Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority officials will temporarily close five Red Line stations this summer and renovate the stretch between the Foggy Bottom-GWU and L’Enfant stations this winter, according to a release Friday.
WMATA officials announced a three-year construction plan spanning between summer 2024 and summer 2026, including additional construction during the winter holidays. The renovations will include upgrades to the signaling system, elevator and escalator maintenance and interlocking, which currently allows trains to cross from one track to another outside the Takoma station.
The construction will also include leak mitigation, drain pumping station replacement and traction power cable installations.
Officials planned the work around the Maryland Transit Administration Purple Line Project, which will build a new mezzanine on the platform of the Silver Springs station to link the Metro with the incoming MTA Purple Line.
WMATA officials estimate renovations between the Foggy Bottom-GWU and L’Enfant stations to span about two weeks, aiming to make rides smoother by pouring new grout pads and replacing rail fasteners. The plan will cause isolated closures, but won’t close the full stretch between the two stations, according to the release.
The release states that service could shift to four months of single tracking on weekends or late-night single tracking on up to 400 nights as an alternative to the two-week construction duration.
The plan also outlines four other projected renovations spanning between summer 2025 and summer 2026, impacting the Blue Line between Franconia-Springfield and King Street, the Green Line between Congress Heights and Branch Avenue, the Green and Yellow lines between L’Enfant Plaza and Fort Totten and the Red Line between Friendship Heights and Grosvenor-Strathmore.
Scheduling track work during summer, winter and weekend hours has reduced service disruptions to Metro riders, with the impact to budgeted service declining by half within the past seven years, the release states. Detailed service plans including free express and shuttle bus replacements will be announced at least one month in advance of the plan’s projected closures.
