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Northeast Post Office Branch Spared From Closure List
As expected, the U.S. Secret Service, along with regional transportation officials and the MPD, unveiled their plan yesterday to close all Potomac River bridge crossings on Inauguration Day. The announcement also included the above map, which shows plans to close off almost 3.5 square miles of downtown Washington to vehicular traffic starting at 3 p.m. on January 19 until the morning of January 21. You can download PDFs of both the Law Enforcement and Public Safety Public Affairs Subcommittee Joint Transportation Plan and the Secret Service Security Plan at the D.C. government's Getting There web site. Both documents contain extensive information on road closures and restrictions throughout the inaugural celebration period. Maryland and Virginia also have special web sites set up with the latest information. Below the jump, you'll find excerpts from the recent announcements that include lists of road closures and traffic restrictions. Of special note for those of you planning on walking down to the National Mall for the inauguration will be the list of pedestrian access points -- you'll want to pick which way you plan to walk before you set out that morning, or you may find yourself stuck.
Access into Washington, D.C. will be limited on Tuesday, January 20, 2009. The
following is a summary of routes and their status that day:
14th Street Bridge - Restricted to Buses and Authorized Vehicles Only
Roosevelt Bridge - Restricted to Buses and Authorized Vehicles Only
Memorial Bridge - Restricted to Pedestrians and Emergency Vehicles Only
Key Bridge - Restricted to Mass Transit Only
Chain Bridge - Restricted to Authorized Vehicles and Mass Transit Only, no
charter buses.
South Capitol Street Bridge - Restricted to Buses and Authorized Vehicles Only
Southeast/Southwest Freeway - Restricted to Emergency Vehicles Only
Rock Creek Parkway - Open to traffic from Beach Drive to Virginia Avenue NW
(Holiday traffic schedule in effect throughout the park)
Clara Barton Parkway operating under Holiday schedule (2 way traffic all day)
11th Street Bridges - Restricted to Buses and Authorized Vehicles Only
Sousa Bridge - Open to all traffic from east of the river to security checkpoint in
Capitol Hill; Barney Circle closed to all vehicles
East Capitol Street - Open to all traffic but roadways around RFK will be filled
with tour buses
Benning Road - Open to all traffic
New York Avenue - Open to all traffic
3rd Street Tunnel - Closed to all vehicular traffic and restricted to pedestrian use
only.
Authorized vehicles include taxicabs and limousines with valid licenses.
Washington, D.C. Vehicular Restrictions
Vehicle Restricted Zone: Vehicular road closures in Washington, D.C. will be instituted
by the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Park Police. Extensive road closures
and vehicle restricted zones will be established in Washington, D.C. Beginning at 3 p.m.
on Monday, January 19, through 7 a.m. on Wednesday, January 21, all of the following
areas will be posted as Emergency No Parking. From 4 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday,
January 20, many of these areas will be posted by law enforcement personnel and
vehicular traffic will be limited to residents with government issued identification
(driver’s license) or vehicle registration showing residency inside the restricted area, or to
vehicles conducting essential business within the restricted area.
K Street NW from Washington Circle to 12th Street NW
Washington Circle from K Street NW to 23rd Street NW
Pennsylvania Avenue NW from Washington Circle to the U S Capitol
I Street NW from 23rd Street NW to 11th Street NW
H Street NW from 23rd Street NW to 3rd Street NW
G Street NW from 23rd Street NW to 3rd Street NW
F Street NW from 23rd Street NW to 3rd Street NW
E Street NW from 23rd Street NW to 3rd Street NW
Virginia Avenue from 23rd Street NW to 2nd SW
D Street NW from 23rd Street NW to 1st Street NW
C Street NW from 23rd Street NW to 3rd Street NW
Constitution Avenue from 23rd Street NW to 2nd Street NE
Madison Dr. NW from 15th Street NW to 3rd Street NW
Jefferson Dr. SW from 15th Street SW to 3rd Street SW
Independence Avenue from 23rd Street SW to 2nd Street SE
C Street SW from 7th Street SW to 2nd Street SW
D Street SW from 7th Street SW to 2nd Street SW
E Street SW from 7th Street SW to 2nd Street SW
Maryland Avenue SW from 7th Street SW to the U S Capitol
23rd Street from Washington Circle NW to Independence Avenue SW
22nd Street NW from K Street NW to Constitution Avenue NW
21st Street NW from K Street NW to Constitution Avenue NW
20th Street NW from K Street NW to Constitution Avenue NW
19th Street NW from K Street NW to Constitution Avenue NW
18th Street NW from K Street NW to Constitution Avenue NW
17th Street from K Street NW to Independence Avenue SW
Connecticut Avenue NW from K Street NW to H Street NW
16th Street NW from K Street NW to H Street NW
Vermont Avenue NW from K Street NW to H Street NW
15th Street from K Street NW to Independence Avenue SW
14th Street from K Street NW to Independence Avenue SW
New York Avenue NW from 18th Street NW to 11th Street NW
13th Street NW from K Street NW to Pennsylvania Avenue NW
12th Street from K Street NW to Independence Avenue SW
11th Street NW from K Street NW to Pennsylvania Avenue NW
10th Street NW from H Street NW to Constitution Avenue NW
9th Street from H Street NW to Independence Avenue SW
8th Street NW from H Street NW to D Street NW
7th Street from H Street NW to E Street SW
6th Street from H Street NW to E Street SW
5th Street from H Street NW to D Street NW
4th Street from H Street NW to E Street SW
3rd Street from Massachusetts Avenue NW to E Street SW
Henry Bacon Dr. NW from the Lincoln Memorial to Constitution Avenue NW
Daniel French Dr. SW from the Lincoln Memorial to Independence Avenue SW
Ohio Drive from Independence Avenue through West Potomac and East Potomac
Parks
Buckeye Drive in East Potomac Park
West Basin Drive
East Basin Drive
Parkway Drive from Rock Creek Parkway to Lincoln Memorial Circle
Maine Avenue from East Basin Drive to Independence Avenue
Vehicular Road Closures: In addition to above listed Emergency No Parking and vehicle
restricted areas, from 4 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 20, the following roads will
be closed and off limits to vehicles without a law enforcement escort:
Pennsylvania Avenue NW from 18th Street NW to the U S Capitol
I Street NW from 18th Street NW to 12th Street NW
H Street NW from 18th Street NW to 12th Street NW
G Street NW from 18th Street NW to 12th Street NW
F Street NW from 18th Street NW to 12th Street NW
E Street NW from 18th Street NW to 6th Street NW
D Street NW from 18th Street NW to 6th Street NW
C Street from 18th Street NW to 2nd Street NE
Constitution Avenue from 17th Street NW to 2nd Street NE
Madison Dr. NW from 15th Street NW to 3rd Street NW
Jefferson Dr. SW from 15th Street SW to 3rd Street SW
Independence Avenue from 14th Street SW to 2nd Street NE
Maryland Avenue SW from 6th Street SW to the U S Capitol
17th Street from I Street NW to Independence Avenue SW
Connecticut Avenue NW from I Street NW to H Street NW
16th Street NW from I Street NW to H Street NW
Vermont Avenue NW from I Street NW to H Street NW
15th Street from I Street NW to Independence Avenue SW
14th Street from I Street NW to Independence Avenue SW
New York Avenue NW from 18th Street NW to 12th Street NW
13th Street NW from I Street NW to Pennsylvania Avenue NW
12th Street from F Street NW to Independence Avenue SW
11th Street NW from F Street NW to Pennsylvania Avenue NW
10th Street NW from F Street NW to Constitution Avenue NW
9th Street from F Street NW to Independence Avenue SW
8th Street NW from F Street NW to D Street NW
7th Street from F Street NW to Independence Avenue SW
6th Street from F Street NW to Maryland Avenue SW
5th Street from D Street NW to Independence Avenue SW
4th Street from D Street NW to Independence Avenue SW
3rd Street from D Street NW to Independence Avenue SW
Capitol Hill: Road closures on Capitol Hill will be instituted by the U.S. Capitol Police in
cooperation with the Metropolitan Police Department. Access to the perimeter will be
restricted to properly authorized and credentialed personnel only. No public parking will
be provided. The following street closures will go into effect starting at 5 a.m. on
Tuesday, January 20, 2009:
Louisiana Avenue between Columbus Circle and Constitution Avenue NW
Delaware Avenue between Columbus Circle and D Street NE
First Street between Columbus Circle and D Street NE
North Capitol Street NW between E Street and Louisiana Avenue
E Street between New Jersey Avenue and North Capitol Street NW
New Jersey Avenue NW between E Street and Louisiana Avenue NW
D Street between Louisiana Avenue NW and Second Street NE
First Street NW between D Street NW and Louisiana Avenue NW
C Street NW between First Street and Louisiana Avenue NW
Second Street NW between C Street and Constitution Avenue NW
Second Street NE between Massachusetts Avenue NE and C Street SE
C Street SE between Second Street SE and First Street SE
First Street SE between C Street and D Street SE
D Street between First Street SE and Washington Avenue SW
Washington Avenue SW between D Street SW, and Independence Avenue SW
Independence Avenue SW between Second Street SW and Third Street NW
Third Street between SW Freeway and Constitution Avenue NW
Constitution Avenue NW between Second Street NW and Third Street NW
Streets will reopen once the parade concludes at 5 p.m.
Pedestrian Routes
The following access points have been identified as pedestrian-only routes to the National
Mall:
E Street NE from Massachusetts Avenue NE to 3rd Street NW
7th Street SW from D Street SW to Independence Avenue SW
19th Street NW from K Street NW to DuPont Circle NW
3rd Street Tunnel (I-395) from New York Avenue NW to SE/SW Freeway
Arlington Memorial Bridge from Virginia, around Lincoln Circle to Independence
Avenue SW
East Capitol Street NE to North Carolina SE to New Jersey Avenue SE to I Street
SE
The following access points have been identified as pedestrian-only routes to the
Inaugural Parade:
6th Street NW from K Street NW to P Street NW
13th Street NW from K Street NW to Logan Circle NW
East Capitol Street NE to Massachusetts Avenue NE
Arlington MeDrive NW
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Stay away! Stay far away! DC will be a dead zone. No one gets in. No one gets out. DC will be the New Atlantis.
A glass dome will be placed over DC...and..
Hey! The wind blew off my tin-foil hat!
exactly. you never have anything coherent to say.
Some call it balance or an imbalance.
You say banana. I say bandana.
You say Moleeka. I say Topeka.
Topeka Moleeka Topeka Moleeka
Lets call the thing IMGOPH!
so why the heck are all the pedestrian access points north of the mall? why none from the south? does this mean that the SS (yeah, i abbreviated it that way on purpose) won't be utilizing the l'enfant metro station as a way to get people onto the mall? if so, that's pigheadedly shortsighted (and would display a lot of the NW DC-centrism that i would expect from people who don't know the city that well).
Wow... you're right... no south entrances?
W
T
F
The pedestrian access points and pedestrian crossovers are for the parade, not the general inauguration crowd at the Mall itself. You'll be able to get to the Mall from L'Enfant (check out the last paragraph of the post, which is pedestrian access routes to the Mall) but you'll have a tougher time getting to the parade route.
From the Secret Service planning document:
thanks, nanas_tea_party, i wasn't really making a distinction between the two, but it's pretty clear from your explanation.
And the last section of the list of streets, etc., identifies the places you will be able to get on to the Mall (including from the south side), even though those points aren't marked on the map.
The District of Columbia.
The once-great city of Washington becomes the one maximum-security prison for the entire country.
A fifty-foot containment wall is erected along the Virginia shoreline, across the Anacostia river, and along Eastern and Western Avenues.
It completely surrounds the District of Columbia.
All bridges and waterways are mined.
The United States Police Force, like an army,
is encamped around the island.
There are no guards inside the prison: only prisoners and the worlds they have made.
The rules are simple.
Once you go in, you don't come out.
Looks like a job for Snake Plissken...
Awesome. Nothing like an Escape from New York reference to brighten up a dreary morning.
I think you are missing the biggest closer of them all, one that might actually F’up your plans:
"Beginning at 2 a.m. Tuesday, January 20, only authorized vehicles – emergency vehicles, buses, taxis, and for-hire limos and car services – will be permitted to travel northbound on Interstate 395 and eastbound on Interstate 66 inside the Capital Beltway/I-495. All other traffic heading to Washington on Interstate 95 will be diverted at the Springfield interchange (Exits 170B and 170C) onto I-495 North (Inner Loop) or I-495/I-95 East (Outer Loop). All general traffic traveling eastbound on I-66 and toward Washington on the Dulles Toll Road will also be diverted to the Capital Beltway/I-495."
I wonder if I can walk from Anacostia. The bridges are closed to vehicular traffic, but can we walk (or bike)across them? I would like to avoid metro at all costs.
I like that the 3rd Street Tunnel has been designated a "pedestrian route."
Who the hell would want to walk through this tunnel?? Your lungs would probably quit before you even got to the other side.
The connections from Arlington to DC seem woefully insufficient. Many of us expect Metro not to be an option as trains are likely to be completely full by the time they reach the county.
The only bridge designated for walking traffic is the Memorial Bridge, which is the single LEAST convenient option. There is nothing near the Virginia terminus of the bridge other than Arlington Cemetery. People live near the Roosevelt and 14th Street Bridges, but it doesn't sound like those will be available for pedestrians, even though they'll be nearly unused.
It will be an unmitigated disaster of people trying to find and get across the Memorial Bridge.
Side note - are any of your employers still expecting you to be at your office on time and working on Inauguration Day? I work in Ballston and the current plan is to still have everyone in the office and working that Tuesday.
Yes I have to go to work, and I walk up from Penn Ave. SE and then walk through the Capitol grounds to Constitution NW, and I have no idea what streets surrounding the Capitol are closed to pedestrians, because you know there's a security peremiter around it. Metro doesn't even have suggestions for how to get to the Mall/Capitol if you're coming from any part of the east.
that's because they only care about people coming from the "favored quarter" of the city and suburbs. no one ever thinks of what people need to deal with from east of the city, because frankly, y'all ain't rich enough.
That is so true. To go off topic, take Nats stadium: Metro bent over backwards to provide dozens of N22 buses and charter buses to make sure customers from the north and west could get to and from the stadium. But did they do anything for the workers and us customers who rely on the V8 to take us east? No way. I only waited once for that bus, for over an hour before walking home, and the workers said they usually waited 1-2 hours even though a V8 was supposed to come by every 20 minutes.
exactly. i'm not going to take the time to dig it up, but look for the map that the post did right before the new stadium opened up. they showed all the ways that anyone from virginia or northwest DC could get to the park, but failed to mention that there is a metro stop right on the other side of the douglass bridge.
anti-SE-bias.
Look at the pedestrian only routes. Can anyone make any sense of these? It's just gibberish.
"East Capitol Street NE to North Carolina SE to New Jersey Avenue SE to I Street SE" WTF - if you get off your tour bus at RFK and follow this route to the National Mall you will be at the McDonald's down by Nationals Stadium.
If people follow this nonsense they are going to be scattered all over the District.
I guess the CHUDs will be the most mobile folk in the city that day.
"Beginning at 2 a.m. Tuesday, January 20, only authorized vehicles – emergency vehicles, buses, taxis, and for-hire limos and car services – will be permitted to travel northbound on Interstate 395 and eastbound on Interstate 66 inside the Capital Beltway/I-495."
I've waited decades to see suburban white people riot. Finally, my wait comes to an end....
It will happen. I suspect the spark that will set if off will be kept woman from McClean, who has a 1:00pm nail appointment in Gtwn for the ball later that night, finds out there is no way in period.
It's already happened a couple of times in College PArk.
you're renewing my faith in humanity more every day, sir! :)
Not to sound like Deb Downer here, but who in their right mind would make the pilgrimage to this hot mess? It's like a dry run for a major disaster: everyone stock up on necessities b/c you sure as shit aren't getting anywhere between the 19th-21st!
Does anyone know when exactly on Wednesday the dc-va bridges will re-open? I have a flight at 8am from Dulles and I can't figure out how I should get there, short of driving all the way north to MD to catch 495 and swing back down...
Im coming from 14/U NW area...
My suggestion would be to cut across to River rd to 495 to 267 just leave extra early and give yourself plenty of time
The fact that Arlington will be completely cut off from the District for what looks like more than a whole day bothers me a good amount.
Do they really expect people to walk to Arlington Cemetery before crossing the Memorial Bridge by foot? What's the logic behind that?
I may be reading this wrong, but I think it's just saying that the Memorial Bridge is going to be pedestrian-only (i.e. no cars, buses, etc)...not that it's the only route that pedestrians may take across the river to the Mall.
The 14th Street Bridge has a fairly wide pedestrian/bike route along the north side of the southbound span that should be able to accomodate foot traffic into DC. The south side of the Roosevelt Bridge also has a sidewalk, but it's not that wide and I don't think it actually connects to a path/sidewalk on the Virginia side.
I think the Key Bridge is supposed to be open to foot traffic - but, of course, that doesn't take you to the Mall.
Read the related WaPo article; it states that the Memorial Bridge will be the only 'official' pedestrian bridge, but that pedestrians will also be allowed on the Key and Chain [ha!] bridges; no others.
The map reminds me of Baghdad. I like the green dotted line denoting the "Green Zone". This is a bit too much Security Theater.
amen, over the river. all this is a bad form of kabuki.
DC has an inauguration and no one can get to it. This isn't what Obama meant when he said "Change we can believe in!"
This overeaching planning is total b.s. Republicans aren't looking like such the scare mongers now, eh?
The USSS is a non-partisan scaremonger.
i can't imagine how any of them get a good night's sleep...seeing "evil" and "terror" around every damn corner.
Launch the missiles!! I've just been informed by management that our condo's indoor pool (we live in Southwest) will be CLOSED on Inauguration Day due to the bridge closings. "This will make it impossible for the pool personnel to drive into DC and man this area."
Exactly. Expect lots of weird closings that day. All these small businesses (restaurants, etc.) that expect to remain open and serve the tired, cold, huddled masses ... better let their staff spend the night on Jan 19 or expect lots of calls saying they can't make it in on the 20th.
For crying out loud, you'd think this city had never hosted an inauguration before!! Sure, a larger crowd than in the past is expected, but do we really need this level of panic? Holy Moses! (er, I guess that's Holy Obama now...)
I don't understand why everyone is freaking out because officials are restricting bridge use to mass-transit and emergency vehicles.
Was anyone ever imagining that getting around on Jan. 20 would be anything but a clusterf*ck of epic proportions? Are there truly all that many people who thought they'd be able to drive into DC on Inauguration Day? Aren't most people planning to take a bus/Metro/walk/ride a bike?
Okay, this seem confusing. Is the area of the vehicular road closures the same as the security cordon? It seems not, since there's public access points *inside* that area. I'd been planning on hoofing it from Arlington across Memorial Bridge, but without knowing where the actual security cordon is, and where entrances are, it's difficult to tell if that's a good plan.