The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is closing part of 18th Street NW in the Adams Morgan neighborhood as a pedestrian-only zone to provide extra space for the service of bars and restaurants this weekend.
The city’s temporary plan will be in place from Friday, June 26 at 3 pm through midnight; 8 am to midnight Saturday, June 27; and, 8 am to midnight Sunday, June 28.
The stretch between Columbia Road to Kalorama Road will be serving as a bicycle zone, as well. There are many bars, restaurants and other businesses in the area.
The weekend plan is a pilot as part of a resolution approved in recent weeks by the Adams Morgan Advisory Neighborhood Commission and shared with DDOT for guidance. The Commission has been partnering with DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office to close 18th Street permanently to motor vehicles.
The Adams Morgan Business Improvement District and the Adams Morgan Commercial Development Coalition are also supporting the idea of a permanent closure.
“This is a blueprint. If we do it right and it’s successful from a social distancing perspective, from a public health and business perspective, it’s a template for the sustainability of the community,” Matt Wexler, who represents the Adams Morgan Commercial Development Coalition (AMCDC) told Washingtonian in May.
The group is behind the initiative that aims to “reinvent 18th Street.”