Metrorail riders, get ready for more weekend station closures, this time on the Blue and Orange Lines.
Metro officials said Wednesday that a rehabilitation and rebuilding project will shut down the Farragut West and McPherson Square stations downtown during Columbus Day weekend, starting at 10 p.m. Oct. 8. Stations will reopen at 5 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12.
The Metro Center station also will be closed to Blue and Orange Line riders, although the station will remain open for Red Line trains.
During the weekend track work, Blue and Orange Line trains will operate on either side of the station closures. Metro will run free shuttle buses to carry passengers around the three affected stations.
Metro crews plan to install four new track switches on the Blue and Orange lines. The updated switches are part of a new safety plan, prompted by last year’s deadly Red Line crash.
Metro officials shut down five Red Line stations between Silver Spring and Takoma last weekend during the three-day Labor Day holiday to complete similar track and station improvements.
Metro planning director Jim Hughes said closing stations for a long weekend — as opposed to a series of temporary evening or weekend closures — would save the cash-strapped agency millions of dollars.
Metro officials said last weekend’s Red Line closures forced more than 37,000 passengers onto free shuttle buses. Passengers riding this week on the Red Line between Forest Glen and Takoma are enduring slow commutes as trains have run at reduced speeds as a result of the weekend work.
Metro officials have not released a shuttle bus schedule for the Columbus Day weekend, but have advised riders to expect their normal commutes to take an additional 40 minutes.
