WASHINGTON — If you're heading to the National Cherry Blossom Festival after its two-year, virtual run, you should think twice about how you might get down there.
The festival kicked off on March 20 and runs through April 17 with a series of events.
If driving is your plan to get into or around the festival, it would be advantageous to reconsider your mode of transport, the National Park Service warns.
"Prepare for severe traffic congestion, extremely scarce parking and altered traffic patterns including road closures and temporary one-way roads," the agency stated on its website. They suggest parking at a Metro station and using public transportation to reach the National Mall to view the blossoms as an alternative.
In specific, the agency has announced that the following roads and interstates will be closed.
- West Basin Drive SW, from Monday, March 14, 2022 at 6 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on Friday, April 8, 2022
- Ohio Drive SW, between Inlet Bridge and the John Ericsson Memorial, will be one-way from Saturday, March 19, 2022, through Sunday, April 3, 2022.
The Tidal Basin Parking Lot will also face intermittent closures from 10 p.m. on Friday, March 18, 2022, to 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, April 3, 2022.
In addition, the back portion of Parking Lot C in East Potomac Park will be closed from Friday, March 18, 2022, at 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. on Monday, April 3, 2022.
The agency says that public parking will be available daily at Parking Lots A and B and the front portion of Parking Lot C, as well as in East Potomac Park.
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