A series of springtime events in the National Capital Region — including D.C.’s Emancipation Day celebration, Cherry Blossom Parade and Arlington’s Bunny Hop 5K — will also bring a string of weekend closures to the area.
D.C. Emancipation Day celebrates the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act of 1862, which ended slavery in the nation’s capital and freed 3,100 people.
The law offered newly freed people money to emigrate and also provided financial reimbursement to others who had been slave owners.
D.C. commemorates the act every April 16, which falls on a Sunday this year. As a result, many D.C. government agencies are observing the holiday on Monday, April 17.
Mayor Muriel Bowser and members of her administration began four days of festivities on Friday, April 14.
Here’s what’s closed and open and the road closures for D.C. Emancipation Day and other weekend events:
What’s closed
- D.C. schools will be closed Monday, April 17.
- All of D.C.’s libraries are closed Sunday, April 16. On Monday, April 17, one library will be open in each of D.C.’s eight wards.
- The Department of Public Works will not collect trash or recycling on Monday, April 17. Instead, D.C. residents’ waste will get it collected one day later for the week. So, trash collected twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays, for example, will instead be picked up on Tuesday and Friday.
- The District’s Department of Motor Vehicles will close all of its facilities, including service centers, adjudication services and its inspection station on Monday, April 17.
- The Department of Transportation will not enforce its parking meters on Sunday, April 16. Drivers won’t be required to pay their meters on April 17, when much of D.C.’s government will be observing the holiday.
- The District’s Department of Parks and Recreation and Aquatic Centers will be closed Monday.
- The city’s Health and Wellness Center will be closed Monday.
- The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will suspend construction and work zones for non-emergency work in roadways, alleys and sidewalks within the city. Approved construction activities will resume on Tuesday, April 18.
What’s open
- The Smithsonian Institution’s 17 museums in D.C., including the National Zoo, will be open on Emancipation Day.
- National Park Service will keep its parks, such as the C&O Canal towpath, open for people to visit and enjoy the holiday.
- Zoe’s Doors for the homeless on 900 Rhode Island Avenue NE will be open Monday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Outdoor parks, playgrounds, athletic courts and fields will be open. All permitted events on these outdoor spaces will take place as scheduled.
Weekend road closures
The city’s 2023 Emancipation Day Celebration will take place on Saturday, April 15 with a parade and concert that will cause the following parking restrictions and street closures.
D.C. police said these streets will be posted as Emergency No Parking from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.:
- Pennsylvania Avenue from 11th Street to 14th Street, NW
- E Street from 13th Street to 14th Street, NW
- 13th Street from E Street to Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
These streets will closed to vehicle traffic from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.:
- Pennsylvania Avenue from 12th Street to 14th Street, NW
- E Street from 13th Street to 14th Street, NW
- 13th Street from E Street to Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
These streets will be posted as Emergency No Parking and closed to vehicle traffic from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.:
- Pennsylvania Avenue from 9th Street to 12th Street, NW
- 10th Street from E Street to Constitution Avenue, NW
- 11th Street from E Street to Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
- 12th Street from E Street to Constitution Avenue, NW
The city’s Cherry Blossom parade will also take place Saturday and bring a slew of road closures and parking restrictions.
It’s the last major event of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which began in mid-March and wraps up Sunday.
D.C. police said these streets will be posted as Emergency No Parking from 3 a.m. to 4 p.m.:
- 7th Street from Pennsylvania Avenue, NW to Independence Avenue, SW
- Constitution Avenue from Pennsylvania Avenue to 14th Street, NW
- Virginia Avenue from Constitution Avenue to 19th Street, NW
- 12th Street from Pennsylvania Avenue, NW to Independence Avenue, SW
- 14th Street from Pennsylvania Avenue, NW to Independence Avenue, SW
- 18th Street from E Street to Constitution Avenue, NW
- 19th Street from E Street to Constitution Avenue, NW
- 20th Street from E Street to Constitution Avenue, NW
These streets will be closed to vehicle traffic from 3:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.:
- 7th Street from Pennsylvania Avenue, NW to Independence Avenue, SW
- 10th Street from Pennsylvania Avenue to Constitution Avenue, NW
- 12th Street from Pennsylvania Avenue to Constitution Avenue, NW (southbound lanes)
- Constitution Avenue from Pennsylvania Avenue to 14th Street, NW
These streets will be closed to vehicle traffic from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.:
- 9th Street from Pennsylvania Avenue to Constitution Avenue, NW
- 12th Street from Pennsylvania Avenue to Constitution Avenue, NW (northbound lanes)
- 14th Street from Pennsylvania Avenue, NW to Independence Avenue, SW
- 15th Street from Pennsylvania Avenue to Constitution Avenue, NW
- 17th Street from New York Avenue to Constitution Avenue, NW
- 18th Street from E Street to Constitution Avenue, NW
- 19th Street from E Street to Constitution Avenue, NW
- 20th Street from E Street to Constitution Avenue, NW
- Virginia Avenue from 24th Street to Constitution Avenue, NW
- SE/SW Freeway-Access to 12th Street Tunnel from I-395 ramps
- Inbound I-395 to 14th Street Bridge & 14th Street Bridge (HOV) (All traffic will be sent eastbound on I-395 SE/SW Freeway)
In Arlington, Virginia, morning road closures will be in effect Saturday for the county’s Bunny Hop 5K and Fun Run/Walk.
These streets will be closed to vehicle traffic from 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.:
- N. Irving Street, between 2nd Road N. and 5th Street N.
- N. Pershing Drive, between N. Piedmont Street and N. Fillmore Street
- N. Garfield Street, between N. Pershing Drive and 3rd Street N.
- 4th Street N., between N. Fillmore Street and N. Garfield Street
- 2nd Road N., between N. Irving Street and the Columbia Gardens Cemeter
The following closure will be in effect from 6:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.:
- N. Irving Street, between 7th Street N. and 6th Street N.
