Results tagged “traffic>”

    

The Church of Scientology Religious Trust's building at 16th and P Streets NW is the site of a barricaded celebration of some sort today -- one which is blocking a sizable section of one of the District's major arteries. (Obviously, I wasn't invited behind the curtain. I mean, you should have seen my last audit: whew!) Police are out in full force around the humongous 50,000-square foot building, and security is tight -- a ten-foot tall white temporary barricade is blocking off 16th Street; there are huge draping banners reading "SCIENTOLOGY" and "DIANETICS", though, in case those walking by on their Saturday jaunts to the 14th and P retail corridor were wondering what the hell was going on with this big white thing in the middle of the street.

For those waiting for today's sizable marathon-related road closures to clear up, Alert DC says that both the Key Bridge and streets in Georgetown have reopened to traffic. The 14th Street bridge remains closed, however. Other streets will be closed until later this afternoon, so tread lightly. Oh, and for those interested: John Mentzer, a 33-year-old Navy lieutenant commander and Muliye Gurme of Ethiopia won the men's and women's races, respectively, running over 26 miles in the time that it took me to decide what to eat for lunch today.

Plenty of area residents will be enjoying some absolutely fantastic weather for tomorrow's Marine Corps Marathon, whether they are running, cheering, or just catching a peek while they wander around town.

As if the wet weather wasn't going to make dealing with motorists a living hell, the District tossed plenty of road closures in the way this morning. Let's review, shall we? The Light the Night Walk will close 13th Street, NW between Pennsylvania Ave. & E Street and Pennsylvania Ave, NW between 12th & 14th Streets until 2 a.m. Additionally, the multitude of heavily-used roads which were closed for today's 37-mile, car-free Bike DC Community Ride are slowly starting to open up, but there still may be some delays in Arlington. Several buses were rerouted due to the race, so if you were slightly confused about your bus ride today, well, now you know why. One positive note: as of this second, Metro is running smooth! (Having said that, I'll now go walk under that ladder over there on my way to break a few mirrors, as soon as I find a bunch of black cats.)

How's everybody enjoying this weekend's Metro delays? Oh, what's that? You say that you laugh in the face of mass transit delays because you have an automobile? No worries, that can be fixed. Tomorrow -- just like any normal Sunday -- the District will feature several delays on select patches of heavily-trafficked pavement. Bike for the Heart, a fundraiser for heart disease prevention, will close F Street between 6th and 7th from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will also feature rolling closures along Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues and First, 7th and 15th Streets NW. The National Equality March will also force delays along its route between McPherson Square and the west side of the U.S. Capitol tomorrow afternoon. March participants will maneuver south on 15th Street, NW, West on H Street, south on 17th Street, and east on Pennsylvania Avenue to 3rd Street, NW between noon and 2 p.m. Plan your Sunday travels accordingly.

DCist spotted this small protest against sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan moving through the streets around McPherson Square a little after 4:30 this afternoon. There looked to about 75 people marching in total, though the number of official police escorts, many of them on bicycles, easily rivaled the protesters' numbers. The marchers were banging drums and chanting, but appeared totally peaceful, so just keep an eye out for related traffic disruptions on your way home this evening.

It should be interesting trying to get around town tomorrow, as the combination of the Army Ten-Miler roads closures and Metro track work should cause some delays.

WMATA sent out word today that it will be keeping the Metro system station open late on Tuesday night in order to accommodate U2 fans coming home from FedEx Field. All stations except Morgan Boulevard will be exit-only after midnight, but those who enter at Morgan Boulevard after midnight will find both trains waiting for them at that station, and additional trains at all transfer points on the Blue Line to take them to their destinations, Metro spokesperson Steven Taubenkibel said.

Due to celebrations on H Street NE and U Streets NW, there will be several roads near major intersections which will be closed to cars today. The Greater U Street Parade and Festival kicked off at 11 this morning: the parade route winds from 10th to 13th Streets, 13th Street from U to V Streets, and then on V Street from 13th to 14th Street -- the latter of which will be closed to traffic until 6 p.m., after its official renaming to "Langston Hughes Way" at noon by Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham. H Street NE, meanwhile, will be closed to traffic between 10th and 14th Streets NE for the 2009 H Street Festival until 9 p.m.

Those of you looking to move around the city by car tomorrow morning, take note: the fourth annual Nation's Triathlon will close down various streets from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m. The triathlon involves a swim in the Potomac, a bike ride through D.C. and a 10K around the monuments, all winding up at the banks of the Tidal Basin.

For those who decided to postpone their weekend travel plans until today in hopes of avoiding the initial vehicular exodus from the District, here's the current traffic scene: the Beltway looks fairly clear, despite a slow-up at the Springfield interchange and a messy morning. On the whole, traffic seems pretty smooth as soon as you actually get out of D.C. But it wouldn't be Labor Day weekend without a big delay at the Bay Bridge, now would it? The Google eye in the sky says that the holdup is due to "vehicles slowing down to look at an accident," which means that those of you heading to the shore should still budget out a sizable chunk of time to cross the Chesapeake.

DDOT reports that there is a disabled furniture delivery truck blocking the right northbound lane of Chain Bridge as of about 5 p.m. Road Operations Patrol is on site to help facilitate traffic until the truck can be hauled away. They say traffic on Canal Road is backed up and additional traffic delays should be expected. Motorists are advised to take alternate routes such as Key, Theodore Roosevelt or Memorial bridges.

Via the Hill's Briefing Room blog, it looks like the Architect of the Capitol is at last set to begin renovations on the infamous tunnel that runs between the U.S. Capitol complex and the Capitol Power Plant. The work, which involves digging a big pit to access the tunnel about a block away from the Capitol South Metro station, will cause traffic around the intersection of North Carolina Avenue and First Street SE will be detoured. You may recall that the tunnel, long in a state of crumbling disrepair, has been the subject of controversy for several years, after it was revealed in 2006 that a 10-man crew working inside it had been exposed to extremely high levels of asbestos.

A mere forty-five and a half years after the Beatles made their first American concert appearance at the Washington Coliseum on 3nd and M Streets NE, Paul McCartney is making his way back to town -- except tonight, the venue can fit nearly 100,000 people, is located in Landover, and tickets most certainly did not cost two dollars. My, how things change. Anyway, tonight's show should be a good reminder, traffic-wise, for local drivers in advance of the upcoming Redskins season: one should expect quite a bit of volume on the Beltway for some time before and after the concert, obviously. Those looking to avoid such vehicular unpleasantness should take Metro, although prepare yourself for delays due to track maintenance. Hey, at least by using public transportation you can bide your time by counting the number of "1976 Wings Over the World Tour" shirts in your immediate vicinity.

Just when you thought the District's willingness to give out tickets couldn't get any more zealous, the District Department of Transportation has just completed training their first batch of Traffic Control Officers who are now authorized to issue traffic citations, according to a news release.

President Obama is starting bilateral talks with China here in Washington today, which means residents can expect to be inconvenienced in one way or another for the next two days by the roughly 150 Chinese dignitaries currently in town. Expect additional motorcades and intermittent, temporary road closures in the vicinity of the Ronald Reagan Building and the White House. DDOT says minor delays due to closures should be expected on both inbound and outbound 14th Street between Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues until at least 6 p.m. Drivers intending to head southbound out of the city on 14th Street this evening are advised to use the 9th Street tunnel instead, while those heading into the city should use 12th Street or 7th Street.

A reminder for those of you with plans to attend tonight's big Elton John and Billy Joel double bill at Nationals Park (or anyone traveling on the Green Line, for that matter): Metro will be providing extended rail service to reduce congestion after the show, but there will not be any Circulator buses or shuttle service from RFK Stadium, as there normally is for Nationals games. Thinking about driving to the first concert at the new ballpark? As Post reporter Robert Thomson says, "Don't think about parking on the street near the stadium unless you really know where you are and what you're doing." It seems like this one's going to be quite the transportation nightmare, so pack your patience if you're heading down.

Via Dr. Gridlock, we've learned that the Key Bridge's far right inbound lane will be closed beginning at 6:45 p.m. this evening for filming on the Paul Rudd/Reese Witherspoon movie that's been taking up prominent space in Adams Morgan and parts of downtown for much of this week. Those coming into the District are advised to avoid the bridge, if possible, and given that the 14th Street Bridge is under construction, entering the District from Virginia by car tonight should be interesting. The Key Bridge lane will reopen at 2 a.m.

Thinking about driving around the Mall tomorrow? Uh, I'd think real, real hard about that one: tomorrow is the D.C. stop on the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series tour. (Try saying that five times fast.) There's a boatload of closures around the race course in the downtown area, including many major entrances into and exits out of D.C., such as the Whitehurst Freeway, Clara Barton Parkway, Rock Creek Parkway, and Maine Avenue off the Southeast and Southwest Freeways.

If you're leaving the District for the holiday weekend but you haven't hit the road yet, you might be asking yourself, "Did Beyonce actually record a song about Jay-Z's penis? Does the gold lamé napkin she's wearing for the video constitute clothing?" Good questions -- but the wrong questions! You need to know about traffic.

It's almost time to hit the road for the shore, and AAA Mid-Atlantic has per usual put out its prediction for holiday weekend traffic. Bad news, area drivers: they're putting it a 4 percent increase over last year, and as we recall, last year was pretty terrible in its own right. An estimated 608,000 D.C.-area residents will be traveling by car this Memorial Day holiday weekend, versus 49,000 who will be flying. Please to consider carpooling, fellow travelers. We don't want to have to end up in a road rage-fueled shoulder-driving expedition followed by eventual arrest and the paying of big fines. It'd really put a damper on our BBQ plans.

Despite some dire warnings from ABC7, traffic doesn't look too terrible. It looks as though Howard's commencement is taking its toll on Georgia Avenue NW, but otherwise traffic doesn't look out of ordinary for a Saturday that's only threatening rain.

The Caps head into game seven of their epic playoff series with the Penguins at 7 p.m., so Chinatown is going to be a sea of red tonight. Drunk, yelling, fanatic red. At the same time, the annual Candlelight Vigil at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, one of the main events of National Police Week, will begin at 8 p.m. on E Street NW between 4th and 5th Streets. The District Department of Transportation is rightly advising area drivers to stay the heck away from downtown tonight if at all possible. Spectators for both events are encouraged to take Metro. The Gallery Place/Chinatown station is right below the Verizon Center, and the Law Enforcement Memorial is above the Judiciary Square station on the Red line. F and E Streets NW between 3rd and 5th streets will both be closed to traffic tonight for the Candlelight Vigil.

View New York Ave NW & 1st St NW in a larger map

D.C. police have shut down the 500 block of North Capitol Street NW and part of southbound Massachusetts Ave. near Union Station as they investigate a report of a suspicious package. Avoid the area if at all possible on your commute home this evening.

Morning rush hour has seemed more tedious lately on 14th Street NW: we've noticed and have gotten emails about gridlock on 14th going south from about Columbia Heights all the way to Thomas Circle, apparently without explanation. It seems to be worst from between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., and we haven't been able to figure out a reason for it—DDOT's website doesn't have anything, we haven't gotten any AlertDC notices about it, and we haven't noticed police, wrecks, or other usual suspects like water main breaks along the corridor. A reader today emailed tips(at)dcist(dot)com saying she tried taking 13th Street instead of 14th today, but it was backed up as well. So we thought we'd ask you: any idea what's going on here? Is this just the new reality of an increasingly densely populated Columbia Heights? Photo by Brian Knight Photography

The AlertDC system, responding about four hours late to the game, is reporting that the water main break at 16th and L Streets NW that throttled downtown traffic this morning is not estimated to be repaired until 6 p.m. at the earliest. That means you should plan on your trek home possibly being as infuriating as the trip to the office was this a.m. DDOT is still advising motorists to avoid 16th and 17th Streets downtown.

We've been getting a steady stream of emails from frustrated readers who arrived at their offices late this morning due to 16th Street NW being closed, at first below M Street, and now we're told as far north as up to R Street. The mess is due to a water main break at 16th and L Streets (part of L is also closed) that's also causing low water pressure for a couple of office buildings at the intersection. We'll update when we have more, but in the meantime, we're hearing it'd be best to avoid 16th, 17th and K and L Streets in the area.

The Wilson Bridge will be restricted to a single lane this weekend, and officials are warning drivers to avoid it all together or risk facing traffic delays of 90 minutes or more. The lane closures are part of ongoing construction aimed at opening two new through lanes on the Beltway, which are currently slated to open next weekend.

We already warned you, but just in case you are, for some totally insane reason, thinking of trying to drive or take a taxi anywhere near the White House in the next four hours, just say no! The National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony/pageant starts in one hour. Streets will be closed. Pedestrians will be EVERYWHERE. Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to travel by motor vehicle through this part of downtown. Thanks for your cooperation.