Norton to Invite National Zoo, NPS, and DDOT to Participate in Town Hall Meeting with D.C. Residents to Discuss Zoo Loop Trail Hours

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced she will invite the National Zoo, the National Park Service, and the District of Columbia Department of Transportation to participate in a virtual town hall meeting to hear from D.C. residents about the importance of extending the hours of the Zoo Loop Trail. The date of the town hall meeting has not yet been determined. Norton met with the three agencies last week to discuss options for extending the trail’s hours, but was disappointed the zoo refused to extend the hours. Norton is exploring legislative options to require the zoo to extend the hours.

The trail, which runs through the zoo’s grounds in Rock Creek Park and recently reopened to the public, is only open from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The zoo says that the trail’s hours must be tied to the zoo’s hours of operations to maintain accreditation with the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, since the trail runs through the zoo’s secondary containment perimeter.

During last week’s meeting, Norton presented the zoo with several ways to extend the hours, including moving the secondary fencing, hiring a security guard or installing cameras to monitor the gate after the zoo closes, extending the zoo’s hours, or reconfiguring the gate to close automatically after each person passes through, but the zoo rejected all of them.

According to the zoo, it must have a critical mass of staff, including animal keepers, on site when the gate is open in case an animal escapes from its enclosure. The zoo also said moving the fence to separate the trail from the zoo grounds was neither feasible nor cost-effective in the near term.

“As chair of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, I am a strong supporter of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure,” said Norton. “I am exploring legislative options to extend the trail’s hours and will continue to have discussions, including the town hall meeting announced today, with the agencies and with the community on options to extend the hours.”

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