front page - search - community

A public safety danger
Williams, Norton, Ambrose decry new roadblocks
(Published August 9, 2004)

By JOSHUA GARNER
Staff Writer

Mayor Anthony A. Williams, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and Councilwoman Sharon Ambrose have denounced additional street closures on Capitol Hill for security purposes as detrimental to both commerce and emergency response in the District.

During a noon press conference Aug. 3 near newly erected barricades, they also criticized U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer and U.S. Senate Sergeant-At-Arms William Pickle for deciding to close First Street NE, adjacent to the Dirksen and Russell Senate office buildings between D Street and Constitution Avenue, without first consulting local officials to discuss alternatives.

The heightened security measures, including more than a dozen checkpoints on major thoroughfares that have slowed traffic, were put into effect on Aug. 2 following Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge's announcement of a heightened "Code Orange" security alert for the nation's capital.

"It is dangerous to close down major parts of any big city," Norton said during the press conference.

Several other city blocks adjacent to congressional office buildings have been closed to traffic since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and New York's World Trade Center.

The District's delegate to Congress noted that the street closures limit access to vital parts of the city and disrupt the flow of emergency response vehicles. Norton said the closure of First Street on the Senate side of the Hill, which local officials learned only last week had been planned to happen by the end of August, eliminates a ready route for emergency vehicles to reach the congested side of Union Station.

"This is a living, breathing city. ...You can't keep closing streets without doing damage to the city's commerce," Mayor Williams said.

Norton, Williams and Ambrose noted published reports that information prompting the increased security measures is two or three years old and grounded on speculation.

"This was a sneak attack on the District of Columbia based on old information," said Ambrose, D-Ward 6, who represents Capitol Hill on the D.C. City Council.

A U.S. Capitol Police spokesman declined to comment on local officials' criticisms of the new streets closures. He said that the new traffic checkpoints are intended to safeguard congressional office buildings against security threats and that city officials were notified late in the day Aug. 2 of the security changes.

However, Mayor Williams maintained during the press conference that he was not informed of the closings. Norton suggested that the use of Jersey barriers and reinforced bollards could provide the necessary protection from vehicular threats without disrupting traffic flow.

As news broke of the checkpoints and street closings throughout the District, including downtown areas near the World Bank headquarters, Metro also announced increased security measures and forced reroutings of some buses throughout the District.

"We are taking precautionary measures to assure our customers that we are doing everything we can to make sure they can use our system without incident," Metro Transit Police Chief Polly Hanson announced in a press release.

As many as eight Metrobus routes have been delayed or rerouted due to the new Capitol Hill street closures and security checkpoints.

Drivers can expect to encounter 14 security checkpoints on Capitol Hill at the following locations:

• Second Street and C Street NE;

• Second Street at Constitution Avenue NE;

• Second Street and Maryland Avenue NE;

• Maryland Avenue and Constitution Avenue NE crossover;

• Second Street and A Street NE;

• Second Street at East Capitol Street NE;

• Second at East Capitol Street SE;

• Independence Avenue at Second Street SE;

• Independence Avenue and Washington Avenue SW;

• Maryland Avenue and Third Street SW;

• Pennsylvania Avenue and Third Street NW;

• Constitution Avenue and Louisiana Avenue NW;

• First Street at Louisiana Avenue NW;

• New Jersey Avenue and C Street NW.