Weekend road and rail: Overnight full stops planned for I-66; Metro back on schedule

The work along Interstate 66 will continue this weekend, with full stops planned during the overnight hours. In the District, the Suitland Parkway will be closed through Saturday. In Maryland, Purple Line work continues. Meanwhile, Metro returns to normal. Here’s the weekend roundup:

Roadwork

Virginia

Weather permitting, another round of full stops and lane reductions will be in store again this weekend for travelers along I-66 outside of the Capital Beltway as the long-running Transform 66 Project continues. This weekend will see the work move west and along Gallows Road.

In Fairfax, an overnight beam installation project is set to continue through next week, with lane closures and full stops on I-66 westbound, Gallows Road and the ramp from the Outer Loop of the Beltway to westbound I-66.

The overnight work will begin on Friday and continue through Wednesday as the bridge beams will be lifted over the roadway, requiring nightly traffic stops of up to 20 minutes on westbound I-66.

An I-495 detour map: Continue farther south to Route 50 westbound, stay to the right to exit to northbound Gallows Road, stay to the left and turn left at the traffic signal on to Route 29 (Lee Highway) southbound, travel about two miles then turn right at the traffic signal on to Nutley Street northbound, then follow signs to I-66 westbound. (Courtesy VDOT)

Additionally, Gallows Road over I-66 will need to be reduce to a single travel lane, carrying two-way travel, and the ramp from the Beltway’s Outer Loop will be closed and detoured. The Virginia Department of Transportation reminds drivers to expect delays when traveling through this area and encourage you to use an alternate route.

Here are the latest overnight scheduling details issued by VDOT:

Remember that all work is weather-dependent.

I-66 westbound is reduced to one travel lane between Va. Route 7 and Gallows Road from about 10 p.m. Friday until about 7 a.m. Saturday. There will be full stoppages of traffic for up to 20 minutes at a time during this time until 5:30 a.m. on the weekends. All lanes to reopen by 7 a.m.

Weeknights from Monday through Thursday, scheduled stops will be between 10 p.m. and 3:30 a.m. with lanes reopening by 5 a.m.

The ramps from the Beltway’s Outer Loop southbound, main and Express, to westbound I-66, are closed overnights this weekend from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., and Monday through Wednesday from 9:30 p.m. through 5 a.m.

The ramp from 495 Express Lanes Inner Loop northbound to westbound I-66 will be closed and detoured to eastbound I-66. If you’re heading to Route 7, stay to the left and turn left at the traffic signal. For I-66 westbound, stay to the right and follow the signs.

The Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge Project. (Courtesy DDOT)

DC

The District Department of Transportation will temporarily close the Suitland Parkway Southeast between South Capitol Street and Firth Sterling Avenue Southeast on weeknights through Saturday, Sept. 12, generally from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. The closure on Saturday, however, will continue through 9 p.m. In the event of inclement weather or other unforeseen delays, the Saturday closure will be pushed off a day. A marked detour will be in place during these closures.

These closures are part of the South Capitol Street Corridor Project, which includes construction of the New Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge and the reconstruction of the I-295/Suitland Parkway interchange, as well as DDOT’s ongoing efforts to improve the 295 corridor.

Maryland

The Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration has a few continuing work zones to be aware of this weekend.

In Frederick County, the work is set to continue on the Maryland Route 28/Dickerson Road Bridge. Motorists can expect the total bridge closure scheduled every weekend to begin at 10 p.m. Fridays and ending by 5 a.m. Mondays. This work continues through September except on holiday weekends. There will be single lane closure with flagging from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

Purple Line has a few changes with lane closures scheduled for the month of September:

East-West Highway between Connecticut and Montgomery avenues 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and weekends.
Southbound Jones Mill Road from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and weekends.
On Wisconsin Avenue between Montgomery Lane and Bethesda Avenue, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekdays and weekends.
Jones Bridge Road between Altimont Lane and Jones Mill Road, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and weekends.

A bridge girder installation project that was scheduled to begin on August was rescheduled and set to begin this week Sept. 14. Connecticut Avenue will be closed between Newdale Road and Chevy Chase Lake Drive from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. for about five consecutive nights — weather permitting.

Metro

Metro is now halfway done with a project to rehabilitate platforms across the system. With last Tuesday’s reopening of the Orange Line’s Vienna and Dunn Loring stations from the months-long summer shutdown, 10 of the 20 total stations scheduled in the multi-year Platform Improvement Project are finished.

Platform restoration is halfway done, (Courtesy WMATA)

The weekend’s enhanced preventive maintenance projects are on the Yellow and Blue lines, basically having no real impact on travel. The work is at Reagan National Airport, which continues to have two tracks servicing the station and one track closed.

The Orange and Silver lines are fully operational, as the platform rehabilitation summer shutdown officially ended Tuesday as the Dunn Loring and Vienna stations were restored.

Hours of operations are back on a normal weekend schedule, after the COVID precautionary closures — 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. until 11 p.m. Sunday. Riders are still required to wear face coverings or masks.

Weekend service summary: