WASHINGTON — Official details have been slow to come in for the Women’s March on Washington, even though there’s a little more than a week to go before hundreds of thousands of people plan to take part in the protest.
A spokeswoman for the Women’s March said organizers were still expecting 200,000 attendees on Jan. 21. Participants have been encouraged to arrive at 10 a.m. for the event, which starts in front of the U.S. Capitol. A rally is expected to precede the march.
But organizers have not officially disclosed specific details about the event, including the route of the march beyond Independence Avenue.
“We encourage people to take public transportation as parking will be limited and strongly suggest that people buy Metro cards ahead of time before the day of the event,” the march spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman asked not to be identified.
D.C. police on Friday released a list of streets that would be closed because of the march. Police said that starting at 1 p.m., Jan. 21, there would be rolling street closures along the “march route,” which police described as:
- West on Independence Avenue SW, from 3rd Street SW to 14th Street SW
- North on 14th Street Southwest, to Constitution Avenue NW
- West on Constitution Avenue NE, to 17th Street NW, where police said the group would disband.
In addition, police said the following streets would be closed from 3 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Jan. 21:
- 3rd Street NW, from Constitution Avenue NW to C Street SW
- Independence Avenue SW, from 1st Street SW to 6th Street SW
- Maryland Avenue SW, from 1st Street SW to Independence Avenue SW
- 4th Street NW, from Constitution Avenue NW to C Street SW
Organizers have asked attendees register for the free event at its website in order to provide organizers with an accurate head count.
As WTOP has reported, the director of the District’s Department of Homeland Security, Chris Geldhart, said D.C. is planning for as many as 500,000 march attendees and said there would be additional “contingents in case it grows larger than that.”
More than 1,200 buses have purchased parking spots at RFK Stadium in connection with the march, according to Ward 6 D.C. Council Member Charles Allen’s office. Andy Le, Allen’s communications director, said more buses were expected to park elsewhere in the District on Saturday.
He said only 200 buses have registered to park at RFK Stadium for Inauguration Day.
WTOP’s Tiffany Arnold contributed to this report.
