WASHINGTON - The Labor Day holiday weekend is known as a prime time for traveling and shopping for back to school supplies, so many in the area are wondering why Metro would close three major stations this weekend for track work.

Throngs of shoppers are hitting the malls this weekend, but with the Pentagon City and Crystal City Metro stations being closed this weekend, getting to their shopping destinations has turned into a holiday headache.

"A holiday weekend like this, you would think that they wouldn't do the work because so many people are going to be either shopping or going out," said Jessica Ferro, Arlington resident.

For many, getting to Pentagon City Mall Saturday was not easy.

"We had to stand in the heat and wait, and then the [shuttle] wasn't big enough, you know, with so many people," said Deborah Holton, Largo, Md., resident.

The transit agency has added personnel and is using shuttle buses to accommodate passengers, which some say is working out just fine.

Metro says that using the holiday weekend to do the track work was a better option than doing it across four consecutive normal-length weekends.

"If they need to do it than as long as they make sure they have the buses running...than that's fine," said Danielle McDonald, Largo resident.

Most passengers agree on one thing: they will be glad when the work is done.

"Being on a bus when you just want to go on the Metro is not really fun," added Ferro.

Delays range from five to 30 minutes, Metro says. But one gentlemen from Silver Spring said it took him two hours to get to Reagan National Airport (web | news) , which stations are also closed.

Metro says the work consists of replacing four switches and 2,000 feet of rail. They also say the work will be done by the Tuesday morning commute.

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