WASHINGTON — A long section of the Clara Barton Parkway closed for emergency roadwork Wednesday morning, and that the closure extends through one or both rush hours.
The parkway closed between the Glen Echo Turnaround and Chain Bridge starting around 4 a.m. Wednesday for emergency patching work. It reopened around 4 p.m.
“We’re working to have the parkway open as soon as possible. We’re striving to have it open before the AM rush Thursday morning but we hope to have it open sooner,” said Aaron LaRocca, the chief of staff in the office of the parkway superintendent.
“The nature of this repair is that it’s an emergency. We’re striving to have a safe, scenic, smooth roadway, and in order to have that we need to do this repair now,” LaRocca said.
Over the several weeks, numerous WTOP listeners have reported “dangerously” large potholes and road damage on the parkway near the Maryland line: “Caused me a flat tire … wishing they be fixed ASAP and good luck to all drivers,” said Kristin Amelunxen-Schafer.
The Clara Barton Parkway is closed to traffic both ways during the repairs. The parkway is only open to inbound traffic beyond Glen Echo Park during weekday mornings from 6:15 a.m. to 10 a.m., and only to outbound traffic beyond Chain Bridge from 2:45 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.
“The worst road condition is [about a half-mile] before the Glen Echo turnoff,” Amelunxen-Schafer said. “It’s a stretch of several potholes and severely damaged road surface stretching the width of the lane.”
She added that the only way to avoid the damage is to swerve into the opposite lane, calling it a dangerous maneuver outside the rush-hour traffic pattern.
