WASHINGTON — It was a week of celebrating one of the longest running international military alliances and a week of disastrous traffic around the District.
On Tuesday, security perimeter around Mellon Auditorium snarled tourist traffic and cut off some museums.
Then on Wednesday, the security perimeter moved to the Mount Vernon Square neighborhood. The summit meetings and conferences at the Convention Center shutdown traffic on two of DC’s busiest thoroughfares, Massachusetts and New York Avenues.
Rush hour on Wednesday and Thursday turned the area into a parking lot. Drivers told WUSA9 they spent anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour getting through intersections around the convention center.
On Thursday we talked to drivers who seemed to be taking it in strides.
“My GPS said 30 minutes to get to Southwest,” one driver said at 11th and Massachusetts. "But, I have already been here for 30 minutes. Still, I'm doing okay, so good, so far.”
“Life is life,” another driver shouted at WUSA9 from the traffic jam.
While drivers dealt with the traffic congestion around the city, security officials routed more than 50 diplomatic security details through the week’s events from a room in Rosslyn.
“The NATO Summit brings a lot of foreign dignitaries to town,” Andrew Wroblewski said of deputy assistant secretary of the Diplomatic Security Service said.
Inside the room, analysts poured over maps, security details, and threat assessments to plan out routes for motorcades and travel for several dignitaries.
“In a place like this we can deconflict schedules make sure motorcades can go in and out,” Wroblewski said.
“So we have analysts here. We have people monitoring open sources and websites. We are working with agencies in charge of every protection detail."
When we asked about the number of security issues or threats, Wroblewski smiled.
“Honestly, nothing worth reporting,” he said. “We had some people being stupid as you sometimes have at these things. You know, carrying weapons where they shouldn’t carry weapons. But, no real threats so far, so good."
After a week of traffic troubles in the district, the NATO convention has concluded. By this weekend, DMV drivers will be able to go back to the normal rush-hour pain.