Portions of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers will be closed to boat traffic leading up to and during the Fourth of July.
The Coast Guard announced that three safety and security zones were being established on stretches of both rivers:
• Zone 1, encompassing the Potomac between the Francis Scott Key Bridge and 200 yards south of the 14th Street Bridge complex.
• Zone 2, encompassing the Anacostia from the 11th Street Bridge to 200 yards south of the Frederick Douglass Bridge.
• Zone 3, encompassing the waters within 100 yards of barges transporting fireworks for the Salute to America 250 fireworks celebration.
Between 8 a.m. Thursday and 6 a.m. Sunday, Zone 1 is closed to all recreational boaters except those who are entering or exiting the Pentagon Lagoon. Boaters are asked to stay on the Virginia side of the Potomac.
In addition, Zone 1 will be closed to all vessels from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday during airshows and from noon to 11:59 p.m. Saturday.
Vessels will be able to enter the Pentagon Lagoon during those times except during the fireworks show.
Zone 2 will be closed to all vessels from 6 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. Saturday. Zone 3 restrictions will remain in place until 10 a.m. Saturday.
River cruise operators and others that normally take people out on the water to see the Independence Day fireworks are adapting to the restrictions.
Adventures Unbound, a cruise operator and boat rental company, told Washingtonian magazine that it is holding a viewing party at the Thompson boathouse.
The expected late-night start time for the fireworks has hampered some operations.
Chad Barth, vice president of mid-Atlantic operations for City Cruises, told WUSA-TV that “our normal cruise time would’ve been coming back to the dock at 10:30, which it has been every single year in the 20 years I’ve been here. Fireworks go off at 9, you get back to the dock at 10:30. Now we’re having to shift those times back.”
Sea Suite Cruises co-founder Jack Maher told WTOP-FM, “I’ve personally never really heard of a Fourth of July fireworks show that starts at 11 p.m.”
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