Metro says its reopening Silver Line stations and one Orange Line station on Aug. 16, three weeks ahead of its previous Labor Day reopening date.

McLean, Tysons, Greensboro, Spring Hill and Wiehle-Reston stations on the Silver Line and West Falls Church on the Orange Line will open first. Vienna, Dunn Loring and East Falls Church stations on the Orange Line will reopen around Labor Day.

Customers at all Orange Line stations will notice ongoing construction activity at the stations, even after they reopen. Free shuttle buses will continue to connect Vienna, Dunn Loring, and East Falls Church to the Metrorail system after Aug. 16; however, Vienna and Dunn Loring customers will be able to connect to Metrorail at West Falls Church, rather than Ballston.

“Metro’s commitment to customers is to restore service as soon as it is safe to do so, even if the project is not 100 percent completed at that time,” Metro said in a release.

The transit agency is rebuilding station platforms on the Orange Line and connecting the current Silver Line to the upcoming Phase 2 extension. Metro says the pace of reconstruction work on the Orange Line is “excellent” and will allow earlier opening. WMATA previously had concerns that social distancing efforts could slow that work.

And while work is also done on the Silver Line connection, some work at the Orange/Silver Line split station at East Falls Church needs to be finished before the Silver Line can reopen.

Metro previously planned on doing the Silver Line work with months of weekend closures. But when the pandemic hit, WMATA decided the work would be easier to do while completely closing the line. And with ridership down nearly 90%, it made less of an impact on riders. Still, that irked local businesses that were only given a few weeks of notice, leaving them with uncertainty about how recovery from the pandemic will shake out and how they’d get by without Metro.

Metro usually gives months — if not years — of notice when closing stations or lines. But it took a gamble betting that life in the region would not get back to normal by this summer. Northern Virginia plans to enter Phase Three of reopening on July 1.

In May, Sol Glasner, CEO of the Tysons Partnership, said he was disappointed and frustrated with how Metro handled the Silver Line shutdown. He argued it created a chicken-and-egg scenario for businesses trying to get back on their feet.

“Metro is not an amenity in Tysons, it’s an essential utility,” Glasner said late last month. “Our businesses, our employees, our customers are dependent on Metro. Without Metro, when we’re looking for economic recovery, it creates a self-defeating cycle.”

In a statement, the Partnership said it welcomed the early opening dates, but is still pushing for dedicated bus lanes through the remainder of the shutdown.

“With Phase Three reopening beginning July 1, traffic volume in Northern Virginia is projected to return to near pre-pandemic levels,” the statement said. “Bus lanes will allow Metro to cycle (shuttle) buses more efficiently, expanding capacity that would allow passengers to maintain social distancing.”

In a statement Wednesday, Fairfax County Board Chair Jeff McKay welcomed the new opening date.

“As our COVID-19 case data improves, we need to be able to approach reopening the region in a safe and sustainable way, while also supporting the needs of the business community,” he said in a statement.

Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said he appreciated riders’ and the business community’s patience.

“By combining the schedules of our two biggest capital priorities in Virginia during a time of historically low ridership, we believe we have positioned Metro and the region for a strong recovery.”