Update at 7:35 p.m. — The man has been safely taken into police custody. The scene is now being cleared.
Update at 6:10 p.m. — Police are still attempting to talk and negotiate with the man. A SWAT team is now reportedly on scene.
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Key Bridge
Starting this week, the police department has assigned extra traffic patrols to the area during the morning rush hour, when gridlock gets especially bad on Lynn Street. (Although traffic is often heavy during the evening rush hour, as well.)
The officers will remind drivers that it’s illegal to block the box — to enter into an intersection during a green light when there is no room to clear the intersection. For now, the officers will not be issuing citations, according to ACPD spokesman Dustin Sternbeck, who called morning congestion on Lynn Street a “disaster.”
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The picture on the left is the area formerly known as Rosslyn Circle, taken around 1925. Records indicate the businesses shown were on Agnew Avenue, which is now Lynn Street. They stood at the base of the newly finished Key Bridge, which replaced the Aqueduct Bridge in 1923.
Rosslyn, and this section in particular, used to be considered a rough area. After the Civil War ended, many soldiers stayed behind. They drove out the farmers who previously owned the land in Rosslyn, and set up saloons, gambling houses and houses of prostitution. Thievery and murder were a regular occurrence, and locals knew not to walk there at night, if at all.
The publicity stunt will start at the intersection of N. Lynn Street and Lee Highway in Rosslyn. “Flight Time” will dribble and spin basketballs for one mile from the intersection, across the Key Bridge, and to a basketball court at a playground in Georgetown. (See a map of the route here.)
“Flight Time’s grand arrival tips off ‘Globetrotter Week’ in the D.C. metropolitan area, which includes multiple school visits and goodwill appearances,” the Globetrotters said in a press release. “The week concludes as the Globetrotters bring their one-of-a-kind skills to town for three big games on March 24 & 25: Verizon Center in Washington D.C. (Sat., March 24 at 1 p.m.) and the Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA (Sat., March 24 at 7:30 p.m. and Sun., March 25 at 2 p.m.).”
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The northbound (inbound) lanes of the Key Bridge are closed due to a “police situation.”
Initial reports suggest a person may have jumped off the bridge, possibly on the D.C. side. Traffic cameras show Arlington police redirecting traffic heading toward the bridge on N. Lynn Street onto northbound Lee Highway and the George Washington Parkway.
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Update at 4:50 p.m. — After a peaceful occupation of one of the bridge’s sidewalks, protesters have largely dispersed. Traffic on the Key Bridge is currently light and unobstructed.
Earlier: Several dozen Arlington County police officers in riot gear are stationed on the Virginia side of the Key Bridge, waiting to see if protesters from the Occupy D.C. movement decide to cross.
Local authorities are warning of possible rush hour traffic impacts as a result of today’s scheduled Occupy NoVA and Occupy D.C. marches to the Key Bridge.
The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) are advising the public about the possibility of traffic delays during the evening rush hour today (17 Nov) due to a planned demonstration and march by Occupy DC in the vicinity of the Key Bridge and McPherson Square.
The march is timed to coincide with a march by Occupy D.C. from McPherson Square to the Key Bridge — which some fear may snarl afternoon rush hour traffic.
“A national day of action is taking place around the country in the Occupy movement,” Occupy NoVA said on its website. “We are going to be marching on this day in solidarity with Occupy DC, from Welburn Square to join in a Labor-Community-Occupy Day of Action and March on the Key Bridge in Rosslyn/Georgetown in protest of the deterioration of our public infrastructure and public services.”
Two of three northbound lanes are closed on the Key Bridge due to a presidential speech in Georgetown.
The lane closures are causing traffic to back up in Rosslyn, before the bridge.
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Obama to Visit Key Bridge — President Obama will make an appearance on the D.C. side of the Key Bridge tomorrow to “highlight the need for infrastructure investments.” The Key Bridge, the Memorial Bridge and the 14th Street Bridge are all structurally deficient and in need of immediate repair, according to a report released last month. [Washington Post]
CivFed Wary of A-Frame Signs — Arlington County Civic Federation delegates are wary of the county’s plan to allow A-frame — or sandwich board — signs on the sidewalks of commercial districts. The federation will vote tonight on a resolution that asks that the number of A-frame signs be limited, due to the potential for the signs to impede the mobility of the elderly and the disabled. [Sun Gazette]
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The cyclist was struck by a vehicle on Lynn Street, just past Lee Highway approaching the Key Bridge, around 3:30 p.m. Only minor injuries were reported, but initial reports suggest the cyclist is going to be brought to a hospital.
This is the second reported bicyclist accident at the intersection in three days. Arlington County is the early stages of designing and implementing safety improvements at the intersection. The project is not expected to be complete until 2014.
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The accident happened on Lynn Street, near the intersection with Lee Highway. Two lanes of Lynn Street were blocked as medics treated the bicyclist and as police took photos of the accident scene.
The bicyclist was taken to George Washington University Hospital with unspecified injuries. So far there’s no indication that those injuries are life-threatening.