The Marine Corps Marathon route will reshape travel across parts of Washington, D.C. and Arlington on Sunday, Oct. 25, with emergency no-parking restrictions, bridge and street closures, and early transit adjustments all set to begin before sunrise. For drivers, the bigger issue is not just that roads will close, but how early and how widely the restrictions spread.
Emergency no-parking restrictions in parts of D.C. are scheduled to begin at 2 a.m. Sunday. In Arlington, more closures are set to begin at approximately 3 a.m., and the streets listed above are scheduled to close to vehicle traffic at about 5:30 a.m. The main race starts at 7:20 a.m. on Route 110 in Arlington, so the route will already be firmly in place by the time runners take off.
Where the closures hit
The road restrictions are tied to the annual Marine Corps Marathon route through Washington, D.C. and Arlington, and drivers are being advised to use alternate routes through Georgetown, the National Mall, Rosslyn, the Pentagon area and Crystal City. Southbound Route 110 between Washington Boulevard and Route 1 began its closure period on Saturday afternoon, with restrictions on part of southbound Route 110 scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Several key corridors are affected, including Route 110, Route 1, Washington Boulevard, Richmond Highway, Fort Myer Drive, North Lynn Street, Crystal Drive and Interstate 395. The closure plan also affects areas around the Pentagon, Crystal City, Pentagon station, Smithsonian, L’Enfant Plaza and Arlington Cemetery station.
When roads and restrictions reopen
The timeline is staggered through the day. Emergency no-parking restrictions are scheduled to end at 2 p.m. Sunday. The listed streets are scheduled to reopen to vehicle traffic at 3 p.m., while southbound Route 110 between Washington Boulevard and Route 1 is set to reopen at 5 p.m. Some Arlington closures are expected to end at approximately 6 p.m.
Transit is also part of the plan. Metrorail opens at 5 a.m. to help runners reach the starting area, and Arlington Cemetery station is scheduled to open at approximately 9 a.m. Those openings should help move people even as the surrounding road network remains constrained for much of the day.
For anyone traveling through the region on race day, the safest assumption is that the Marine Corps Marathon route will affect the morning commute far beyond the starting line. The closures are temporary, but they arrive early, cover multiple jurisdictions and touch some of the most heavily used corridors in the area.
