At least this time they didn’t claim it was a “security measure.” But the National Park Service’s arbitrary decision to close the main parking lot at the Tidal Basin during Cherry Blossom Festival, when the Tidal Basin gets more visitors than any other time of year, was ridiculous nonetheless. It represents one more instance of the Park Service ignoring the notion that it exists to serve — not inconvenience — the public. The agency’s excuse was that everyone wants to land one of the 180 spots at the Tidal Basin, so — they’ll show us! — the Park Service shut down the entire parking lot. With no one cruising through hoping to land a spot, the NPS says there should be no attendant congestion at the lot’s exit point (congestion that is minimal at the worst of times, since traffic immediately empties onto Interstate 395).
But wait a minute. Isn’t this the same agency that deliberately creates traffic jams for occasions such as marathons and the National Christmas Tree lighting — when seemingly every street between Delaware and West Virginia is closed so the president can be driven across E Street in an armored vehicle without fear and trembling?
Because the Christmas tree lighting inexplicably occurs on a weekday evening during rush hour, tens of thousands of people who work in downtown D.C. are trapped for hours in cars and on buses. And they aren’t there voluntarily; they’re just poor schlubs trying to get home from work. If the Park Service is so concerned about traffic tie-ups, why doesn’t it lobby the Secret Service for more reasonable precautions during events such as those?
Of course, that’s not going to happen because the Park Service isn’t really concerned about traffic congestion; its interest is in social engineering. The NPS wants to make it as difficult as possible to enjoy the city by using one’s own car — and the best way to keep private cars out of the District is to take away parking places. Accordingly, the parking lot off Constitution Avenue — the best location for taking visitors to see the Washington Monument — was simply confiscated from the citizens who owned it.
The parking lot at the Jefferson Memorial also is closed, under the pretense of security. But if safety were really the issue, it would be easy to keep out bomb-bearing trucks by installing a low-hanging barrier allowing in only sedans. Alternatively, the Park Service could move the parking lot from its present position next to the monument to the area several yards away, adjacent to the street. The NPS doesn’t take such simple steps to maintain security and accessibility because accessibility is not one of its goals.
It is supposed to be. When President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service into law, the agency was charged with treating historic objects “by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” Making them inconvenient to access, by definition, impairs the ability to enjoy them.
Closing the parking lot at the Tidal Basin during cherry blossom season is particularly indefensible. If each of those 180 spots represents a car carrying three visitors who stay 30 minutes, that means about 10,000 people in a 12-hour day got a good place to park. That number cannot possibly outweigh those marginally inconvenienced by additional traffic congestion. (For heaven’s sake: Take Memorial Bridge instead of 14th Street.)
The congressional committee that oversees the Park Service should be up in arms over such caprice, but the NPS’ congressional liaison office curries favor with lawmakers by “scheduling monument tours for VIPS.” As long as lawmakers and their friends get driven to the front door of the capital’s attractions, apparently they don’t care how inconvenienced their constituents might be.
National parks were first proposed before the days of income tax — when the Vanderbilt family had more money than the U.S. Treasury — and wealthy people might have bought the nation’s garden spots and closed them to the rest of us. That was a wise decision, but does it do us any good if the federal government treats public landmarks as its private domain?
The real test will be after the Cherry Blossom Festival is over: to see whether the Tidal Basin parking lot actually reopens. If it doesn’t, we can add it to the casualty count of the NPS’ unchecked power.
Examiner Columnist Melanie Scarborough lives in Alexandria.
