Going to the inauguration? Have a plan - or a few

WASHINGTON

Eager to witness next Tuesday's historic inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama but unsure how you'll navigate through a crowd that could number in the millions and then find a spot where you might actually see something?

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and his counterparts from Maryland and the District of Columbia had some tough advice for you on Tuesday: dress warmly, come early - very early - and have a plan, a backup plan, and maybe a backup for the backup plan.

"Those who want to get here will get here," Kaine told reporters at a briefing with Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty. But it won't be easy, he conceded.

Kaine defended the decision to close, for security reasons, all bridges from Virginia into the capital beginning at 3 a.m. on Inauguration Day. Interstate 395, the major corridor into Washington for visitors from Hampton Roads and Richmond, will close at Springfield, nearly 10 miles from the Potomac River.

Without such restrictions, " everybody who wants to come and see it - not just Virginians but others coming from west and south - are going to get jammed," Kaine said.

Kaine said visitors should plan to arrive before 3 a.m. if they want to drive in or use buses or subways if they want to travel a bit later.

The Virginia Railway Express, a commuter train that originates in Fredericksburg, also had some seats available Tuesday, though they were reported to be going fast. The subways are scheduled to begin running at 4 a.m.

Fenty advised those who want to watch the parade from the Capitol to the White House to be in place no later than

10 a.m. The parade route has room for about 300,000 people, and all will have to pass through a security screening.

A security check isn't required to watch the noon swearing-in on giant screens set up along the National Mall, but the 250,000 or so people lucky enough to have tickets to get on the Capitol grounds to see it will all have to be checked.

"A lot of people... they're being urban campers," Kaine said. "They're going to have an inaugural party at their friend's house in D.C. the night before and they're staying over."

"Virginians are smart," he added, and those who live in the Washington area are accustomed to finding alternative routes.

For their part, Fenty, O'Malley and Kaine have special ways of getting through the crowds.

"What is your plan?" one reporter asked O'Malley.

"The police," he said.

Dale Eisman, (703) 913-9872, dale.eisman@pilotonline.com