As closures change, listen live to WTOP for the latest traffic updates on the 8s.
Police in D.C. have extended road closures related to the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu through Sunday, July 28.
Originally, the closures were set to last through Saturday.
D.C. police said the closures are for a “dignitary visit.”
The following streets are posted as Emergency No Parking through Sunday, July 28 at 6 p.m.:
- Virginia Avenue NW from Rock Creek Parkway to New Hampshire Avenue
- Jamal Khashoggi Way from Virginia Avenue to F Street NW
- F Street NW from Rock Creek Parkway to 25th Street
- 27th Street NW from Virginia Avenue to K Street
- 2600 block of I Street NW
The following streets will be closed to vehicle traffic through Sunday, July 28 at 6 p.m.:
- Rock Creek Parkway NW between Virginia Avenue and the Potomac River Freeway southbound
- Virginia Avenue NW from Rock Creek Parkway to New Hampshire Avenue (eastbound lanes)
- Jamal Khashoggi Way (southbound lanes) between Virginia Avenue and F Street NW
- F Street NW from Rock Creek Parkway to 25th Street
- 27th Street NW from Virginia Avenue to K Street
- 2600 block of I Street NW
- 27th Street ramp from northbound Potomac River Freeway
Traffic traveling south on Rock Creek Parkway will be diverted east on I Street from Virginia Avenue NW to Potomac River Freeway. Westbound traffic on Virginia Avenue NW will be able to turn north on Rock Creek Parkway.
All traffic from Ohio Drive, SW will be diverted north on Potomac River Freeway.
Due to First Amendment activity, plan for intermittent street closures and traffic delays, D.C. police said. Police are advising drivers to consider alternative routes.
Motorists can access businesses and residences around the Watergate Hotel in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood through Jamal Khashoggi Way and 25th Street NW and 27th Street and Virginia Avenue NW.
Residents can access the Watergate Hotel on foot by 27th Street and Virginia Avenue NW, 25th Street and Jamal Khashoggi Way NW and 25th Street and F Street NW.
Protests earlier week
The extension of the road closures comes after intense protests earlier this week during a speech Netanyahu gave at the U.S. Capitol.
Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered around D.C.’s Union Station on Wednesday afternoon during the speech, leading police to block off most entrances to the station.
The crowd set fires, defaced monuments in the area and scuffled with police, according to WTOP reporters who were at the scene.
Amtrak Police ended up closing some entrances to Union Station.
Protesters were gathered at Columbus Circle just outside Union Station, and WTOP’s Mike Murillo reported from the scene that they were defacing monuments and statues there with red and green paint — colors on the Palestinian flag. Demonstrators were painting messages such as “Free Gaza” and “Hamas is comin” on the monuments.
Around 3:20 p.m., U.S. Park Police posted on X that protesters were engaged in criminal activity and confronting law enforcement at Columbus Circle. About 20 minutes later, USPP said the permit for the gathering had been revoked and the area should be cleared.
WTOP’s Nick Iannelli, who was also reporting from the scene, said many of the protesters had been cleared out by around 4:20 p.m.
“The smoke has literally cleared. Protesters were starting fires and I’m actually looking at a charred shopping cart with a flame still going. So they had started fires here and the smoke has cleared and you look around, and the statues outside Union Station are absolutely covered with profane graffiti. There’s trash littered everywhere.”
Iannelli reported that police arrested some demonstrators, and as that was happening, a dense crowd formed and began chanting, “Let them go! Let them go!”
“It is just locked down, a really intense atmosphere with all the security. And there were those arrests and there was that heightened moment, an uneasy moment, with a lot of people surrounding just a handful of police officers as they were making those arrests. But now, as I say, the smoke has cleared and it’s a complete mess outside Union Station.”
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