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Pursuant to 36 CFR § 1.5(a)(1) the National Mall and Memorial Parks is temporarily closing National Park Service roadways, parking areas, and lands that provide access to the Tidal Basin to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The temporary closure locations appear on the attached map and will be publicly announced. This temporary closure is based upon a determination, in consultation with the local authorities, that such action is necessary for the maintenance of public health and safety. The temporary closures will be implemented during the period of peak bloom as crowds form and social distancing can no longer be maintained. Based on peak bloom forecasts, the closures could occur anytime between Friday, March 27, 2021 and Sunday, April 11, 2021. The closures will be accomplished through temporary barricades and be staffed by U.S. Park Police. All temporary closures on NPS land will be staffed by USPP officers. Pedestrian access to the Tidal Basin will be temporarily restricted generally from Independence Avenue south. The south side of Independence Avenue will be marked by barricades and USPP officers and vehicles. There will be no vehicular or pedestrian access south of Independence Avenue during the closure except for NPS and USPP personnel and other authorized individuals and organizations within the restricted area. During the temporary closure periods, visitors will not have access to Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial as well as recreation fields and amenities in West Potomac Park and East Potomac Park. Access to the concessioner run golf course and tennis courts will be maintained for patrons with reservations. The temporary road closures and pedestrian access restrictions to the Tidal Basin are necessary to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 during the bloom season for the cherry trees in the area. While all physical events related to the National Cherry Blossom Festival have been cancelled or reimagined for a virtual audience, visitors are still expected to come in large numbers to see the blossoming trees, particularly the 1,400 trees that line the Tidal Basin. The walkway around the Tidal Basin is narrow and visitor movement is constrained by the cherry trees and fencing that protects the fragile tree roots from visitor trampling and soil compaction. These conditions make it difficult to maintain the Center for Disease Control’s social distancing recommendation of 6 feet. The National Park Service will reopen areas as it determines, in consultation with public health authorities, that crowding is no longer a concern and social distance can be maintained. The temporary closure is not of a nature, magnitude or duration that will result in a “significant alteration in the public use pattern.” The closure will not adversely affect the park’s natural aesthetic or cultural values, nor require significant modification to the resource management objection, nor is it of a highly controversial nature. Accordingly, the National Park Service determines publication as rulemaking in the Federal Register is unwarranted under 36 CFR § 1.5(c). This determination is consistent with hundreds of earlier partial or temporary closures, the legal opinion of the Office of the Solicitor, and judicial adjudications that have upheld other NPS closures and public use limitations. Spiegel v. Babbitt, 855 F. Supp. 402 (D.D.C. 1994) affd in part w/o op. 56 F. 3d 1531 (D.C. Cir. 1995), reported in full, 1995 US App. Lexis 15200 (D.C. Cir. May 31, 1995); ANSWER Coalition v. Norton, No. 05-0071, (D.D.C. January 18, 2005), Mahoney v. Norton, No. 02-1715 (D.D.C. August 22, 2002), plaintiff’s emergency motion for appeal for injunction pending appealed denied Mahoney v. Norton, No. 02-5275 (D.C. Cir. September 9, 2002) (per curium); Picciotto v. United States, No. 99-2113 (D.D.C. August 6, 1999); Picciotto v. Lujan, No. 90-1261 (D.D.C. May 30, 1990) Picciotto v. Hodel, No. 87-3290 (D.D.C. December 7, 1987). Pursuant to 36 CFR § 1.5(c), 1.7, notice of this temporary and partial closure will be made through roadway gates and the posting of signs at conspicuous locations in the affected park area. Finally, pursuant to 36 CFR § 1.5(c), this determination is available to the public upon request. Jeffrey P. Reinbold Superintendent, National Mall and Memorial Parks March 24, 2021 |
Last updated: March 24, 2021