Photo by urbandispute.

Do you live on the Green Line and have a job that requires you to take Metro to get to work on Columbus Day? You may want to think about taking a sick day — WMATA will close the Shaw, U Street and Columbia Heights stations from 10 p.m. on Friday, October 8 until opening on Tuesday, October 11.

The transit agency announced this morning that the installation of new National Transportation Safety Board-recommended switches will force the closure of the three busy stations. (Back in January, WMATA said that it would be closing U Street over the three-day weekend; obviously, a three-station closure is kind of a bigger deal.) The Green Line will operate in two sections, terminating at Mt. Vernon Square and Georgia Avenue-Petworth, while the Yellow Line will only operate to Mt. Vernon Square.

As per usual, Metro will be operating free shuttle buses to bridge the rail gap. But, unlike suburban closures, at least there are several regular Metrobus options between the Convention Center and Petworth that will get you where you’re going if the shuttles are slow or packed.

This is hardly the first time that Metro has decided to conduct major track work on Columbus Day — last year, for example, WMATA closed both McPherson Square and Farragut North, which not only interfered with a large number of entertainment offerings, but also the annual meetings of the World Bank. This year, the closure will certainly be an issue for fans who have tickets to the first two Capitals home games of the season as well as people trying to get to and from the office on Monday.