I am planning to attend the Obama Inauguration next week, and I have a round-trip ticket for the day into Reagan National Airport.

Washington insiders: Is it possible to walk from the airport to the Mall area, over the Arland D. Williams bridge? The Metro sounds like it might be a little scary...

"Alles Gut!"

If you think the Metro is scary I can;t imagine how you could possibly walk along the parkways leading to the airport.

This is NOT something you can do.

I don't think it can be done, but will wait for current locals to weigh in. Meanwhile, nyt, I'm sure Liesl is saying the Metro will be scary as in insanely crowded that day, and not scary in general.

Correct. Insanely crowded. If I cannot get to the mall by foot, I will not go!

Theoretically it is doable. There is a pedestrian/bike walkway along the western side of the bridge - it's higher than the roadway. You can connect from that to the bike path along the Potomac then snakes its way over towards the airport. I remember biking there several years ago from DC to Alexandria, to Arlington Cemetery areas.

Not sure how you'd get from the terminal to the bike path without a) getting lost or b) having to walk on busy roads. There may be a way, but I don't know.

First, although the heroism of Mr. Williams deserves to be remembered, any local will know that as the 14th Street bridge.

From the lower level of the main terminal, walk north; keep walking through a little parking lot (keeping the chain link fence for the airport on your right and you'll hit the bike path. Continue on the bike path through Gravelly Point park (where the planes fly
RIGHT over your head. There will probably be lots of cops around and you can ask them how to get up on the bridge. My best guess is to continue on the bike path under the bridge and then double back onto the ramp up onto the bridge. From GoogleMaps satellite view it looks like a spur of the bike path does that.

Considering that they're saying they're closing the VA bridges so that buses and shuttles and taxis can drive and people can walk across, I think it's doable. Wear comfortable shoes and come really early. I think it would be about a 3 mile walk, but there will be security checkpoints and several million of your closest friends.

If you're willing to BE at the Inauguration, the Metro should not scare you. If being in the midst of a heaving mass of people is off-putting for you, you will be miserable in town OR you won't be close enough to see anything at all.

I'd try the Metro before I walked, but it is walkable.

I say it is definetly doable. I was there recently and it seemed like such a short trip on the Metro. I'm sure it could be walked. It's gotta be like 2-3 miles.

I have ridden my bike along that route -- from the Jefferson Memorial past the airport to Old Town. It is entirely possible to walk on the bike path, just keep as far to the right as possible (right foot off the pavement almost) and be alert fast moving bycicles. Though on Jan 20 it may be so clogged with pedestrians that the bikes will be slow.


And I second the advice to use "14th st bridge" when asking directions. I've lived in DC 20+ years and have never heard of Arland Williams.

Sunday's Washington Post had evaluations of the pedestrian approaches across the bridges in their Inaugural coverage. I would guess that their website would be a good place to keep up with the latest changes.

I have run from Crystal City to the mall. You may find it's closer to four miles to the capital steps. Weather will be a consideration, but you need to be dressed to spend several hours outdorrs anyway.

The Metro will be busy, you may have to wait for a few trains to pass before you get on board, you won't find a seat for a 10 minute ride, so what?

You've got reasonable choices. A little hustle and bustle is worth being part of an historic day.

Got a set of roller blades??

Actually - maybe not a bad idea. But what I wanted to suggest is that if all the Metrotrains are filled and you cannot board at the airport, consider taking a Yellow line AWAY from the airport, where at it's termination point (Huntington Station) the train will probably just reverse direction and you will have already found a seat.