Even as plans to celebrate President George W. Bush's inauguration were taking final shape, the capital on Tuesday appeared more like a city under siege.
Hour by hour, the city of grand buildings and marble statues seemed to disappear behind curtains of steel security fences and concrete barriers.
Piece by piece, the massive security plan that officials promised would be the tightest ever in post-9/11 America began taking final shape despite the absence of any specific threat and seemingly without regard to the temporary inconveniences to local residents and visitors.
Utility crews with acetylene torches snarled traffic as they welded shut manhole covers along the route of the inaugural parade.
Fighter jets screamed across the skies, practicing for the pre-inaugural fly-by on Wednesday. Drivers found no-parking signs, temporary street closures and public warnings that 100 blocks of city streets near inaugural events would be restricted.
Pedestrians had it no better. Officials tightened the broad perimeter surrounding the Capitol, the parade route and the presidential reviewing stand near the White House as construction teams added more security fencing that put more of the city's public spaces off limits.
Elsewhere, security teams swept dozens of hotels and office buildings overlooking the parade route. Uniformed officers in cruisers from more than a dozen law enforcement agencies seemed to be everywhere at once.
Standing outside a security fence surrounding Lafayette Park, near the White House, Bonnie McKinney, an advocate for veterans benefits, was clearly annoyed. "We obviously have had a security issue in our country, but this is a bit ridiculous," she said. "As a veteran and the daughter of a veteran who died in service, I don't appreciate being disenfranchised from what I always considered my rights and freedoms."
She was hardly alone among residents asked to alter their routines to accommodate security plans and a long schedule of inaugural events, which began Tuesday afternoon with a program to honor American military forces.
Some tourists ignored the forbidding preparations around them. David Chater, a visitor from London, seemed unfazed. "The physical presence is noticeable," he said, "but it's not unexpected."
Government workers, who already had the day off Thursday, were being encouraged to work from home on Wednesday, a day before the inauguration. Local law enforcement officials warned motorists that many streets in the downtown area would be off-limits to vehicular traffic. Local officials said some bus routes would change and some subway stations would be closed.
"Given the hassle factor and the uncertainties, I'm going to work from home on Thursday," said Mit Spears, a lawyer and Republican whose office is on the fringe of areas restricted to traffic. "Driving in is just not worth it."
Federal aviation authorities prepared to impose a no-fly zone that will be in force for private aircraft from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday. Commercial flights will operate as usual, but the authorities are widening the no-fly zone for smaller planes, banning many flights from a radius of about 40 kilometers, or 25 miles, around the region's three airports: Reagan National, Dulles and Baltimore Washington International.
Thousands of federal, state and local law enforcement personnel from around the country poured into Washington all day Tuesday, reporting to command posts responsible for coordinated security, the authorities said.
And as final plans proceeded, meteorologists had bad news. At noon, when Bush raises his hand to take the oath of office, forecasters said, the temperature would be 34 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1 degree Celsius, and snow may be falling.
A man threatening to blow up his van waged a standoff with authorities a short distance from the White House yesterday, triggering the evacuation of several blocks of downtown on the first day of inaugural activities.
The episode, which ended peacefully about four hours later, did not appear to be related to terrorism or the inauguration but instead to a family matter, authorities said. The muscular response -- hundreds of officers, armored vehicles, snipers on rooftops, instant road closings -- underscored the tight security that is so pervasive in Washington, especially this week.
Police said that they found homemade "devices" consisting of wires and a switch in the van. Shortly after 9 p.m., they declared the van safe and impounded it.
The White House remained open throughout the ordeal, but police swept through office buildings on 15th Street NW, evacuating many of them. An armored vehicle rode up and down 15th, and hazardous materials vehicles, ambulances and other emergency equipment took over the streets. At least three command vehicles were on the scene, which was being monitored by the Department of Homeland Security.
Commuters, already facing a rough week because of the inauguration, were stuck as several critical downtown streets were closed at the beginning of the evening rush hour. Backups extended for miles and dragged on for hours. Those who chose to leave their cars downtown in favor of Metro also got a shock: The platforms were overflowing.
President Bush and first lady Laura Bush were at an inaugural concert at MCI Center when the standoff began, and later returned to the White House without incident.
The trouble began about 3:30 p.m. at 15th Street near Pennsylvania Avenue NW -- on the route that will be used for the inaugural parade. Police said the man drove a van to the Secret Service security shack near the White House and made some demands. He claimed to have 15 gallons of gasoline, along with a triggering device that he said he was holding, they said. Officials were analyzing the liquid last night.
Guns drawn, Secret Service personnel approached the van. But the man refused to leave the vehicle, and authorities decided to retreat, electing to talk to him in hopes of ending the standoff peacefully. Later, they explained that they saw containers inside the van but were not able to immediately identify their contents.
D.C. police Cmdr. Cathy Lanier, head of the special operations division, said police moved patiently and methodically because the man was making serious threats and appeared to have something dangerous in his van.
"From what little we could see," Lanier said, "it looked like he was telling the truth."
D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey echoed that assessment and said officers handled events well. "It sounded like he had some kind of accelerant, flammable material," Ramsey said. "It sounds like something that could have touched off a pretty good fire."
Police said they set up a perimeter to control a potential bomb blast. They used robotic equipment to deliver a telephone to the man, which was used during negotiations. Finally, at 7:55 p.m., he walked out of the van and into police custody.
The man, whom police identified last night as Lowell Timmers, 54, of Cedar Springs, Mich., about 20 miles north of Grand Rapids, was charged with violating a federal law that prohibits "any threat" to do harm or damage with fire or explosives.
Authorities said that he was upset because a relative is in the custody of immigration authorities and apparently facing deportation.
The commotion startled people on the streets, including numerous tourists in the city for the inauguration who are not accustomed to the scares and security presence that have become part of life in Washington.
"We knew security was tight, but this is amazing," said Trey Schroeder, a visitor from Dallas.
Kyle Gaffney, assistant general manager at the Old Ebbitt Grill, said he saw the driver of the van pull up to the security booth and slam on the brakes, making a loud screeching noise. He said authorities rushed out and tried to open the door. But the driver held up something and they backed off.
Gaffney said that officers stood about 15 feet from the van, weapons trained on the vehicle. Another group of police in protective gear stood about 20 feet away, not pointing their guns.
John Taylor, an office worker in the area, said he, too, saw the armed officers approach the van and that he heard much shouting. "It seemed like a movie," he said.
The incident bore similarities to a March 2003 standoff on the Mall, in which a tractor-driving farmer, Dwight Watson, threatened to detonate explosives. Watson, of North Carolina, surrendered after a 47-hour stretch that created snarls during four downtown rush hours.
Yesterday's incident occurred two months after a high-profile protest near the White House. On Nov. 15, a Falls Church man who worked as a federal informant on terrorism was seriously injured when he set himself on fire near the front gate of the White House.
Workers in the area said they were grateful that so many police officers responded so quickly.
"They can go do whatever they need to do to secure our safety," said Jennifer Brooks, who works for a brokerage firm. "It is an inconvenience, but I would gladly sacrifice that."
Staff writers Steven Ginsberg, Sari Horwitz and Clarence Williams and researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.
