Washingtonians, prepare for traffic gridlock early next week as the city battens down for an international nuclear security summit that will lock down blocks of downtown, close a Metro station and tie up traffic with multiple motorcades.
The summit is slated to attract more than 40 world leaders to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Monday and Tuesday, but the shutdowns begin Sunday evening, and some will last until Wednesday morning. Parking could be fouled up as early as Friday, officials warn.
“There is nothing more important than making sure that the people who visit the country, especially the leaders of the 46 nations who visit this city, do so in as safe and secure of a way as humanly possible,” Mayor Adrian Fenty said in discussing the security plans Thursday afternoon.
The tight security is concentrated around the convention center but will radiate out to a dozen hotels, some embassies, plus the waterways and airways as heads of state convene to discuss the security-sensitive issue. Even trash cans will be removed from a swath of downtown.
The road closures form a concentric circle of sorts, with pedestrians locked out for one block extending outward from the convention center. Only residents and local businesses will be allowed in with a government-issued ID. That means those who live at the McCollough Terrace Apartments at Seventh and O streets will have to pass through security screenings to get home. Trash pickups will be delayed.
Road closures make up the next ring, then parking bans. The road restrictions extend west from Sixth Street Northwest until as far as 14th Street in some blocks along New York Avenue. They run north from H Street to O Street.
» Metrorail: Trains will start running at 5 a.m. Sunday, two hours early, for the 10-mile Credit Union Cherry Blossom race, but the Mt. Vernon Square-7th Street-Convention Center stop on the Green and Yellow lines will be closed from midnight that night until 5 a.m. Wednesday. Trains will be allowed to pass through the station.
» Metrobus: The following bus routes are expected to be rerouted: 42, 63, 64, 70, 71, 79, 80, Scott Ott:39712322:39712322:Scott Ott’s Examiner Scrappleface, G8, P6, S2, S4 and X2. Metro advises to build in extra travel time.
» D.C. Circulator: Two lines of the bus service will be disrupted from 8 a.m. Monday through 9 p.m. Tuesday. The Georgetown-Union Station route will be split into two routes, dead-ending before the Convention Center. The Convention Center/SW Waterfront route will end at I Street Northwest.
Metro has to shut down the Mt. Vernon Square rail station and detour 13 of its bus lines. The D.C. Circulator is modifying two of its routes, including cutting in two its popular K Street route that runs from Union Station to Georgetown.
Other rolling closures will occur as presidential-level motorcades pass through the city. And everything could get more complicated if political protests break out.
Local officials are encouraging commuters to consider teleworking and carpooling to reduce congestion.
The D.C. police will use traffic officers from the District Department of Transportation, message boards and roving traffic teams to try to ease congestion, Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier said.
“Plan ahead, come a little bit early if you plan on driving anywhere in this area, and be patient with us and help us get through this with the least amount of confusion as possible,” she said.
Alana Goodman contributed to this report.
