Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway will be closed from Virginia Ave. Northwest to the I-66/Potomac Avenue interchange through the weekend, disrupting traffic around the Kennedy Center and the Lincoln Memorial. The closure won’t only affect drivers—a portion of the Rock Creek Trail also will be closed to pedestrians and cyclists.
The parkway isn’t being shut for roadwork, however. The closure is needed to prepare for the installation of a pedestrian bridge that will connect the Kennedy Center’s new expansion to the National Mall and the Roosevelt Bridge, according to a press release. The expansion, called the REACH, has been under construction since 2015 and is expected to open in September. During the closure, equipment for the bridge will be delivered to the REACH site.
Curious what the REACH will be? As DCist reported previously:
The expansion adds a compelling and necessary update to the existing 1971 Edward Durell Stone building in the form of three pavilions that enclose 72,000 square feet of publicly accessible interior space. The addition fills an awkward plot of land south of the Kennedy Center, between Rock Creek Parkway and various on-ramps to the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Bridge.
The parkway will be closed from 8 p.m. on Friday until 5:30 a.m. on Monday.
Drivers, pedestrians and cyclists planning to travel around Foggy Bottom over the weekend should allow extra time.Courtesy of the Kennedy Center
This story originally appeared on WAMU.
