between stations. Because the single-track zone started at the Braddock Road and included the King Street station, Yellow Line trains were also impacted by the Blue Line delays.
Metro set up shuttle buses to ferry passengers around the mess. The situation was resolved by 7:45 p.m.
Map courtesy WMATA
WHILE THE IDEA to re-route some rush-hour Blue Line trains between the Franconia-Springfield station and the District via the Yellow Line has been stewing in recent years, Metro officials will formally propose such a service pattern at this week's board meeting.
The goal of the re-routing?
To relieve the bottleneck at Rosslyn, where trains on the packed Orange Line merge with those on the Blue Line before heading into their shared tunnel into the District.
As The Post's Get There blog reports today:
While the transit authority staff points out in a report to the board that ridership is growing more quickly at the stations on the eastern side of downtown, this proposal is almost certain to be controversial among riders. The concept has been discussed before as a way of creating more room in the Rosslyn tunnel. It factors into planning for the Metrorail line to Dulles, which would send even more trains through the tunnel.Don't expect the proposal to go into effect in the immediate future. Although the plan will be presented to Metro's Customer Services, Operations and Safety Committee, there won't be a formal board recommendation until June.
» "Blue Line Diversion Proposed" [Get There/WaPo]
» EARLIER: "An Inevitable Metro Marriage: Blue and Yellow?" [Free Ride/Express]
Image courtesy WMATA
YOU MIGHT NOT BE ABLE to find a pint of beer that easily near the Van Dorn Street station in Alexandria right now, but in the coming years, there might be plenty of thirsty workers, so that may all change. The area may be populated with Defense Department workers, as part of Base Realignment and Closure-related job shifts. As The Post's Amy Garnder reports, a sight near Springfield had been eyed as a place to relocate 6,200 jobs that had originally been intended for Fort Belvoir in southern Fairfax County. "But quickly and quietly, another site, on private land in Alexandria, has emerged as a competitor," Gardner writes. Discussions continue on the Van Dorn Street location.
Many of the jobs that are to be relocated are currently based in Arlington County, specifically in Crystal City, where officials are viewing the departure of Defense Department jobs "a tremendous opportunity," as The Post's Jerry Markon reports.
» "Springfield Faces Competition for 6,200 Army Jobs" [WaPo]
» "Crystal City Looks To Recast Itself as Job Losses Loom" [WaPo]
» EARLIER: "You Can Drink Near Van Dorn St., But Not Cheverly" [WaPo]
FOR YEARS, Springfield has been a way station to points north or south for many in the region. Metrorail commuters see it as home to the Franconia-Springfield station — a place where they park their cars and catch trains. For drivers, it's home to the Mixing Bowl interchange, which connects I-95, I-395 and the Capital Beltway.
But now that construction on the massive highway junction has concluded and the Army is moving nearly 20,000 jobs to nearby Fort Belvoir, commercial real estate developers have been placing bets that the area will transform into a major commercial hub. As The Post's Alejandro Lazo reports, various big-time "developers have been buying shopping centers, office developments and vacant land" in Springfield as the Army's upcoming move is sorted out.
One advantage Springfield will have over Northern Virginia's commercial core, Tysons Corner: While Springfield's major infrastructure improvements are in place, a number of highway projects in Tysons still have yet to begin. And that's not including the future Metrorail extension that's currently caught in the red tape of bureaucratic planning.
» "Army's Arrival May Mean a New Day for Springfield" [WaPo]
» EARLIER: "Will Tysons' Traffic Boost Springfield's Appeal?" [Free Ride/Express]
AS IF VIRGINIA'S TRANSPORTATION FUNDING BATTLES couldn't get more entrenched... The Army says it will only pay for a handful of the transportation infrastructure improvements needed to accommodate the thousands of new workers expected to relocate to Fort Belvoir in the coming years as part of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission-mandated shifts. As the Examiner reported this morning, the Army contends that the highway and transit improvements are "not practicable because of high cost and a lack of funding" but plans to seek funds for a few projects deemed important for national security.
But the prospect of thousands of extra cars clogging I-95 and Route 1 in southern Fairfax County has sparked fears for commonwealth and county officials.
What might this mean for suburban commuters going to and from the Blue Line's Franconia-Springfield terminal to points south? More traffic. But you already knew that ...
Meanwhile, across the river in Maryland, state leaders are preparing for some 60,000 BRAC-relocated jobs. As the Baltimore Sun reported earlier this month, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown told local leaders at a recent meeting to think regionally:
You have to be able to say, "I am willing to subordinate my No. 1 priority for the No. 1 priority of a neighboring county because we believe together the No. 1 priority in the neighboring county is the most important on a regional basis."So with BRAC, no pain, no gain? That might depend on which side of the Potomac you're on.
» "Area Loses Out on Army Funding for Base Realignment Projects" [Examiner]
» "Brown's BRAC Message to Local Officials: Think Regionally" [Sun]
COMMUTERS AT THE FRANCONIA-SPRINGFIELD station can breathe a little easier: Metro says its transit police have caught four men they say are responsible for a rash of break-ins at Metro's largest parking facility.
As The Post's Lena H. Sun reports, this wasn't your average smash-and-grab operation:
Police say the four broke into 52 vehicles in June and stole more than 100 items, including Global Positioning Systems, car televisions, car stereos and cell phones as well as a sports utility vehicle.The arrests came after an uptick in break-ins at the garage. The Metro Transit Police's auto theft detail was sent to investigate.
» "Four Arrested by Metro Transit Police" [WaPo]
FOR THOSE WHO LIVE in Rockville or Alexandria, this could be a messy weekend to take Metrorail. Due to major maintenance projects, there will be delays of up to 40 minutes on parts of the Red and Blue lines this weekend. Ongoing railcar testing on the Green Line will continue with shorter delays.
» RED LINE: Expect delays of up to 40 minutes when traveling between the Shady Grove and Twinbrook stations from 10 p.m. Friday until closing on Sunday. Metro is closing one track to replace about 1,200 feet of fencing along the track right-of-way. Metro will run a shuttle train on one track between the three stations and will also provide shuttle bus service between Shady Grove and Twinbrook every 15 minutes.
» BLUE LINE: There will also be delays of up to 40 minutes between the Franconia-Springfield and King Street stations from 10 p.m. Friday until closing on Sunday. Shuttle trains between the two stations will run on a single track so the transit agency can repair track switches near the Van Dorn Street station. All trains that would normally go to Franconia-Springfield will stop at King Street and then proceed to the Yellow Line terminal at Huntington.
» GREEN LINE: There will be delays of up to 15 minutes between the Greenbelt and College Park stations from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Screen capture from wmata.com
ALTHOUGH THE WORK to rebuild the gigantic highway interchange in Springfield casually referred to as the "Mixing Bowl" is largely complete, some of the approximately 430,000 drivers who head through the junction of I-95, I-395 and the Capital Beltway south of Washington are still scratching their heads. Although the new configuration was designed with highway safety in mind, the new setup, to some, is more confusing — and dangerous — than ever before.
As The Post's Eric M. Weiss reports:
Drivers complain of counterintuitive highways splits where drivers must head to the left to ultimately go right, and head to the right to go left. ... Traffic engineers will continue to tweak the design and study better signage to smooth traffic flow before the project is officially finished next month.Earlier this month, four young women died in a car accident on the Beltway's inner loop when the driver collided with a truck while attempting to make a lane change at the point where I-95 splits off toward Richmond.
» "Springfield Interchange Improvement Project" [VDOT]
» "Dust Settled Drivers Still Get Dizzy in Mixing Bowl" [WaPo]
»"Families Mourn Teens Killed in Beltway Crash" [NewsChannel 8]
Photo by Richard A. Lipski/The Washington Post; video by Eric M. Weiss/The Washington Post
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.
Addison Road