“Fancy new Metro signs” cont. HOWEVER, “Metro releases details for December Red Line service closure at four stations ahead of holiday travel”

Thanks to Amy for sending from Gallery Place Chinatown.

From WMATA:

“As Metro prepares for critical safety repairs on the Red Line during the last two weeks of the year, plans are underway to ensure customers are well-informed about travel alternatives to get them to and from Red Line stations where service will be interrupted. Metro scheduled the work at the end of December, while ridership is at its lowest, to have the least impact on customers.

To complete the work safely and efficiently, there will be no Red Line service between Dupont Circle and Gallery Place between Monday, Dec. 18 and Saturday, Dec. 30. Farragut North and Metro Center (upper level) will be closed. Blue, Orange, and Silver line service will continue to be available for customers at Metro Center; however,

both entrances on G Street NW at 11th and 13th streets will be closed to accommodate equipment and work crews. Customers can access the station at both entrances on 12th Street NW instead.

From Friday, Dec. 22 through Sunday, Dec. 24, Metro will extend the work zone with no Red Line service between Dupont Circle and Union Station. Judiciary Square Station will be closed and Red Line service will be unavailable at Gallery Place. Additionally, the Gallery Place entrance at Ninth & G streets NW will be closed. 

Over the two-week period, Metro will repair the deteriorated concrete ceiling above both tracks, dating back to the Metro system’s earliest days. While completing these critical repairs, work crews will also complete other essential maintenance work to avoid future service disruptions, including:

Replace switch machines
Install nearly 40,000 linear feet of fiber-optic cables
Replace concrete grout pads that stabilize the tracks
Perform leak repairs
Install platform edge lighting at all closed stations
Replacing rail fasteners and repairing rail joints
Install additional insulators that provide a barrier between the electrified third rail and ground 

Ridership is historically 40 percent lower during this time and completing the work with the Red Line out of service at a small number of stations will get the work done faster and affect fewer customers. In two weeks, Metro crews will be able to accomplish what would normally take three months if done on weekends.

Outside of the work zone, Red Line trains will arrive every 8 minutes at stations between Shady Grove and Dupont Circle and every 10 minutes after 9:30 p.m. Between Gallery Place and Glenmont trains will run 10 minutes all day. All other lines will operate normal service frequencies. Between Rosslyn and Stadium-Armory where the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines overlap trains will arrive at stations every 3-4 minutes during the day and every 5 minutes after 9:30 p.m. on the Green and Yellow lines trains will arrive every four minutes from L’Enfant Plaza to Mt Vernon Square trains will arrive every three minutes during peak periods and every four minutes all other times.”