WASHINGTON – Construction that already slows traffic and frustrates commuters in D.C. will cause an even greater annoyance on one of the city’s biggest tourist holidays. And D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier is concerned.

“The challenge this year is all the construction on the mall,” Lanier says. “I think people will be compressed into a smaller space.”

For D.C. police officers, Lanier says there is no doubt the holiday will present a larger challenge than in the past. But, she says they are well trained in dealing with the influx of people onto the National Mall.

“The Fourth of July crowd is one of the things we do extremely well in Washington. We get them in pretty well and we get them all out quick.

WTOP’s Jamie Forzado contributed to this report.

Follow WTOP on Twitter.

(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)