Despite a looming budget crisis with no federal help on the way, Metro is sticking to its plan to keep up with scheduled maintenance projects.

The transit agency recently announced the schedule for periodic repair over the next two years, which includes closing more than a dozen stations to rebuild platforms or reconstruct canopies.

Metro says it’s “continuing its robust capital program to keep the system safe and reliable for the next generation of riders.” Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld has said it’s important to keep up with maintenance so the system doesn’t fall into disrepair again.

WMATA says it will spend up to $13 billion for capital projects over the next seven years.

The construction schedule, which is subject to change, looks like this. All of these projects will require total station shutdowns for certain periods and rail service will be replaced with bus shuttles.

• Mid-February – May 2021: The Blue Line’s Arlington Cemetery and Addison Road stations will be closed for approximately three months for full platform replacement and station renovation. Silver Line trains will pass through the Addison Road construction site without stopping. Yellow Line trains will provide all trans-Potomac service for stations Pentagon and south.
• Summer 2021: Green Line stations in Maryland will close for platform replacement, including West Hyattsville, Prince George’s Plaza, College Park, and Greenbelt.
• Fall 2021: The Red Line station at Rockville will close for several months so crews can demolish and rebuild the aging canopy structure over the platform. “Construction will necessitate the closure of Shady Grove Station for a portion of the project, because trains may not be able to pass through the active construction site,” Metro says.
• Summer 2022: The east end of the Orange Line will get platform reconstructions at Cheverly, Landover, and New Carrollton. Minnesota Avenue and Deanwood will also be closed due to the work.

The platform reconstruction tears out and replaces crumbling concrete on the edges of the platform. At the same time, crews upgrade the platform with new slip-resistant tiles, new security cameras and communications, updated shelters with USB charging, and new passenger information screens.

Metro completed work on 10 outdoor stations on the southern end of the Blue and Yellow lines last year and on the west end of the Orange Line this year.

Construction is about halfway done at Reagan National Airport Station, but since there are three platforms, a total station shutdown was not required.

The first shutdown was somewhat disruptive, but Metro had historically low ridership because of the pandemic this year. Metro predicts ridership will remain low in 2021.

Smaller Projects Require Weekend, Other Closures

Several other smaller projects will require sporadic shutdowns or single tracking.

A tunnel ventilation project on the Red Line will single-track trains between Dupont Circle and Van Ness from mid-July through August 2021. This improvement project was recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board after the 2015 fatal smoke incident at L’Enfant Plaza that killed passenger Carol Glover.

Some parts of the system will close for 10 weekends from fall 2021 until winter 2022 to repair bridges and elevated track areas. One of the shutdowns at Grosvenor-Strathmore will take five weekends to fix in early 2022. Another five-weekend shutdown in early 2022 is planned from Eastern Market to Cheverly and Addison Road to repair the aerial structures over the Anacostia River.