Sunday, September 22, 2019

Climate activists may shut down commuter routes into D.C. Monday morning with #ShutDownDC protests

Climate activists are threatening to block major roadways commuters use to reach downtown Washington, D.C. Monday morning, September 23, 2019, as part of an ongoing series of protests to coincide with the United Nations Climate Action Summit. Participating organizations are not revealing which roads or intersections they plan to blockade during an action they are calling #ShutDownDC.

Montgomery County, the County Council, and the County Department of Transportation are apparently asleep at the switch, and have not released any statements on the expected protests or possible delays. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has released a statement warning commuters to plan several alternative routes to your destination, or to take public transportation. "The groups have planned first-amendment protected events on Monday to potentially include the intentional disruption of traffic on high-volume roadways around the District," the statement says.

With no way to know what these folks have planned, it would be wise to plan ahead and check traffic reports before leaving for work Monday morning - and give yourself extra time to get there, if your route is affected.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Montgomery County, the County Council, and the County Department of Transportation are apparently asleep at the switch, and have not released any statements on the expected protests or possible delays."

Have any of the cities and counties in Northern Virginia done that?

Captain MoCo said...

I'll proudly monitor I-270 to assure free movement

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to it

Anonymous said...

Protesters are blocking or impeding traffic at

-14th & C Sts. SW

-12th St. & Independence Ave. SW

-16th & K Sts. NW

-16th & I Sts. NW

-18th St. & Massachusetts Ave. NW

-New York Ave. @ North Capitol St. NW/NE

-New York Ave. @ Florida Ave. NE

-New York Ave. @ 4th St.

-I-395 3rd St. Tunnel at New York Ave. NW - right turn to outbound New York Ave. blocked; drivers are forced to turn left.

-Source: WTOP, the gold standard for traffic information

Anonymous said...

3:03pm Thanks Cap!

Anonymous said...

"Montgomery County, the County Council, and the County Department of Transportation are apparently asleep at the switch, and have not released any statements on the expected protests or possible delays. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has released a statement warning commuters to plan several alternative routes to your destination, or to take public transportation. "The groups have planned first-amendment protected events on Monday to potentially include the intentional disruption of traffic on high-volume roadways around the District," the statement says."

It is "Shut Down DC", not "Shut Down MoCo". That should have been your clue. Only intersections in downtown DC were targeted. The nearest intersection to Montgomery County that was affected was Massachusetts Avenue at 24th Street NW, more than 4 miles inside Western Avenue.

"With no way to know what these folks have planned, it would be wise to plan ahead and check traffic reports before leaving for work Monday morning - and give yourself extra time to get there, if your route is affected."

Thanks for providing absolutely zero useful information for your readers.

Also, the photo, showing a motorway in the United Kingdom, is plagiarized from a British newspaper.

Anonymous said...

8:51am backups in DC or elsewhere can impact the beltway and 270.

Good to be aware. I didn't know about the closures until I read about them here.