Media Contact: John Lisle, DDOT at (202) 671-2004
(Washington, DC) The District Department of Transportation (DDOT), in coordination with its regional transportation and public safety partners, will run Operation Fast Forward on Saturday, July 4. Now in its fifth year, Operation Fast Forward allows participating agencies to test their emergency evacuation plans at the same time they expedite and manage the flow of traffic after the fireworks.
After the conclusion of the fireworks, DDOT will extend the traffic signal cycle lengths on 5 of the District’s 19 marked evacuation routes* to 240 seconds. The goal is to substantially clear the traffic in the downtown area within 60 to 75 minutes.
As in prior years, DDOT will also collect some vehicular and pedestrian traffic data at select intersections and will evaluate Operation Fast Forward to ensure traffic signal timing patterns, traffic control measures and communications protocols are effective should an actual emergency impact the District.
DDOT and its regional partners remind pedestrians and motorists to obey all traffic laws, including crossing at designated crosswalks and following the directions of Metropolitan Police and other law enforcement personnel.
The Operation Fast Forward test emergency routes are:
- Georgia Ave (from 7th and F Streets, NW to Georgia Avenue and Beltway)
- Pennsylvania Avenue eastbound
- Connecticut Avenue to Beltway
- 14th Street southbound
- K Street westbound/Whitehurst Freeway/Canal Road
Coordinating Agencies for Operation Fast Forward include: