C2
R
KLMNO
COMMUTER
X marks the spot
Washington commuters know about the demands of hosting national and international events. Still, they are in for a rare and challenging experience Monday and Tuesday, when world leaders gather at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center for a nuclear security summit.
K E Y
Roads closed
from 10 p.m. Sunday to 8 p.m. Tuesday
Restricted Parking Zone
From 7 p.m. Sunday to noon Wednesday. All affected areas will be posted with emergency-no parking signs.
DUPONT CIRCLE
P ST.
On this part of Rhode Island Avenue NW, parking restrictions in effect from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.Tuesday
Scott Circle
N ST. M ST.
Thomas Circle
L ST. K ST. I ST.
FARRAGUT WEST
H ST.
Metrobus
Affected routes: 42, 63, 64, 70, 71, 79, 80, D4, G8, P6, S2, S4 and X2. Rerouting will begin about 9 p.m. Sunday. Regular routes resume Wednesday morning. Detour information will be available at
www.wmata.com early next week.
Lafayette Park
G ST.
White House
0 FEET
Ellipse The Archives Nat’l
CONSTITUTION AVE. CONSTITUTION AVE.
LARIS KARKLIS AND BILL WEBSTER/THE WASHINGTON POST
THE ROADS
Just south of the convention center is Mount Vernon Square, right in the middle of a big X cre- ated by New York and Massachu- setts avenues, two of the District’s busiest commuter routes. Also important to commuters is Sev- enth Street NW, which connects with Georgia Avenue, the Mall and the Southwest Waterfront. These connections will be sev- ered from about 10 p.m. Sunday through 8 p.m. Tuesday. That will probably make H
Street NW even more popular with commuters. It also will jam many other streets in the grid fanning out from Mount Vernon Square. Traffic approaching the square on New York and Mas- sachusetts avenues is likely to be even slower than normal. Plus, there are the wild cards.
We know which streets are marked for closing, but police can block other streets for securi- ty at their discretion. And we’ll have more than 40 world leaders in town. That’s a lot of motor- cades.
THE BUSES
Metrobus, the Circulator and the suburban commuter buses will be caught in this traffic. Met- ro announced detours on 13 downtown routes, including some that originate in the sub-
urbs. The Circulator’s Union Sta- tion-Georgetown route will be split in two, dividing into east and west routes in the Mount Vernon Square area, although it will maintain some through serv- ice for those who won’t be able to walk between those zones. The Convention Center-SW Water- front route will terminate at I Street NW. MetroAccess will not operate within the security zone.
THE TRAINS
Metro will close the Mount
Vernon Square Station from 9 p.m. Sunday through Tuesday night. Green and Yellow line trains will be able to pass through the station but won’t stop. Yellow Line trains that typical-
ly operate between Huntington and Mount Vernon Square from 5 to 9:30 a.m. and from 3 to 7 p.m. will instead terminate at Gallery Place on Monday and Tuesday. At all other times, Yellow Line trains will operate to Fort Totten. Look for a lot of extra security throughout the Metrorail system. Police will be carrying heavy weapons, and specially trained dogs will be present. Riders can contact Metro Transit Police at 202-962-2121. One extra security measure:
The restrooms in the Metro sta- tions will be closed.
THE SIDEWALKS
Pedestrian traffic in the re-
stricted area will be limited to residents and to owners or em- ployees of local businesses. Peo- ple will have to show a govern- ment-issued photo ID. Fencing and other barriers will surround the security zone, along with plenty of law enforcement per- sonnel.
THE PARKING
The zone where parking will be
restricted extends beyond the closed streets. The hours are 7 p.m. Sunday through noon Wednesday. Look for the emer- gency no-parking signs.
TRAVEL TIPS
Think big. The travel impacts are likely to spread far beyond the downtown security zone. Metrorail will be extra crowd- ed, but it’s probably the best way to get around. Leave home espe- cially early Monday and Tuesday if you need a parking space at a station or you don’t feel like let- ting a few trains pass by before you can cram aboard. Better yet, pick Monday and Tuesday to telecommute. The fed- eral government is encouraging its employees to do so. Metro suggests using the Next Bus phone and Internet service to track Metrobuses, but it hasn’t
been functioning well during traffic disruptions. The transit authority says it will have plenty of supervisors deployed around the affected area to guide bus passengers whose trips are dis- rupted by the heavy traffic and blocked streets. On Monday and Tuesday, the Georgetown-Union Station Cir- culator will not be an effective way to get all the way across the District. A better bet from Union Station would be the Red Line, changing to the Blue or Orange Line from Metro Center to Farra- gut West and picking up a 38B bus from Farragut Square to Georgetown. Passengers on the Circulator’s Georgetown-Union Station split route will have to pay for each of the two routes if they’re using cash. A SmarTrip card provides a free transfer. The summit won’t have many events to compete with. At near- by Verizon Center, there’s a con- cert scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tues- day, but no sports events. The Na- tionals are on the road.
— Robert Thomson
Look for traffic and transit updates on our Get There blog, at voices. washingtonpost.com/getthere. E-mail questions to
transportation@washpost.com.
FEDERAL TRIANGLE
1,000 F ST. E ST.
METRO CENTER
McPHERSON SQUARE
Franklin Square
FARRAGUT NORTH
Georgetown-Union Station Circulator buses will turn around here and return to Georgetown.
N ST. Q ST.
Logan Circle
Security perimeter
Pedestrians who approach the perimeter fencing will be subject to a visual inspection for weapons.
Q ST.
Mount Vernon Square station
O ST. P ST.
Closed midnight Sunday to 5 a.m. Wednesday. Trains will pass through the station, but passengers will not be allowed to use the station.
MetroAccess will not provide paratransit service within the security zone.
RIDGE ST. M ST.
Wash. Conv. Center
L ST.
K ST. I ST.
City Center Parking Lot
Intercity buses that usually depart from and drop off here will relocate
operations to Union Station from Monday to Wednesday.
Mt. Vernon Square
I ST. H ST. L ST. L ST. M ST.
MT. VERNON SQUARE/7TH ST.- CONVENTION CENTER
395 50
Georgetown-Union Station Circulator buses will turn around here and return to Union Station.
I ST.
The Convention Center/SW Waterfront Circulator bus route will terminate here.
GALLERY PLACE/ CHINATOWN
Verizon Center
E ST.
ARCHIVES/ NAVY MEM.
G ST.
395
F ST.
JUDICIARY SQUARE
D ST. C ST.
H ST. K ST.
Metro station
Circulator bus turnaround point
C
DR. GRIDLOCK
Robert Thomson
Resident urges D.C. to catch new wave in metered parking
ommenting on the increases in D.C. parking meter fees, this city resident
urged the District to get more creative in how it collects the money.
Dear Dr. Gridlock:
I can somehow rationalize
what the city is doing. I don’t like it, but for the sake of revenue, okay. What bothers me the most is they are not making it easy for the public. To carry around the number of
quarters we need is impossible. Why aren’t they looking into the system Montgomery County uses, the CashKey? I know the District has those
ticket boxes [multi-space meters]. For the fast-paced lives we live, they are just plain impractical. There have been two occasions when I forgot to go back to my car to unlock it to put the white receipt in the window. This system is unfair because the city is setting citizens up to fail.
—Laura McCaffey, Chevy Chase, D.C.
When the District raised the fees to $2 an hour at most meters, city officials knew they were in for some backlash. Drivers didn’t like paying more, but what really annoyed many was lugging around all those quarters. Other jurisdictions, like
Montgomery County, have expanded their meter payment options. The CashKey is a SmarTrip for drivers. It can store value up to $650. (Don’t lose it.) The key fits into an electronic meter, which deducts value for parking time. The District has several pilot
programs for electronic meter deductions. One allows the use of credit cards. The newest thing, starting Monday, is a pay-by-phone experiment. It will be tested at 700 spaces in Dupont Circle, Union Station and a downtown area that includes K Street, I Street and New York Avenue.
Drivers must sign up to use
this service by going to a Web site called paybyphone.com or by calling 1-888-510-PARK (7275). Once the account is established, the driver parks at one of the meters, calls the toll-free number, enters the location number posted on the meter, then enters the desired parking time. The amount is charged to the driver’s credit card. I like all the coinless
experiments, but my hope is that someday all our local transportation payments — tolls, parking and transit fares — can be deducted from one universal card.
Cherry blossom review
Here’s a typical travel
experience getting to and from the Cherry Blossom Festival, which ends today.
Dear Dr. Gridlock:
On April 2, I ventured to see the cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin with my elderly but energetic parents.
DR. G’S TIPS
CHERRY BLOSSOM RUN
The Cherry Blossom 10-Mile
Run will begin at 7:45 a.m. Sun- day at 15th Street and Jefferson Drive SW, at the Washington Monument grounds, which also is the finish. The route includes the Tidal Basin and Hains Point areas, Independence Avenue, Me- morial Bridge and Rock Creek Parkway past the Kennedy Cen- ter. Metrorail will open at 5 a.m.
METRORAIL TRACK WORK
There’s no scheduled mainte- nance on Metrorail this weekend, as the Cherry Blossom Festival wraps up. But for the next two weekends, Blue and Orange Line riders will encounter a major dis- ruption at Rosslyn, where Metro
THE DAILY QUIZ
According to today’s Magazine how much does Jack, Georgetown University’s mascot, weigh?
EARN 5 POINTS: Find the answer, then go to washingtonpost.com/postpoints and click on “Quizzes” to enter the correct response.
plans to replace a rail switch. Riders between Court House
and Foggy Bottom on the Orange Line and between Arlington Cemetery and Foggy Bottom on the Blue Line should add at least 40 minutes to their normal travel time. Trains will share a track around the work zone from 10 p.m. Friday to the midnight clos- ing Sunday. Keep this delay in mind if
you’re planning to attend Nation- als baseball, D.C. United soccer or possibly a Capitals game, depend- ing on how the hockey playoff schedule is set. This is the big project that was originally scheduled for the Presi- dents’ Day weekend but was post- poned because of the February
snowstorms. The work, and the travel delays, will continue the next weekend, April 23-25.
KEEP THE KEYS
While getting a car battery re- placed recently, I asked the road service assistant what the most common emergency call is, now that we’re past the cold and snow. People are locking themselves out of their cars, he said. The most common location: the self- service gas station pump. Drivers leave the keys in the ignition, per- haps because they’re dressing lighter and don’t have a conven- ient coat pocket in which to slip them. On the way out, they hit the lock switch and slam the door shut.
POINTS EVENTS
History Buff?
Platinum and Gold members can search The Washington Post Archives for free! Platinum members receive 50 free historical archives searches per year. Gold members receive 25 free searches. To begin your search, log onto washingtonpost.com/postpoints and click on
The Washington Post Archives, listed under “Benefits.”
BRADDOCK ROAD/BELTWAY
The Braddock Road (Route 620) eastbound ramp to the Cap- ital Beltway’s outer loop (I-495 south) is closed this weekend un- til 5 a.m. Monday to let workers on the Beltway HOT lanes project relocate utilities. Police are di- recting traffic. Drivers on Brad- dock Road may encounter delays approaching the interchange. After this weekend, two more
weekend ramp closings will be needed to complete the utility re- location. The Braddock Road westbound ramp to the inner loop (I-495 north) is scheduled to close from 9:30 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday, April 19. The ramp from the inner loop to Braddock Road westbound is
scheduled to close from 9:30 p.m. April 23 through 5 a.m. April 26.
I-95 REPAIRS
The Virginia Department of
Transportation plans to close sev- eral lanes on I-95 north overnight this coming week between Route 1 and the Fairfax County Parkway for joint repair and paving. This project is scheduled to last until mid-June. Sunday through Thursday nights each week, several lanes will be closed from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. After 10:30 each night, HOV reversible lanes could be used to bypass the work zone.
METRORAIL EXTENSION
Throughout the coming week,
POINTS & REWARDS
Mattress Warehouse
Take advantage of great prices right now on the new mattress you need. See sleephappens.com.
Ritz Camera Centers
Let the experts here help you find just the right camera for summer vacation. See ritzcamera.com.
lanes will close overnight on Route 7 in Tysons Corner. Work- ers will be restoring pavement and curbing in areas where utility relocations have occurred to pre- pare for construction of the Dul- les Metrorail line. Most of the lane closings will
take place between 9:30 p.m. and 5 a.m.
NORBECK ROAD DELAYS
Watch for single lane closings
on Norbeck Road between Geor- gia Avenue and Layhill Road from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday through Friday.
For more traffic information, go to
www.washingtonpost.com/traffic.
A complete list of PostPoints Spots can be found at washingtonpost.com/postpoints.
We entered Metro at Eastern
Market, aware of the safety, traffic and Metro alerts and prepared for the tsunami of people enjoying the blossoms. We were not prepared for the seeming lack of organization and information at the Metro stations, especially at the Smithsonian stop. I knew Metro limited the Mall side to exit only, designating Independence Avenue for entrance only. It appeared all escalators were turned off, with no warning for people who might need to use the elevator.
At the top of our climb, we encountered a single police officer doing his best to direct approaching crowds to use the Independence Avenue side to enter.
Our return involved a crushing decent down the also turned-off escalators on Independence, compounded by the bottleneck of riders trying to purchase tickets. At the end of the day, we felt like we had been in a brawl. Overall, people were patient and kind. Safety was the top priority. Because the festival brings so
many riders unfamiliar with the Metro system, is it unreasonable to hope for a higher-profile presence from Metro during the peak of the festival — more directional signage, updated announcements on the speakers inside the stations, crowd control and help to expedite ticket purchases? Traffic control officers and mounted police were working hard to keep tourists safe and traffic moving.
—Barb Hijazi, Capitol Hill
Metro has had years of
experience dealing with huge crowds each spring and knows enough to warn riders that Smithsonian will be jammed. It sometimes lets down its customers by failing to place enough trained people at the most crowded locations to ease the congestion and confusion it knows is coming.
Dr. Gridlock also appears Thursday in Local Living. Comments and questions are welcome and may be used in a column, along with the writer’s name and home community. Personal responses are not always possible.
To contact Dr. Gridlock: By mail:Write to Dr. Gridlock at The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071. By e-mail:
drgridlock@washpost.com. On the Get There blog: blog.washingtonpost.com/ getthere. On Twitter: drgridlock.
on washingtonpost.com
Taken for a ride?
Need to vent about your daily commute? Have a question you think Dr. Gridlock and your fellow commuters can answer? Want to share your traffic and transit advice? Join Dr. Gridlock in his new forum at
washingtonpost.com/ takenforaride.
SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 2010
washingtonpost.com/postpoints
Not a PostPoints member yet?
Log onto washingtonpost.com/postpoints for more information about this exciting free program.
19TH ST. 20TH ST.
18TH ST.
17TH ST. 17TH ST.
16TH ST.
15TH ST. 15TH ST. 14TH ST. 14TH ST.
13TH ST. 12TH ST. 11TH ST. 10TH ST. 12TH ST.
11TH ST. 10TH ST.
9TH ST.
8TH ST. 7TH ST.
9TH ST. 8TH ST. 7TH ST.
6TH ST. 5TH ST.
6TH ST. 5TH ST.
4TH ST. 3RD ST.
1ST ST.
1ST ST.
N. CAPITOL ST.
PENNSYLVANIA AVE.
LOUISIANA AVE.
MASSACHUSETTS AVE. MASSACHUSETTS AVE.
RHODE ISLAND AVE.
N.Y. AVE.
NEW YORK AVE.
CONNECTICUT AVE.
VERMONT AVE.
N.H. AVE.
N.J. AVE.
N.J. AVE.
FLA. AVE.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184