D.C. planning for early rush hour

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As snow falls steadily, the District Department of Transportation says evening rush-hour restrictions are now in effect across the city, with the exception of Canal Road, which is on its normal schedule Friday.

At noon, Connecticut Avenue NW was reconfigured for the afternoon rush. There are four outbound lanes and two inbound lanes. Also, the signal timing in the major corridors out of the city has been adjusted for rush-hour traffic.

Metrorail, on the other hand, has not launched an early rush-hour service. The transit authority does have eight-car trains on standby and extra trains available if crowding develops, said Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel. There also are extra Metrobuses for people leaving work and school early on Friday afternoon.

MARC and the Maryland commuter buses as well as VRE tilted their services toward an early rush-hour crowd.