Weekend Road and Rail: Sign work, rail crossing work, cycling races and Metro

With inclement weather hampering the latter half of this week, a few projects could be pushed into the weekend.

Work for the ongoing transformation project on I-66 will be fluid throughout the weekend, including changes near the Fairfax County Parkway. A big cycling event will close roads in Arlington. The sign work and the South Capitol Street Project in the District and work at the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel will also be dictated by weather this weekend.

Here’s what you should know:

Roadwork

Virginia

In Fairfax, the Transform 66 Outside the Beltway project has been focused on work at the interchange of the Fairfax County Parkway this week. There have been overnight lane reductions and stops at this interchange, and those are scheduled into Friday night if weather interferes.

The current schedule has involved overnight full closures of Route 286 (Fairfax County Parkway) for installation of overhead bridge beams. The northbound lanes of Route 286 were closed earlier in the week, with the latter part of the week focused on the northbound lanes, as the I-66 bridges over Route 286 are being widened as part of the Transform 66 project.

With this work, multiple ramps at the I-66/Route 286 interchange are also closed nightly, with detours posted.

The work schedule moving into Friday is set up like this:

At 9 p.m., southbound Route 286 is reduced to a single travel lane.
Between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. nightly, all lanes will be closed.
Southbound Route 286 traffic will be directed to exit to I-66 westbound toward Route 28 South to Route 29 for a U-turn to I-66 eastbound.
All lanes will reopen by 5 a.m.

Map of the nightly southbound closures and detours of Route 286 Fairfax County Parkway. (Courtesy VDOT)

The ramp from Route 286 South to I-66 East will be closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. nightly.
The ramp from I-66 West to Route 286 South will be closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. nightly.
Route 286 North at I-66 will be reduced to a single travel lane from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
All lanes will reopen by 5 a.m.

Other work associated with the I-66 Transform project to watch out for this weekend include overnights on I-66 approaching Vaden Drive, west of Nutley Street. That’s where travel will be reduced to a single lane, with stoppages for bridge beam installation.

On I-66 eastbound at the Beltway, two lanes are closed nightly for paving between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. But a bigger story at the Beltway is an Outer Loop full closure nightly, through Friday, between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. between Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) and I-66. Here, crews have been reducing travel to a single lane with periodic stops of up to 20 minutes at a time.

There is also work continuing on I-66 eastbound approaching US-50, two lanes will be closed for overhead bridge work and implementation of a traffic shift between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights.

In Prince William County, both sides of I-66 approaching Route 234 Bypass (Prince William Parkway) three lanes are closed for paving Thursday and Friday between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.

There will also be overnight ramp closures planned for I-66 at the following interchanges: I-495, Route 50, Route 286, Route 28, Route 29 Lee Highway and Route 234 Business Sudley Road. As a reminder, all work is weather dependent and scheduled to change. Be sure to stay tuned to WTOP traffic on the 8s for the latest. And call the WTOP Traffic Center with any updates at 866-304-WTOP.

In Arlington this weekend, the annual Armed Forces Cycling Classic is back after last year’s cancelation due to the pandemic. This two-day event will see street closures and parking restrictions in Clarendon and Crystal City during the event times. There will be two separate Pro/Am cycling tracks set up for non-stop cycling competition and varying street closures scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

CLICK TO EXPAND: The Crystal Cup will be held Saturday. (Courtesy The Armed Forces Cycling Classic)

On Saturday, it’s the Crystal Cup, which will close street in Crystal City between 2 a.m. and 5 p.m. to include:

Crystal Drive between 15th Street South and 23rd Street South.
Wilson Blvd between N. Kent Street and Route 110.
Route 110 between Rosslyn and Crystal City.
South Clark Street between 20th Street S. and 23rd Street South.
20th Street South between Crystal Drive and South Clark Street.
18th Street South between Crystal Drive and South Bell Street.
23rd Street South between Crystal Drive and South Clark Street.
Crystal Drive (West side) between 23rd Street South and the Central Center Parking Garage.
12th Street South and Long Bridge Drive.

The Clarendon Cup will be held Sunday. (Courtesy The Armed Forces Cycling Classic)

For Sunday, the Clarendon Cup will cause street closures from about 3 a.m. to 4 p.m., including:

Wilson Boulevard between North Fillmore Street and Washington Boulevard
Clarendon Boulevard between Washington Boulevard and North Fillmore Street
Washington Boulevard between Wilson Boulevard and North Highland Street
North Highland, North Garfield and North Fillmore streets between Wilson Boulevard and Washington Boulevard.

Overnights and off-peak hours this week have been all about the District Department of Transportation’s I-395 Sign Structure Improvement Project, which is being scheduled through June 11, weather permitting.

This project has been focused on the replacement and repair of existing sign structures along the I-395 corridor and on New York Avenue, in Northeast, east of Bladensburg Road. It includes the corridor-wide furnishing and installation of overhead traffic guide signs, electrical systems and lighting fixtures. There have been daily lane and full ramp closures along the I-395 Southwest Freeway, 3rd Street Tunnel and New York Avenue.

During the overnights, and continuing into Saturday morning, motorists can expect double lane closures on New York Avenue between West Virginia Avenue Northeast and Bladensburg Road.

There will also be work on the South Capitol Street Corridor Project continuing into the weekend as well, weather permitting. Overnights, DDOT has been temporarily closing the westbound lanes of Suitland Parkway between Firth Sterling Avenue Southeast and South Capitol Street from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next morning. This continues through Saturday.

Looking ahead in Southeast, Firth Sterling Avenue between South Capitol Street and St. Elizabeth’s Avenue, as well as Howard Road between the WMATA garage access and Firth Sterling Avenue, will also be closed nightly from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday through next weekend. These closures will be in place during three consecutive Washington Nationals game nights.

A map of the closures and detours of westbound Suitland Parkway. (Courtesy DDOT)

Maryland

In Waldorf, the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) and CSX Transportation have begun a new railway repair project on Md. 5 Business (Leonardtown Road) just to the east of U.S. 301.

The project, which started Thursday, is scheduled to replace a deteriorated pipe, rail panels and asphalt between Pika Drive and Md. Route 925 (Old Washington Road) in the heart of Waldorf. This deteriorated pipe area is covered with a steel plate in the right lane of southbound Md. 5 Business, just north of Pika Drive. Motorists are being detoured temporarily while the work is taking place, which is scheduled to be completed no later than Monday, weather permitting.

Motorists are being redirected with a signed detour along Md. 5 Business, Saint Charles Parkway, Smallwood Drive and U.S. 301 (Crain Highway) between Md. 228 and Smallwood Drive. The variable message signs detour drivers to use other state- and county-maintained routes as repairs are underway. This detour extends about four miles, so when traveling through this area, be sure to factor in a little extra time.

MD 5 Railway Crossing closure and detour map. (Courtesy MDOT)

There is new Purple Line work that began this week. Crews have closed the service road alongside westbound Md. 193 (University Boulevard) between 15th Avenue and Edwards Place for utility relocations. This road will be closed to all traffic, with parking restricted. Access to all driveways and parking lots will be maintained from University Boulevard. This work occurs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and weekends as needed.

At the Baltimore Harbor this weekend, work will continue to have a single lane of travel in each direction on I-895 through the Harbor Tunnel. The northbound tube will be closed, with two-way traffic on one lane in each direction using the southbound tube.

There will be no access to northbound I-895 south of the tunnel due to paving operations on northbound I-895 just north of the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. Traffic will be temporarily detoured to I-95. In addition, the southbound I-895 left lane will be closed north of the Harbor Tunnel. When weather permits, the northbound tube will be closed with two-way traffic in the southbound tube from Friday, June 4, at 10 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, June 5.

Metro

This weekend, the summer shutdown for a platform reconstruction project on the Green and Yellow Lines continues. This work, which closes four stations — West Hyattsville, Prince George’s Plaza, College Park-U of Md and Greenbelt — is scheduled through Sept. 6, with free shuttle buses provided. Check out the shuttle schedules and alternative travel options, parking and bus relocations here.

Construction continues on the Potomac Yards Station this weekend, resulting in single tracking on the Blue and Yellow Line between Braddock Road and National Airport.

Metro will operate on a normal weekend schedule, which is Saturday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday from 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. Trains will serve 87 of 91 stations, providing normal service on the Red, Orange and Silver lines and scheduled adjustments on the Green, Yellow and Blue lines.

Here’s the weekend service summary:

Red, Orange and Silver lines: Normal weekend service, with trains every 12 to 20 minutes.
Blue Line: Trains every 24 minutes.
Single tracking between National Airport and Braddock Road. Trains every 24 minutes.
Yellow Line: Due to the summer Platform Improvement Project
Trains operate between Huntington and Mount Vernon Square only.
Travelers to stations north of Mount Vernon Square should transfer to the Green Line.
Green Line: Trains every 15 to 20 minutes.

Due to the summer platform reconstruction project, expect the following:

Trains operate between Branch Avenue and Fort Totten only.
West Hyattsville, Prince George’s Plaza, College Park-U of Md and Greenbelt stations closed.

Free shuttle buses replace trains as follows:

Limited stop service between Greenbelt, College Park- U of Md and Fort Totten.
Limited stop service between Prince George’s Plaza, West Hyattsville and Fort Totten.
Local service between Greenbelt, College Park-U of Md, Prince George’s Plaza and West Hyattsville.

Riders are required to wear cloth face coverings or masks while traveling on Metro.