There is a shutdown scheduled for a portion of Metro’s Silver Line this weekend. In Virginia, overnight roadwork will cause stops on Interstate 66 and lane closures on the Capital Beltway. And in the District, there will be a closure this weekend on South Capitol Street and the Suitland Parkway.
Here’s what to know about transit in the D.C. region this weekend.
Roadwork
Virginia
At night on the Beltway between Route 7 and Route 29 (Lee Highway), there will be three lanes closed for bridge construction and lane shifts, which are scheduled through 5 a.m. Saturday, weather permitting.
In Fairfax through Prince William counties, motorists continue to weed through the ever-changing landscape of roadwork and ramp reconfigurations that make up the Transform 66 Outside the Beltway Project.
This week is no different, but with help from the Virginia Department of Transportation, we’re going to simplify these changes as much as possible.
Starting out in Fairfax, there has been overnight work this week that’s scheduled into Saturday morning and will reduce travel on I-66 before and after Route 123 to a single lane, with periodic stops of 10 minutes at a time.
The work, which is weather-dependent, is scheduled to continue nightly until about 4:30 a.m. Saturday.
Also, the new permanent ramp from Route 28 north to I-66 east will open on or about Friday morning. Drivers on Route 28 north will stay to the right to access I-66 east using the new ramp.
There will also be a temporary new ramp implemented on Saturday for drivers exiting I-66 east at Nutley Street northbound. This change will allow pavement rehabilitation to advance for the new I-66 east general-purpose lanes while crews prepare to reconstruct the Nutley Street interchange.
In Gainesville through 8 a.m. Saturday, I-66 east between Route 29 (Lee Highway) and Route 234 (Prince William Parkway) will have three right lanes closed overnight for barrier relocations.
The ramp from I-66 east to Route 234 will be closed, with traffic diverted farther east for a detour at Route 234 (Business Sudley Road). This ramp closure is scheduled to happen again overnight Saturday into Sunday as well.
Also, with this work into Saturday morning, the ramp from Route 29 north to I-66 east in Gainesville will be reduced to one lane as crews implement a traffic shift.
For travel on I-66 west overnight until 9 a.m. Saturday, there will be only a single lane getting by between Bull Run and Route 234 (Business Sudley Road) for pavement markings and lane shifts.
And the ramp from I-66 west to Route 234 (Sudley Road) will be closed, with a detour posted for traffic to head south for a U-turn. In both directions of I-66 between Cub Run and the Manassas Rest Area, two lanes will remain closed overnight through 6 a.m. Saturday for bridge work.
In Centreville, I-66 east near Compton Road, just west of Route 29, will have scheduled overnight lane closures through about 5 a.m. Sunday for bridge work. The ramp from I-66 east to Route 29 will be closed and detoured farther east to Route 286 (Fairfax County Parkway).
There is also overnight work scheduled for Route 28 through Saturday morning between I-66 and Ellanor C. Lawrence Park, with lane and ramp closures for bridge work.
Motorists can expect a single lane open through 6 a.m. near the Braddock-Walney Road overpass and northbound from Old Centreville Road to I-66. The northbound closure is scheduled overnights through 6 a.m. Sunday as crews implement a new ramp opening.
The ramp from Route 28 north to eastbound I-66 is closed nightly through 5 a.m. Sunday, with a detour that takes motorists farther north turn around at Westfields Boulevard.
The ramp from Route 29 (Lee Highway) to Route 28 north will also be closed overnight and detoured through Sunday morning, with motorists pushed farther south to the I-66/Route 29 interchange.
As always, not all work associated with these extensive projects will be listed here. Be sure to stay tuned to WTOP with traffic on the 8s. And if you see something that’s not being reported, you can call us at 866-304-WTOP.
Maryland
The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration will be detouring travel off MD-355 Urbana Pike for a bridge replacement on Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Crews will switch traffic from MD-355 between Campus Drive and Big Woods Road to a new temporary roadway for work over Bennett Creek in Frederick County. Motorists can expect single-lane closures during the switch, and there will be flaggers directing the alternating, single lane of traffic.
In Baltimore, there’s a new configuration to the ongoing rehabilitation of the I-895 Harbor Tunnel Thruway.
This weekend will see yet another change to the project with a switch to having two-way traffic on the new southbound bridge at Holabird Avenue as the northbound bridge joints are finished before the four-lane reopening.
Weather permitting, of course, this switch is scheduled to happen Friday, Nov. 20. As part of the transition, the Holabird Avenue exit ramp from the northbound bridge will be temporarily closed.
The ongoing 24/7 two-way traffic pattern in the southbound tube of the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel will be lifted on the evening of Nov. 24 for Thanksgiving weekend.
In Anne Arundel County, the work on I-97 in both directions between MD-3 and MD-174 for pavement repairs will continue to see lane shifts and closures overnights between 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., Sunday through Thursday nights; and daily single lane closures from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
On the Baltimore-Washington Parkway at MD-410 Riverdale Road, inside of the Beltway, there is ongoing work scheduled, with possible lane closures and ramps affected daily between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. This is work connected to the construction of the Maryland Transit Administration’s Purple Line.
Crews will also be resurfacing Riverdale Road (MD 410) between the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (MD 295) and Veterans Parkway (MD 410) daily from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with temporary lane closures possible.
In Frederick, there will continue to be work on southbound I-270 between CSX railroad bridge and MD-80 (Fingerboard Road) for patching. There is scheduled to be single lane closures overnights from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. from Sunday night through Friday mornings through the end of the month.
The off-peak weekend work is scheduled to continue on the Capital Beltway’s Outer Loop over the Northwest Branch Bridge between MD-650 New Hampshire Ave and MD-193 University Boulevard in Montgomery County.
The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) is scheduling this work, weather permitting, into the end of the year.
Motorists through this stretch of the Beltway could see intermittent closures of one, two and three lanes during off-peak hours, which will cause delays.
• Monday through Thursday, 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
• Weekends from 9 p.m. on Friday through 5 a.m. Monday.
D.C.
The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will close all lanes on northbound South Capitol Street, SE at Potomac Avenue, SE this weekend. Northbound traffic crossing the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge will be channeled into the right lane before Potomac Avenue, SE.
All traffic will turn right onto Potomac Avenue, SE, then follow First Street, SE and M Street, SE back to northbound South Capitol Street, SE.
This closure is a result of the reconstruction of the I-295/Suitland Parkway interchange associated with the South Capitol Street Corridor Project, which includes construction of the New Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge.
There will also be full closures of the Suitland Parkway SE this weekend between Firth Sterling Avenue and South Capitol Street in the overnight hours into the weekend and on Saturday from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. weather permitting.
There will be detours posted, and if unforeseen issues arise, the Saturday full closure could be pushed into Sunday.
Metro
There will continue to be regularly scheduled routine maintenance on Metrorail on the weekends. This weekend will see a shutdown on the Silver Line and single tracking after 10 p.m. for the Green and Yellow Lines.
The Silver Line will have track tie work closing the Wiehle Reston East Station, with buses replacing trains between Spring Hill and Wiehle Reston East.
The Green and Yellow Lines will continue to see fire systems upgrades and implement single tracking between Fort Totten and Prince George’s Plaza nightly after 10 p.m.
There continues to be minimal impact work at Reagan National Airport for a platform rehabilitation project, which is scheduled through December.
Metrorail operates during its normal weekend hours, from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. until 11 p.m. on Sunday with trains servicing 90 of 91 stations.
Weekend service summary:
• Red Line — trains operate every 12 to 15 minutes.
• Blue Line and Orange Line — trains operate every 15 to 20 minutes.
• Silver Line — trains expected every 12 to 20 minutes between Spring Hill and Largo Town Center.
• Wiehle-Reston East Station closed, free shuttles between Wiehle Reston East and Spring Hill.
• Yellow and Green Line — trains operate every 15 to 20 minutes.
• Trains will single track between Georgia Ave-Petworth and Fort Totten stations after 10 p.m.
With continued health concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic, customers are required to wear face coverings or masks when using mass transit.
