Brace Yourselves, Metro Riders: Surge 3 Strikes Arlington This Week [VIDEO]

Yellow and Blue line commuters, get ready for a nightmare commute starting Tuesday evening.

Metro's Safetrack Plan to repair chronic safety problems throughout the system continues with Surge No. 3, which will start at 8 p.m. July 5 and run through July 11. Surge No. 4 will be hot on its heels in the same general area.

As part of Surge 3, instead of just single-tracking, Metro will be completely shutting down the line segment between Reagan National Airport and Braddock Road. That means any riders who commute from Braddock Road and points south into the D.C. area will need to get off at the Braddock Road station and take one of the limited free shuttle buses that run to Crystal City and Pentagon City.

Or, you could just avoid using Metro at all, which Metro would be quite happy for you to do.

"Blue/Yellow customers are encouraged to consider alternate travel options and avoid traveling during rush hour if possible; expect significant crowding on Blue & Yellow line trains," Metro says in a statement.

The shutdown will also mean significant delays for riders as follows:

Blue Line will operate in two segments:

• Trains will run every 15 minutes between Franconia-Springfield and Braddock Road
• Trains will run every 12 minutes between National Airport and Largo Town Center

Yellow Line will operate in two segments:

• Trains will run every 12 minutes between Huntington and Braddock Road
• Trains will run every 12 minutes between National Airport and Greenbelt

The following stations will have extremely crowded trains, especially during rush hour: Franconia-Springfield, Van Dorn Street, King Street, Braddock Road, National Airport, Crystal City, Pentagon City, Pentagon, Huntington, Eisenhower Avenue, L'Enfant Plaza.

Riders won't be out of the woods when Surge 3 ends. Surge 4 will begin on July 12 and end July 18, and will involve a line segment shutdown between Pentagon City and Reagan National Airport.