For those who find the transit alternatives too time-consuming or inconvenient, another mitigation method the city is encouraging is teleworking.
“Even here at the city, we are pushing telework as an option,” Lambert said. “We are reminding [city employees] that the city has a very solid telework plan in place and that as long as people establish telework agreements with their supervisor it’s something that the city is very supportive of.”
For residents looking to remain in the city instead of commuting into D.C. or surrounding jurisdictions, Alexandria offers a variety of coworking spaces with different memberships and amenities.
Kelly Grant, chief operating officer of ALX Community, the coworking space on Lee Street, said she’s already gotten a lot of interest leading up to the shutdown.
“Since the announcement of the Metro closing … I have people coming in every day and booking memberships,” Grant said. “Employers are being a lot more flexible too, because if a commute was already going to be bad, why are you going to force your workforce to sit in traffic for an hour and a half when they have other options? … Employers want you to be productive, not sitting there in traffic.”
ALX Community, Novel Coworking Old Town, Industrious and other coworking spaces in Alexandria offer a variety of flexible memberships.
More information about Alexandria’s Metro shutdown mitigation plan is available at www.alexandriava.gov/tes under “2019 Metrorail Platform Improvement Project.” Updates on the project itself is available at www.wmata.com/platforms.
City residents seeking trip planning assistance can call 703-746-3274 weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. In addition, there will be customer service street teams at Alexandria Metro stations during the first few days of the shutdown. >