INTERVIEW — ROBERT THOMSON aka Washington Post’s DR. GRIDLOCK

TOPICS: Latest Metro News:

• Metro Board Chair Throws Potential Wrench Into Plan for New Hours. (WMAL) — Now that it appears continuing 3am weekend closures is not in the cards, Metro Board Chairman Jack Evans is threatening to use veto powers to reject the new plan altogether. Metro announced its staff had settled on a plan to close the system at 1am Friday and Saturday nights starting next July, following months of public input on the issue. They say a plurality – 45 percent – of respondents favored the 1am option. Maryland and Virginia representatives were on board for the most part, but the District, which has more extensive hospitality and nightlife interests, balked at the idea. “My opinion is that we do not do anything on a permanent basis,” Evans told his colleagues on the D.C. Council Tuesday. “We will agree to a one-year extension, and at the end of one year, July 1, 2018, it reverts back to 3am.” He said if other Board members reject that idea, he would resort to using a jurisdictional veto, bringing back the 3am closures next year.
• Metro to recommend 1am weekend closings. Metro staff says more people favored the option that keeps the system open until 1am Friday and Saturday nights. It would close at 11:30pm Monday-Thursday.
• A Metro Board committee is set to vote on the new hours on Thursday, with the full Board voting in two weeks.
• Metro’s most intense SafeTrack surge yet began this week, impacting Orange, Silver lines. Work is being done between East Falls Church and West Falls Church, forcing trains to single-track and run only every 20 minutes. But unlike past surges, there will not be any extra trains added at an intermediate station like Ballston, meaning the impact will be felt from Reston to Largo, and from Vienna to New Carrollton for the first two weeks.
• Metro board member suggests killing Silver Line in apparent bid to pressure Va. In an apparent effort to pressure Virginia and its suburbs to contribute more money to Metro, a board member said Tuesday that he will ask the agency to consider canceling the $5.8 billion Silver Line extension, which is expected to open in 2020. The proposal from board member Corbett A. Price, who represents the District, was immediately dismissed by Virginia officials, who said cancellation would break contracts and trigger lawsuits without necessarily saving any money. The second phase of the 23.1-mile line is well underway.