Indoor Dining to Resume in the District of Columbia at 25% Capacity

WASHINGTON – Restaurants in the District of Columbia will be able to resume indoor dining at 25% capacity beginning early Friday morning, the chief of staff for Mayor Muriel Bowser said.

In a post to his Twitter account, John Falcicchio, who serves as both chief of staff and deputy mayor for planning and economic development, said the city’s ban on indoor dining will end at 5 a.m.

The city’s Restaurant Week, which had been delayed because of the “Inauguration Pause” on indoor dining, will now start on Monday, Jan. 25.

Falcicchio also said the city expects the breakdown of inaugural related security fences and the like will be largely completed by Friday morning.

Crews started working late Wednesday night to remove barriers and fencing on major streets around the U.S. Capitol and will work moving east to west, toward the White House.

They have also begun opening garages that were blocked as a precaution.

Other provisions of Mayor Bowser’s Dec. 23 public health order will remain in effect.

That order shuttered museums and libraries, halted D.C. Circulator National Mall routes, required a reservation to swim in D.C. city pools, and recommended that nonessential businesses continue to telework.

What’s Up With The Roads

Drivers coming into the District will continue to face some challenges due to lingering road closures into Friday.

The Arlington Memorial, South Capitol, 11th Street, and John Philip Sousa bridges have all reopened.

However, three heavily travelled bridges are only open with modifications.

These are the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, where drivers are not allowed onto Constitution Avenue. They are being diverted to Virginia Avenue and the E Street Expressway.

The Key Bridge is open, but most traffic is being diverted left onto Canal Road/MacArthur Blvd., while local traffic can proceed onto M Street.

Southbound traffic on Rockcreek Parkway is being directed to turn left to Virginia Avenue.

Both Constitution Avenue and Independence Avenue remain closed between 23rd Street NW and 2nd Street NE.

All numbered streets across the National Mall are closed.

The National Mall itself is scheduled to remain closed until at least Friday.

Bowser told reporters earlier this week that she expects that there will be “a new security posture in the District” even after inauguration. 

“Obviously we don’t want fences and armed troops in our city any longer than they need to be, but at the same time we need to be smart about how we approach this new posture,” she said.