The Lincoln Memorial

WASHINGTON, D.C. - If you’re planning to attend the concert at the Lincoln Memorial to kick off Inauguration Week on Sunday, you should be prepared for closed roads and bridges that could make getting there a headache. 

On Monday, The Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) announced the initial lineup of performers for Sunday’s ‘We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial’.  The event runs from 2-4 p.m., and it is free and open to the public.  It will be shown exclusively on HBO from 7- 9 p.m. EST. 

The concert event officially kicks off Inauguration Week in D.C.
Among those scheduled to appear are: Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Bono, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Renee Fleming, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, Heather Headley, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, John Mellencamp, Usher Raymond IV, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, will.i.am, and Stevie Wonder.

Also, Jamie Foxx, Martin Luther King III, Queen Latifah and Denzel Washington are scheduled to read historical passages. The Rt. Reverend V. Gene Robinson will give the invocation.

Bridges and roads all over the area are already being shut down on Tuesday for Inauguration Day, and now Inaugural Committee officials say the Memorial and Roosevelt Bridges will be shut down when the superstar lineup of entertainers takes the stage on Sunday afternoon. 

A large portion of downtown streets will have restricted access Sunday, including a roughly seven-block area stretching north from Constitution Avenue to K Street, and east from 23rd Street to 17th Street. Independence Avenue and a portion of the Rock Creek Parkway also will be closed.

On Tuesday, workers scrambled to set up the stage in front of the Lincoln Memorial for Sunday’s concert.  Mayor Adrian Fenty announced that if you are planning to attend the show, you probably don’t want to think about trying to drive your car there. 

“There will be roads around the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. which will be closed and others that will remain open so people can walk from nearby metro stations,” said Mayor Fenty. 

Officials released a map Tuesday showing both the Memorial and Roosevelt Bridges closed on Sunday, in addition to an entire grid of streets between the State Department and the White House. 

U.S. Park Police Chief Sal Lauro says concert goers will not be able to cross the closed bridges in anyway. 

“The bridge is closed to vehicle traffic, bicycle traffic and pedestrian traffic, and that’s for security reasons and crowd control issues so were recommending people still take Metro,” Chief Lauro. 

So how can you get to the concert?  Organizers say people should use Metrorail and buses, and then walk to the Lincoln Memorial.  Inaugural committee officials say they realize the closures are an inconvenience, but they needed to have streets free from traffic to allow for mobility of buses and emergency vehicles. 

“To do that, we needed to make sure that we prevented too many cars being in the downtown area,” said Kevin Griffis of the Presidential Inaugural Committee.  “We know it’s going to cause some issues for people, but charter buses, taxis and are all going to be moving around the city.”

But, as the preparations continue, getting around the city is a task that is becoming more and more complicated for spectators, who are looking to take their place in this historic event. 

Mayor Fenty says he expects at least 500,000 people to show up for Sunday’s concert.