WASHINGTON — With the Silver Line construction, how airport authority officers patrol the Silver Line is changing.
Officers with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates the toll road, used to take cut-throughs and make U-turns but those are going away. But it’s a change officers knew was coming, says spokesman Chris Paolino.
“The median has been reserved for rail, dating back basically to the start of the airport,” Paolino says.
Officers will have to adjust response times and find alternative roads to cut across the highway. They will work with other agencies to help them quickly navigate the roads, he says.
And this weekend, emergency responders will converge on the new Wiehle-Reston East subway station for a drill to practice responding to an emergency along the new Metro line.
The exercise includes local police and Metro Transit Police and begins at 8 a.m. Sunday.
Metro says residents may notice police and emergency personnel in the area of the station but should know it is just a drill.
The line’s first five stations from East Falls Church to Wiehle-Reston East are expected to open this summer.
WTOP’s Megan Cloherty and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow @WTOP on Twitter and on Facebook.
