Reminder: Street Closures for National Marathon Saturday

(Washington, DC) The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is reminding travelers that the SunTrust National Marathon and Half Marathon, are scheduled to be held on Saturday, March 26, 2011. There will be multiple street closures between 6 am and 1:30 pm. A map of the race routes is posted on DDOT website at ddot.dc.gov. Combined with the start of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, the race will have significant impacts on travel especially in the downtown area, and that includes transit services.

Capital Bikeshare

All of Capital Bikeshare’s stations will be open on Saturday and the system is working with the National Cherry Blossom Festival to promote the use of bicycles during the festival through a joint campaign, “Bike to the Blossoms”.

The Bikeshare station at Independence Avenue and 12th Street, SW will be staffed from 11 AM – 5 PM on weekends to assist with bike rentals and docking. Also, 16 additional docks have been added to that station to accommodate the anticipated demand. For more information visit goDCgo.com .

However, due to the road closures Saturday, Bikeshare staff could have trouble getting through traffic to redistribute the bikes during the marathon. Members are asked to please be patient; we will be redistributing the bikes between stations as quickly as possible.

Metrorail and Metrobus

Metrorail will open at 6 am Saturday morning to help race participants get to the starting line. Metro also anticipates the road closures for the marathon will significantly impact 40 downtown Metrobus routes  as well as MetroAccess service.

DC Circulator

The DC Circulator will run modify service on Saturday, due to the road closures for the National Marathon.

Circulator buses will use the following detours until traffic patterns return to normal:

1. Georgetown/Union Station Route will be split in two from 7 am until approximately 8:45 am. Half of the route will operate from Union Station to 17th Street, NW, and the other half will operate from Georgetown to 20th St, NW.
   
   Customers who need to travel through the affected area between 17th and 20th Streets will need to walk across the Marathon route to access buses on the other side to continue their trip.
   
   
   1. Buses coming from Georgetown in the direction of Union Station will use this route to turn around:
      
      
      • Pennsylvania Avenue and 20th Street, NW
      • Left onto 20th Street, NW
      • Left onto K Street, NW
      • Left onto 21st Street, NW
      • Right onto Pennsylvania Avenue
        
   2. Buses coming from Union Station in the direction of Georgetown will use this route to turn around:
      
      
      • The Circulator will pull into the SERVICE LANE on K Street, NW after the 16th Street, NW stop
      • Right onto Connecticut Avenue, NW
      • Right onto L Street, NW
      • Right onto 17th Street, NW
      • Left onto K Street, NW
        
        
2. Woodley Park/Adams Morgan/McPherson Square Detour from 7 am until approximately 9:30 am. Because of the closure of Columbia Road, no service will be provided to the Columbia Heights Metro, the Woodley Park Metro or Adams Morgan for the length of the detour.
   
   
   1. Buses traveling north on 14th Street will use the following detour to turn around:
      
      
      • Right onto Euclid Street, NW
      • Left onto 13th Street, NW
      • Left onto Girard Street, NW
      • Left onto 14th Street, NW
        
        
3. Convention Center/Waterfront Route will be split in two from 7am until approximately 1:30 pm. Half of the route will operate from O Street, NW to Pennsylvania Avenue, and half of the route will operate from I Street, SW to Independence Avenue, SW. Customers who need to travel through the affected area between Pennsylvania Avenue and Independence Avenue will need to walk across the Marathon route to access buses on the other side to continue their trip.
   
   
   1. Buses traveling south from the Convention Center will use the following detour to turn around:
      
      
      • Left onto Pennsylvania Avenue
      • Left onto 7th Street, NW
        
   2. Buses traveling north from the Waterfront will use the following detour to turn around:
      
      
      • North on 7th Street, SW
      • Right onto Independence Avenue, SW
      • Right onto 4th Street, SW
      • Right onto I Street, SW
      • Right onto 7th Street, SW

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Visit goDCgo.com  for more information on transportation options in the District