Washington braces for road closures, disruptions ahead of Trump’s inauguration

WASHINGTON (7News) — Neither police nor Metro have yet announced their plans for Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, but based on past experiences, many disruptions and road closures can be expected, not only for the inauguration itself but also for the demonstrations.

“I think it’s going to be very difficult to get around the city, and it’s probably going to be difficult to get in and out of the city unless you use public transportation,” the historian said. George Washington University, Dr. Matt Dallek. “And even (public transportation), I think, will be a challenge. There’s going to be a lot of people. »

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Although many roads are expected to be closed for this year’s inauguration, the closures are not expected to be as severe as they were four years ago. In 2021, following the January 6 Capitol attack and the Covid pandemic, authorities essentially shut down downtown Washington for several days, not even allowing the public to attend the performance. oath of Joe Biden.

Although things should be more normal this time around, there will still be many road closures and perhaps even metro station closures. For Trump’s first inauguration in 2017, Metro closed the Pentagon, Archives, Mt. Vernon Square, Smithsonian and Federal Triangle stations.

Metro has not yet said whether it will close all of these stations again, but at a press conference in late October, Metro General Manager Randy Clarke talked about Metro’s plans for Inauguration Day and the demonstrations that would accompany it.

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“Assuming these are peaceful protests, sometimes we can close an entrance just because of crowd control and then (subsequently) move people into the stations,” Clarke said. “We do this on the Fourth of July at the Smithsonian, for example. We will definitely do this for the inauguration due to crowd management.

“If there is unrest (and) disruption, we could proactively close the entrance to a station,” Clarke continued. “We are not going to lose our station and the integrity of the rail system because of a protest. We have to be able to function and move people through the system. We are open to anyone, regardless of affiliation. We simply want peaceful and safe operations.

Seven years ago, Metrorail opened its doors two hours early for the Women’s March, which was then held the day after the inauguration. Now called the Popular March, this time it will be held on January 18, two days before the inauguration. Another major demonstration will take place four days after the inauguration: the annual March for Life.