A stretch of the Metro Blue Line will be out of service starting Saturday and will remain closed until July 26 for construction.

Franconia-Springfield and Van Dorn St. stations will be closed for three weeks, making Reagan National Airport the last stop on the Blue Line.

Customers needing to move from either of these stations to an operating Metro stop can take a free bus shuttle to the Eisenhower Ave. or King St.- Old Town stations on the Yellow Line. A transfer point back to the Blue Line is available at the Reagan National stop.

Bus shuttles will operate every 8-10 minutes.

An additional express shuttle between Franconia-Springfield and Pentagon stations will also run every 8-10 minutes.

Parking lots and garages at Franconia-Springfield and Van Dorn St. will remain open and free.

Metro said in a news release that the construction is on several different components, and will result in smoother, safer rides. Metro will also be upgrading lighting along the Blue Line.

For two back-to-back weekends, the first of which starts July 12, Metro will also be running single tracking from Huntington to Braddock Road.

A four-week construction period is also planned for the Green Line in August. Similar to Blue Line plans, free shuttle services will also be provided to the public.