Reston Metro Riders May Have Big Headaches In Coming Years

RESTON, VA -- Reston (and Herndon) Metro riders may have a frustrating experience waiting for them in the years ahead thanks to a new Metro plan that involves totally shutting down stations for months at a time in order to rebuild the platforms.

Neither the Reston-Wiehle Metro station or any of the upcoming Reston and Herndon stations will be shut down (obviously, since their platforms are brand new), but stations that the trains will pass through on the way to D.C. will be shut down in the coming years.

"Rebuilding platforms is heavy construction activity that requires that tracks be taken out of service to allow for demolishing existing structures, access to the construction area, and concrete pouring," WMATA said in a statement.

It's not clear exactly how this will affect Metro riders who pass through these stations, but Metro noted in the statement that rebuilding platforms at 10 of the 45 outdoor stations previously had involved single-tracking and "customer inconvenience." Metro hopes to minimize that inconvenience by doing it all at once instead of dragging it out over years by keeping the stations open.

The Metro stations that will have their platforms completely rebuilt on the Silver, Orange, and Blue lines in Virginia include Vienna, Dunn Loring, West Falls Church, and East Falls Church. This will happen in the 2020-2021 time frame.

The $300-$400 million project will begin with stations on the Blue and Yellow lines in Virginia in the summer of 2019. Those stations will be closed between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

"Following extensive internal planning and consultation with construction contractors with the goal of minimizing customer impact, Metro developed a program that advances the reconstruction of the next 20 platforms primarily using extended shutdowns during summer months-rather than single tracking-to provide contractors with 24-hour access to selected work sites," the WMATA statement reads. "The approach improves safety while significantly reducing project duration because workers do not have to repeatedly set-up and break down their equipment. The approach also minimizes customer impact by allowing Metro to continue to provide normal rail service elsewhere on the system."