Street closings and snow showers combined to gridlock downtown Washington from early afternoon through the evening yesterday, as tens of thousands of commuters tried to flee before revelers from across America entered the nation's capital for fireworks, concerts and other inaugural festivities.
A little before 5 p.m., when the entertainment on the Ellipse was in full swing, cars could barely move along the streets near the White House, across to the Capitol and north to Union Station. Street closings had cut east-west alternatives through the city, and snow had backed up city cross streets and routes out of town, traffic watchers said.
Pedestrians walk along 15th Street at E Street NW as D.C. police use squad cars and buses to block off intersections in preparation for the inaugural parade.
(Ricky Carioti -- The Washington Post)
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The tie-ups in the city also stalled commuter and inauguration traffic coming in over the bridges from Virginia well into the evening.
"It's just the slowest commute. It's a snail's pace," said John Townsend, a spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, who managed to travel eight blocks from his downtown office in about an hour's time. "It's inaugural and snow and street closings, and it is causing chaos."
Commuters who began leaving town shortly after noon, as they were urged to by city officials, found themselves in a jam because of snowy streets that spurred others to also hit the road. The unusual midday rush also complicated efforts to clear snow and salt streets, District officials said.
"People evacuated right into the middle of a snowstorm," said District Transportation Director Dan Tangherlini. "It was really hard to get our salt trucks and plows right into the areas where they were needed. The problem was we weren't counting on Mother Nature giving us two inches right at that time."
Tangherlini said there were scores of snow-induced fender benders but no major accidents in the city.
The snow showers, always a traffic tangler in a city that freaks at the sight of flakes, added to pains caused by the closing of the critical commuter routes of 15th and 17th streets and Constitution Avenue. Those streets were scheduled to be closed at noon. However, they remained open into the afternoon to allow more time for people to leave the city and for the snow to be cleared.
That left H, I and L streets and Independence Avenue to carry all east-west traffic, Tangherlini said. "You put traffic on those other corridors that are already overburdened, and it's rough," he said.
At 7 p.m., when commuters were still struggling to leave town, a broad swath of streets stretching between the Capitol and the White House was closed to prepare for the inaugural parade.
Many commuters and partiers turned to Metro, where ridership surged through the afternoon. By 5 p.m., 582,378 riders had traveled on Metro, compared with 461,726 last Wednesday, a 26 percent increase.
Metro officials added 10 trains to handle the crowds and sought to run six-car trains on all lines at all times. But officials switched two Blue Line trains to the Orange Line after mechanical problems shut down two Orange Line trains for the second day in a row. That left some Blue Line trains with only four cars, spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said.
Doug Garcia, who rode from Farragut West to Ballston on the Orange Line around 5:40 p.m., said "it was especially crowded. By the time the train came, the platform had filled up very nicely."
Farbstein also said that Metrobuses ran severely behind schedule across the city because of snow and street closings.
Yesterday's challenges added to what is turning out to be one of the most trying weeks in recent memory for Washington commuters. The difficulties started just as Tuesday evening's rush hour was getting underway when a man threatened to blow up his van near the White House. Police responded by closing several downtown streets, snarling traffic across wide swaths of the city until well into the evening.
Many of those who sought refuge Tuesday on Metro found little help. Mechanical problems on two trains and a sick passenger on another left some downtown stations so packed that people couldn't even enter.
Transportation officials are expecting today to be equally daunting for drivers, because 100 square blocks of the city have been marked off and another 100 square blocks have been restricted for the inauguration.
As commuters struggled to get out of town and District workers tried to clear snow from the streets, city transportation officials also were busy remodeling several downtown streets.
Among other tasks, workers hung 1,000 U.S. and D.C. flags along Pennsylvania Avenue, removed 24 traffic signal poles and 57 safety bollards from intersections on Pennsylvania between the Capitol and White House, posted 10,000 no parking signs and filled potholes, replaced bricks and leveled manhole covers along the parade route.
"This job has its good days and it has its todays," Tangherlini said. "I'm moving to Florida."
