D.C. tries to avoid G-20 summit gridlock

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By Michael Drost

Call it a World Bank-International Monetary Fund meeting on steroids.

The annual meeting turns city traffic into a nightmarish snarl, and Saturday's gathering of leaders from the world's 20 largest economies - the largest Washington summit in nearly a decade - promises to be even more horrific.

With the likes of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chinese President Hu Jintao jockeying for position in a new world pecking order, ordinary mortals are liable to get crushed. Authorities say residents and tourists would be well advised to steer clear of downtown - or at least the vicinity of the National Building Museum, where the emergency G-20 summit is being held.

Six entire blocks surrounding the museum, as well as the Judiciary Square Metrorail station, are closed Saturday until the summit ends. Blocks away, however, heavy-metal band AC/DC will keep rolling on their "Highway to Hell" Saturday night with up to 17,000 concertgoers at a sold-out Verizon Center.

A number of motorcade traffic disruptions were reported throughout the city Friday night as President Bush hosted a working dinner at the White House for the summit attendees.

The small lanes inside the White House compound and Pennsylvania Avenue, just outside its north lawn fence, were turned into what one Bush administration official called "a parking lot," as a procession of 25 motorcades dropped off heads of state at the White House front door and then found places nearby to park.

The traffic around the District on Saturday afternoon looks to be at its worst when the summit disbands and world leaders spread out across the city for over a dozen speeches and press conferences that will occur virtually simultaneously.

D.C. police and security agencies - including the Secret Service and the State Department's Diplomatic Security Bureau (DSB) - have the daunting task of protecting delegations from 20 nations, the European Union, the United Nations and the World Bank, clearing their motorcade routes and making sure several planned protests don't get out of hand.

The last time they had to contend with so many world leaders was at NATO's 50th Anniversary celebration in 1999.

Officials said they are prepared.