Security Tightened Around White House
Traffic limited around executive mansion

August 8, 2002
From Kelly Wallace

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Citing the possibility of truck bombs, the Secret Service is limiting truck traffic and street parking on several blocks near the White House, calling the move part of an ongoing assessment of the "vulnerability" of the executive mansion.

The traffic restrictions mark the latest effort to protect the president's home, a symbol of democracy.

John Gill, Secret Service spokesman, said the move is not in response to a specific threat, but he conceded it is designed to protect the White House from powerful explosives that could be packed into a truck.

"The measures we're putting into place here are meant to reduce the size of a charge from any explosive-laden vehicle," he told the Associated Press.

"Certainly, there is no specific reason why this is being done," Gill told CNN. "We continually assess the area around the White House. ... This is just a measure that came from that continued assessment."

Trucks larger than 1.25 tons will no longer be able to drive or park along eight blocks of 17th Street, between H Street and Constitution Avenue, between the hours of 5 a.m. EDT to 9 p.m. EDT. The measures go into effect Friday morning.

In addition, all street parking will be banned on roughly three blocks of 17th Street closest to the White House, between E Street and Pennsylvania, which borders the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where most White House aides work. On these streets, Gill said, there will be "no parking, no standing, no stopping."

Parking still will be allowed closer to Constitution Avenue, another major capital thoroughfare, so that souvenir, T-shirt and hot dog vendors who sell from trucks typically parked in that area will not be affected, Gill said.

Over the years, security has tightened considerably around the White House, which President Jefferson had once declared should be open and easily accessible. A 1994 federal review of security at the White House cited the challenge presidents have faced in balancing "the often competing concerns of architectural integrity, public access and physical security."

That 1994 review followed the crash of a small, private plane onto the White House South Lawn, but security at the mansion has come under scrutiny before and typically tightened during wars or after major attacks.

For example, President Roosevelt agreed to some security enhancements at the White House following the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

During the 1980s, concrete blockades were installed around the complex's perimeter, following the terrorist assault on the Marine barracks and the American Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.

Pennsylvania Avenue was closed to vehicular traffic in front of the executive mansion during the Clinton administration after the Oklahoma City bombing.

Tours of the White House were suspended shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks. They have resumed on a restricted basis for some pre-scheduled groups, but the White House remains closed to the general public.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/08/08/wh.security/index.html