A bicyclist was struck and killed by a military truck Monday evening just blocks from the Walter E. Washington Convention Center where the 47-nation nuclear summit is being held.
The D.C. National Guard truck, which was assigned to the Nuclear Security Summit’s motorcade security route, “collided” with the bicyclist around 6 p.m. at the corner of 12th Street and New York Avenue NW, according to a statement issued by Secret Service officials involved with the summit.
The cyclist, reportedly a woman, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident and was not transported to an area hospital, said Pete Piringer, a fire department spokesman. The collision was outside the security perimeter set up around the convention center.
The accident is under investigation by the D.C. police department.
Motorcades of police cruisers, Secret Service sport utility vehicles and foreign embassy sedans clogged the streets of downtown D.C. throughout the day Monday as the security summit disrupted life in the District.
Drivers ran into heavy congestion, particularly on many of the roads around the summit’s convention center site at Ninth and M streets NW.
“It’s been pretty slammed,” said one police officer stationed at the corner of 10th and M streets NW, speaking about traffic and the seemingly omnipresent motorcades. “They’ve been coming in and out all day.”
Just a few steps from the police officer sat a camouflaged Humvee, one of many military vehicles stationed around the convention center.
Metrobus riders also encountered their share of difficulties.
Although detours were announced, some Metro buses were improperly routed during the morning hours, stranding confused passengers far from their intended destinations.
Area commuters were forewarned that rush-hour traffic downtown was going to be especially frenzied early in the week due to the security summit.
