More than 200,000 people are expected to attend the Presidential Inaugural Opening Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 18. With such a large crowd of attendees at this event—and the need to close major thoroughfares and the Memorial Bridge for certain periods of time during the afternoon rush hour—we anticipate major traffic congestion problems in the downtown Washington, DC, area. These problems will be especially acute for Federal workers who must commute from Washington, DC, to Northern Virginia or vice versa

To reduce the potential for traffic gridlock, please urge Federal employees whose official duty stations are located in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area to request annual leave, previously earned compensatory time off, or leave without pay for the entire workday on Thursday,January 18. Employees on alternative work schedules (AWS) may wish to schedule their AWS day off or use credit hours (if available) on that day. In addition, please advise employees who wish to work part of the day to consider taking unscheduled leave for all or part of the afternoon in order to avoid traffic problems during the afternoon rush hour. Any employee who chooses to report for work on January 18 should consider using public transportation and allow extra time for commuting to and from work.

If you have questions about pay and leave entitlements for Federal employees on January 18, please contact our Pay and Leave Administration Division by calling (202) 606-2858 or sending an email message to payleave@opm.gov