Commuters beware: Presidential motorcade could clog up Wednesday traffic
Listen to WTOP for traffic updates on the 8s.
Drivers were stalled for nearly an hour and a half on the Inner Loop of the Capital Beltway the last time President Joe Biden traveled to McLean, Virginia, for a campaign event three months ago. Now the president has another journey planned for Wednesday evening, a little after rush hour starts.
Biden will be departing the White House at 6:15 p.m. to attend a “campaign reception” in McLean and will be returning to the White House by 8:30 p.m., according to Factba.se, a website that searches public databases.
WTOP traffic reporter Dave Dildine said “evening commuters who take routes near the Roosevelt Bridge, Rosslyn and McLean should plan for the possibility of traffic stoppages.”
Delays were as long as 4 miles along the Inner Loop and there were heavy delays from Tysons Corner to Bethesda the last time Biden traveled to Virginia around 5 p.m. on June 27. Virginia State Police said they had put traffic controls in place at the request of the U.S. Secret Service.
Dildine reminds commuters that motorcades happen daily in D.C., and it’s still not clear how the upcoming motorcade will have an impact on traffic.
“Some traffic holds for motorcades are brief, while others can take longer and be a bit more impactful,” Dildine said.
Drivers can look out for alerts from the Metropolitan Area Transportation Operation Coordination and listen to WTOP for traffic updates.