WASHINGTON — Metro is closing the busy 13th Street entrance to the U Street station for about six months beginning in April.

Construction on new escalators at the entrance mean only the 10th Street entrance near the African-American Civil War Memorial and the elevators at the station will remain open.

Metro said shutting down the busy 13th Street entrance entirely starting on or around April 3 would allow the project to finish more quickly than if the two escalators there were replaced one at a time.

The replacement is part of Metro’s $151 million project to replace more than 130 escalators by the end of the decade.