All Potomac(波拖马可河,美国东部重要河流,流经首都华盛顿) bridge crossings from Virginia into the District will be closed to personal vehicles on Inauguration Day(美国总统就职日) and a large portion of downtown D.C. will be off-limits(禁止进入的) too, officials announced today.
Only buses, emergency vehicles, taxis, limousines(豪华轿车) and other "authorized vehicles" will be allowed over the normally busy crossings, according to plans released today by the U.S. Secret Service and regional transportation officials.
The Memorial Bridge will be reserved for pedestrians and emergency vehicles only; the Chain Bridge will be limited to emergency vehicles and mass transit(公共交通).
However, several Anacostia River crossings used by Maryland motorists heading into the District will be open to all vehicles, including the Sousa, Whitney Young and Benning Road bridges. There will be no restrictions on New York Avenue, transportation officials said.
Still, officials are urging people not to attempt to drive into the city.
In the District, large swaths of downtown and Southwest will be closed to non-authorized vehicles to a greater extent than during past inaugurations.
In addition to a wide area surrounding the White House, the Capitol building and the Pennsylvania Avenue parade route, the city has added a rectangle of downtown north of the White House, another west of Union Station and much of Southwest for bus parking. Only buses and other authorized vehicles will be allowed in those area, according to city officials.
Authorized vehicles include taxicabs and limousines with valid licenses.
Traffic restrictions are broader and more widespread in downtown Washington this time because city officials have set aside areas to park 10,000 charter buses(旅游巴士). Streets in areas designated for charter bus parking will be closed to all vehicle traffic except charter buses, transit buses and official inaugural(就职的) vehicles beginning at 12:01 a.m. Jan. 20.
These areas include a 50-block section of downtown between 21st Street on the west, 11th Street on the east, P Street on the north and K Street on the south. Bicycles and pedestrians will be permitted.
Restaurants and hotels in that area have been preparing plans to bring in supplies and get their employees to work. At Vidalia restaurant on 19th Street, executive chef R. J. Cooper said employees have been instructed to take Metro and to leave an extra hour for travel.
The restaurant is stocking up on supplies by purchasing its farm-fresh produce on Saturday and Sunday and working with fishmongers(鱼贩, 鱼商) along the eastern seaboard to get deliveries through Monday evening before midnight. Cooper and the restaurant's general manager Michael Nevarez, both of whom live in Virginia, will be sleeping overnight at the restaurant. Getting to downtown Washington by car from Virginia "is going to be a mess," he said.
John D. Porcari, Maryland's transportation secretary, said the state's different philosophy on blocking access roads has to do with geography.
"We surround the District on three sides,'' Porcari said. "If you look at radial routes, we have a significant portion of residents who live inside the beltway(环形公路). They need to get out."
He said he did not think that personal vehicles trying to get into the city will slow the expected onslaught of charter and transit buses.
"It will be the opposite. Individual vehicles won't be able to get in because of the charter buses,'' Porcari said. "And if you are thinking of driving a single passenger vehicle into the District, finding a parking space will be like winning the lottery."
He said special inaugural ticket packages on MARC trains have been sold out on the Penn and Camden lines, but 700 tickets are still available on the Brunswick Line.
Maryland will also run transit buses from park-and-ride lots around the region to Metrorail stations.