VANDORNST.

Photo by Gerald Martineau/The Washington Post
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

Map courtesy WMATA
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

METRORAIL RIDERS who head through Alexandria might someday have to stop at two new stations being proposed for the Blue and Yellow lines at Potomac Yard and in the Eisenhower Avenue corridor. The city council has given approval to a plan that would have developers near the proposed sites help finance the construction of the two stations, as the Examiner reported on Monday:

City Council members have instructed staff to add language to Alexandria's draft master transportation plan that would bar the city from approving development ... unless the development clearly contributes to the funding and building of a Metro station.
Blue and Yellow Line trains run through stretches of track where stations can be miles apart, as is the case with Eisenhower Avenue, King Street, Braddock Road and Reagan National Airport.

But don't expect stations to materialize in the near term: They cost about $100 million a piece and would take years of planning to make a reality.

Continue Reading "On Alexandria's Wish List: 2 New Metro Stations" »

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]

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...

Photo montageSince 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]

SEVERAL METRORAIL LINES WILL experience delays this weekend for scheduled track maintenance. Only the Orange Line will escape scheduled delays. Trains will run share a single track in the following locations:

» RED LINE: Expect a 15-minute delay when traveling between the Grosvenor and Medical Center stations. (7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday)

» BLUE AND YELLOW LINES: There will be delays of up to 30 minutes between the Van Dorn Street, King Street and Braddock Road stations. (10 p.m. Friday to 10 a.m. Saturday; 10 p.m. Saturday to 10 a.m., Sunday)

» GREEN LINE: Give yourself an extra 15 minutes when traveling between the Greenbelt and College Park stations from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

» "Weekend Track Maintenance and Rail Car Testing to Affect Metro's Red, Blue, Yellow and Green Lines" [WMATA]

Screen capture from wmata.com
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

IF YOU PLAN to travel to/from/through Alexandria this weekend, be aware that trackwork on the Blue/Yellow line tracks near Braddock Road will likely cause significant delays starting Friday night in the 10 o'clock hour.

Blue and Yellow Line trains going between the District and Virginia will terminate at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport station. South of the airport, the Blue and Yellow lines will be operating in two separate segments:
» Every 30 minutes, a Blue Line train will operate between the airport and Franconia-Springfield via King Street.
» A Yellow Line shuttle train will operate between King Street and Huntington.

The work is scheduled to wrap up before opening on Monday.

» "Weekend Braddock Road Work to Cause Blue and Yellow Line Delays" [WMATA]

VIRGINIA LAWMAKERS might have not moved to push a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants in the commonwealth, but that doesn't mean that Alexandria can't try for its own prohibition. The city isn't technically able to ban smoking outright, but it is considering a plan to alter its zoning and permitting rules to prevent new restaurants from allowing smoking, and to make it difficult for existing ones to allow customers to light up.

As The Post's Annie Gowen writes:

Alexandria would seize control of the smoking issue with such mundane tools as use permits. When a bar or restaurant came to the city to request a permit, the city would require it to be smoke-free before granting the permit. Restaurants that have permits must agree to go smoke-free in three months or risk future restrictions or even closure.
Who knew city bureaucracy could be creative?

» "Alexandria's End Run on Public Smoking" [WaPo]

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