As the sun emerged Thursday, locals wondered when their commutes could return to normal after the week’s one-two punch of storms.
But transportation officials did not have immediate answers.
Metro plans to resume rail service Friday on all but the Shady Grove-to-Medical Center segment of the Red Line and the Ballston-to-Vienna part of the Orange Line. Trains will run up to 25 minutes apart and stop at midnight rather than 3 a.m. Metrobus and MetroAccess will resume limited service.
Virginia officials said it might take until Sunday for all streets to see their first snowplow. Meanwhile, District officials didn’t want to make promises about when neighborhood streets would be plowed. “As soon as possible,” District Department of Transportation spokeswoman Karyn LeBlanc said.
The challenge, they all say, has been the quantity of snow. Piles had to be hauled away across the region from tight areas such as high-occupancy vehicle lanes pinned in by barriers, underpasses and narrow roads. The District had rolling closures along its interstate sections and bridges so crews could load and cart it away.
“There are only so many places you can put the snow,” said Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel.
The Virginia Department of Transportation had to send in front-end loaders instead of pickup trucks, which couldn’t reach some areas.
» D.C. Circulator: Service is slated to resume 7 a.m. Friday, though lines may face detours and delays.
» Montgomery County Ride On: Bus service will operate on the “S” schedule.
» Virginia Railway Express: Commuter trains will run on the “S” schedule.
» MARC: “S” schedule on the Penn Line, with some canceled trains; no Camden or Brunswick Line service.
Metro resumed some aboveground service on the Red Line at 4:30 p.m. Thursday so trains could run continuously from Medical Center to Glenmont, the full Green Line by 6:30 p.m. and part of the Yellow by 7:30 p.m. It also started limited bus service on 47 routes by 1 p.m.
But restoration of all rail service was hampered by winds that pushed snow onto plowed tracks, Taubenkibel said. Wind had also blown a door off the Largo Town Center Metro station, while snow damaged escalators.
All three area airports had reopened by 11 a.m.
“We’ve been able to finally send home the Airports Authority employees who have been plowing snow continuously for seven days in rotating shifts,” said Rob Yingling, a spokesman for Ronald Reagan Washington National and Washington Dulles International airports.
But airlines had to deal with nearly a week of canceled flights, and public transportation to and from the airports wasn’t possible.
So when do normal commutes — the daily slogs commuters complain about regularly — actually return?
“Normal may be coming in March,” joked VDOT spokeswoman Jennifer McCord.
