Expect an inauguration crush

As the region scrambles to work out the details of the 56th Presidential Inaugural, some are saying January 20 may be anything but business as usual.

Officials say somewhere between 2 million and 4 million people will visit the area during inaugural week, straining area roads, mass transit and even cell phone towers.

“Think of the most beautiful Fourth of July weekends in D.C., and then picture what the roads are like when everyone is leaving the city. Then imagine you added at least a couple million more people to those roads. That is what the cell phone network will look like on that day,” said Joe Farren, spokesman for the Wireless Association. The non-profit group represents major cell phone carries like Verizon and AT&T.

Farren said cell phone providers will add mobile towers, called COWS or cellular on wheels, to meet the day’s expected record demand.

The additional “lanes” will help carry calls in addition to those of the estimated 12 million cell phone users residing in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., he said.

However, Farren warns, the mobile towers are not a complete fix, saying there is a real possibility that some calls will not go through due to increased demand.

Police and fire and rescue crews, who also use cell phones, are given a code which they can use in emergencies to take priority over other calls on the network, he said.

Transit officials are doing what they can to accommodate the expected crowds, as hundreds of thousands are expected to flood area Interstates, buses and trains to get downtown.

Metro cars, which normally hold 140 people, could be maxed out at over 160, the transit system said.

Virginia Railway Express has announced they will offer 12 in-bound trains, six from Fredericksburg and six from Manassas, beginning at 5 a.m. on Jan. 20. After Barack Obama is sworn in, 14 trains will be available to bring people back to the commonwealth, starting at 1:30 p.m., said Mark Roeber, VRE spokesman.

Tickets to ride the inaugural trains are by reservation only, forcing passengers to order them by mail from VRE’s Web site.

None of the trains will stop at the Crystal City, Alexandria or Franconia — Springfield VRE / Metro stations. Metro officials are reportedly concerned about the massive number of people who will converge on those stations.

That has left services like OmniRide’s Metro Direct commuter bus service in a lurch, as they too figure out how their operations will be affected that day.

That service carries passengers from points in Prince William to the Franconia — Springfield, West Falls Church and Vienna Metro stations. The commuter bus service has yet to release its plans.
Most plans are contingent on the High Occupancy Vehicle lanes on Interstate 95. A spokeswoman with the Virginia Department of Transportation said she doesn’t know if the HOV lanes will run in either the northern or southern direction, or if they will be open at all.

Some Prince William police officers will also be in Washington to help with public safety, but there will be more than enough public safety resources still available in the county, said 1st Sgt. Kim Chinn, Prince William police spokeswoman.

The agency responsible for coordinating the event, the U.S. Secret Service, has announced major security screenings. They have asked people not to bring, among other things, aerosols, backpacks and bicycles. All protest signs should be no larger than 3-feet-wide by 20-feet-long, they added.

The agency said it will later announce where the security checkpoints will be set up, and will issue a list of road and mass transit closures.

When it is all over, some say this may be largest event in American history, marking the first time so many people have converged on such a small place, between the U.S. Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial.

Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.