Another closure of the Vienna end of the Orange Line and the first of many consecutive weekend closures of the 395 Express Lanes are among significant travel disruptions planned this weekend.
Metro
Vienna and Dunn Loring stations are closed Saturday and Sunday as part of continuing preparations for the summer-long shutdown of the two stations that will also mean riders cannot use East Falls Church.
Parking spaces at those stations and at West Falls Church will be blocked off starting next weekend to stage equipment, even though the 24/7 closures and single-tracking do not begin until late May.
There is also Red Line single-tracking this weekend between DuPont Circle and Van Ness, and Green Line single-tracking between Georgia Ave.-Petworth and Fort Totten. Yellow Line trains will not run past that single-tracking zone, instead running only between Huntington and Mt. Vernon Square this weekend.
The time change this weekend does not impact Metro service, since the system closes at 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights now.
Those hours could change this summer. Metro has extended its public comment period on its budget plan until 9 a.m. Monday after the transit agency initially failed to provide information that was completely accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired.
Interstate 395
The I-395 Express Lanes closures are scheduled to last at least 10 straight weekends into mid-May. The lanes are scheduled to close around 11 p.m. Friday nights and reopen by 4 a.m. Monday mornings. The lanes will remain open only on Easter weekend.
The closures are for work not finished before the rush-hour HOV lanes became 24/7 HOV or toll lanes in November. Crews are scheduled to work on demolition and bridge decks at Shirlington Circle and Seminary Road among other projects.
This weekend, a change is also scheduled at the ramp from Duke Street toward the regular lanes of Interstate 395. By Sunday morning, the merge from the ramp from eastbound Duke Street toward southbound I-395 will be farther south on the highway, after first merging with the Express Lanes exit ramp.
Interstate 66
Toll lane construction on Interstate 66 also leads to lane closures and traffic changes this weekend.
In western Fairfax County, I-66 will narrow to a single lane overnight Saturday into Sunday for bridge demolition at Bull Run Drive. The closures are expected to last from about 10 p.m. Saturday to 8:30 a.m. Sunday. The normal eastbound lanes of I-66 will be converted to allow one lane in each direction to pass by the bridge. The speed limit in that area will be 25 mph for the mile-long workzone. The Manassas rest areas will be closed overnight also.
Similar closures are planned next weekend for the portion of the bridge over the eastbound lanes. Traffic will run one lane each way in the westbound lanes, weather permitting. Other closures are in place along the entire corridor from Gainesville to the Capital Beltway and on Route 28 near I-66.
Similar construction also continues on Interstate 95 in Virginia, with major construction in the Fredericksburg area, and on Interstate 895 in Maryland at the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel.
In the District, construction zones include ongoing work along the I-295/DC 295 corridor.
Bay Bridge
Construction on the Bay Bridge continues, which is expected to lead to even more significant backups over St. Patrick’s Day weekend next week and then Easter weekend.
While Maryland had initially planned to phase in a bridge deck repair project over two years, the state has now sped up schedules due to complaints from the public and good weather this winter. The state is also demolishing toll booths to make the bridge E-ZPass only.
