NATO summit will cause traffic disruptions in the streets – and up in the air

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. — We are just days away from D.C. hosting the NATO 75th Anniversary summit. World leaders will converge on the District by the beginning of next week.

We’ve already told you about the street closures downtown. Now Joint Base Andrews is warning about congestion in the air.

Across the street from the convention center, workers at Petite Cerise prepared for next week’s NATO summit.

“At the end of L and 6th street there will be another security point,” manager Justin Tew said of the area.

While they serve the finest French food, Tew hopes the summit doesn’t slow their business to a snail’s pace.

“We want to prepare on the side of, ‘we will be busy,’ we never want to be understaffed,” Tew said.

The restaurant will be directly inside the security perimeter. In addition to the blocked off streets – and restricted areas – DC Police confirm at least two protests have applied for permits.

But the massive international presence about to descend on D.C. has to get here first.

We went out to the neighborhoods in Prince George’s County that surround Joint Base Andrews. Immediately, we heard the roar of a helicopter when we stepped into Alex Duruji’s neighborhood.

“I’ve learned to ignore them, but I did notice them when we first moved,” Duruji said.

But with the NATO summit flying in leaders from around the world, Joint Base Andrews will be the entrance route for most of the world leaders coming to D.C.

As a result, Joint Base Andrews has issued a warning about increased noise and aircraft activity.

“I can imagine it will be pretty jolting for people who are not aware,” Duruji said.

We asked Duruji if she thinks the increased sound will be a disruption, she did not seem to think so.

“Its one of the quirks of living in the area,” she laughed.