Road Closures

If I was currently an avid biker, I would have loved a chance to participate in Bike DC last week, even in the pouring rain. If I were a runner, there would be no greater thrill than running in today’s Marine Marathon. But as a driver, I have been frustrated the past two weekends by both of these events.

Last weekend we thought we had avoided the bike route by taking Rock Creek Parkway to Shabbat services. But at some point we were forced off and found ourselves like rats in a maze of closed roads, where we would repeatedly encounter a police car blocking the road and simply have to turn around. We tried asking one of these police persons how to get out of our bind, but to no avail. She had no knowledge other than the fact that she wasn’t supposed to let anyone through. We finally made it 20 minutes late, as most others from any distance away were also.

Today we remembered our problem last week and because of the Marathon decided to take Chain Bridge, the only bridge open into DC from Virginia. We left extra early. But a whole lot of other people had the same idea, so we were 20 minutes late to Esther’s class today as thousands of people ran through the streets on a most beautiful Fall day.

We were dropping off leftover pea soup and fruit that needed to be eaten right away with our son after class. It turns out many roads, including parts of Rock Creek Parkway, were still closed. The ones that were open were totally clogged, mostly from people with out of state license plates who didn’t seem to know where they were going.

Now that we’re once again home, the frustrations of driving are receding in my memory. But I do hope there are no important walks or runs or bike events that play havoc with the DC streets and bridges next weekend.