Any must-see roadgeek/transit spots to photograph?

[Bruce]

I'll be in town next month for a conference and I'll have some free time to explore the city. I have a map of places I'm planning on photographing already started (link), but I'd like some more suggestions. Would especially love overpasses that are accessible by foot/transit.

Thanks in advance.

[Alps]

in... town...


Apparently you mean DC...

[froggie]

14th Street Bridge would meet 3 of your categories (Cycling, Road, and Bridge).

Adjacent to the 14th Street Bridge are the Yellow Line Bridge (transit) and the Long Bridge (rail).

The Verizon Center, at 7th and H NW, sits on the corner to Chinatown, meets your Sports and Cityscape categories above, and has the Gallery Place Metro station underneath it (Red, Green, and Yellow Lines).  In front, at the 7th/H intersection itself, is an example of the "Barnes Dance" (a type of pedestrian crossing).

[AlexandriaVA]

Can't speak for MD but I will for VA:

Roads:

I always like the GW Parkway. You can park at Gravely Point park (only accessible from the northbound carriageway) to see planes take off/land (it changes depending on wind direction) at National Airport. The drive itself on the Parkway is nice too, going from Mt Vernon to near the Pentagon, up along the Potomac River.

Depending on your patience, maybe you'll want to clinch as many of DC's circles as possible.

I wouldn't waste your time on the Beltway itself (unless you're using it to get elsewhere). The roads in the western and southern suburbs are largely unremarkable and often congested. I'd stick to the core and the historic highways/boulevards.

Transit:

Union Station is a really good spotting perch, with a lot of trains coming all hours of the day. Alexandria Station (technically also called Union Station but nobody uses it) lets you get really close to the tracks, but there aren't nearly as many trains as at Union/DC. There's also a streetcar track east of Union Station on H Street.

[oscar]

I always like the GW Parkway. You can park at Gravely Point park (only accessible from the northbound carriageway) to see planes take off/land (it changes depending on wind direction) at National Airport. The drive itself on the Parkway is nice too, going from Mt Vernon to near the Pentagon, up along the Potomac River.

From the Arlington Cemetery station on Metrorail's Blue Line (or a longish walk from the planned stop at the Lincoln Memorial across the river), short walks will go to overpasses over the Parkway (including its complicated traffic pattern north toward the US 50 junction), and one next to the station over the Blue Line itself.

Metrorail's Yellow, Orange, and Silver Lines pass over the Beltway, if you don't mind taking photos on the move through scratched-up windows.

A very optional stop in my neighborhood is a pedestrian tunnel under Arlington Blvd. (US 50) between Glebe Rd. (VA 120) and George Mason Dr., with a US 50 route marker carved into the concrete above at least the north tunnel portal. It's a short walk from the Trenton St. bus stop on the Arlington Blvd. westbound frontage road, on the Metrobus 4A and 4H lines from Rosslyn.

[1995hoo]

There's an old BGS on a wall underneath the L'Enfant Promenade at D St. SW that bears an I-95 shield (territory-named shield, too, if I recall correctly). Half a block east across from the ramp to the Ninth Street Tunnek there's a "Do Not Enter" sign shaped like a stop sign. Both are easily reached on foot from the L'Enfant Plaza Metrorail stop.

[TheOneKEA]

If you want to stay close to DC, check out the Governor's Bridge over the Patuxent River, near Bowie. It lies on Governor's Bridge Road and may someday be demolished as part of a flood mitigation scheme for the road.

[Bruce]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

Yes, I did mean D.C. I forgot that this board covers a bit more than just the Beltway.

[TravelingBethelite]

There's an old BGS on a wall underneath the L'Enfant Promenade at D St. SW that bears an I-95 shield (territory-named shield, too, if I recall correctly). Half a block east across from the ramp to the Ninth Street Tunnek there's a "Do Not Enter" sign shaped like a stop sign. Both are easily reached on foot from the L'Enfant Plaza Metrorail stop.

Are there any existing photos of it? Sounds cool.

[1995hoo]

Try Street View. I'm using phone at the airport and can't really help with pictures right now, but if you point Street View at 7th and D SW, then go a block to the west (left, if the camera is facing the elevated train station), you'll find the "Do Not Enter" sign. Go a block further west and that's where the I-95 sign is.

[Alex]

There's an old BGS on a wall underneath the L'Enfant Promenade at D St. SW that bears an I-95 shield (territory-named shield, too, if I recall correctly). Half a block east across from the ramp to the Ninth Street Tunnek there's a "Do Not Enter" sign shaped like a stop sign. Both are easily reached on foot from the L'Enfant Plaza Metrorail stop.

Are there any existing photos of it? Sounds cool.

Don't need to go to GSV, we have some photos on the main site here (scroll down on the page to see them in context):

[Mapmikey]

There is also the Washington St overpass over the Beltway (GW Pkwy road within Alexandria) which is very wide and has trees on it so that it looks just like a city boulevard and not bridge.  Can't tell from GMSV but you may be able to get a semi-decent view of the newish Woodrow Wilson Br (which itself can be walked) from the fenceline.

If you are in downtown Alexandria, there are still (as of Aug 2014 GMSV)  US 1 cutouts on US 1 NB (Patrick St) immediately after both VA 236 (Duke St) on the left and VA 7 (King St) on the right.

Mike

[AlexandriaVA]

If you're lucky, you might catch the Tropicana Juice Train (hauled by CSX locos) plowing through Alexandria as well.

[1995hoo]

The US-1 cutouts were still there this morning.

[AlexandriaVA]

Something which wasn't brought up on this thread (although I'm sure those on this board may have had to deal with it) is that many facilities in DC and the close-in areas are picky about photography. Some, like the Pentagon, have photography restrictions which are mentioned in signs and prominently posted. Others have cops (sworn officers or rent-a-cops) who may shoo you away from their building, even if there isn't necessarily a rule against it.

I know that people photographing Union Station often run into trouble with Amtrak Police.

Even worse is that information often contradicts actions, in that even if an agency allows photography of its building, its police may hassle you if they see you doing it.

I don't think you'd run into the same problems as it pertains to roads and transportation facilities, but you never really know.

And you know how it can be....cops expect tourists to take photos of things like the White House or Capitol, but get suspicious when they see photography of the underside of bridge spans and the like.

[Alps]

The US-1 cutouts were still there this morning.

The whats?

[Mapmikey]

The US-1 cutouts were still there this morning.

The whats?

These:





Mike

[1995hoo]

The US-1 cutouts were still there this morning.

The whats?

What was unclear about my comment? 

[froggie]

Steve apparently missed Mike's comment from yesterday...

[hbelkins]

Steve apparently missed Mike's comment from yesterday...

Actually, I think he's probably expressing amazement that such things exist and that he possibly may not have previously known about them.

[oscar]

Cutout fans can still find a few in downtown Falls Church, at the US 29-VA 7 intersection (served by multiple Metrobus lines connecting to Metrorail stations), or within short walking distance. That might include a cutout VA 338 marker near its intersection with US 29 (haven't been by there for awhile). Alas, not a one in Arlington County. Cutouts are increasingly rare in Virginia independent cities like Alexandria and Falls Church, but even more uncommon in counties.

But especially for someone from the west coast, California is cutout heaven. Cutout route markers are prevalent there on all levels of the highway system (Interstate, US, state, county).

[1995hoo]

The 338 cutout is beat-up and easy to miss, but it was still there earlier this year.

Someone visiting DC probably won't go to Winchester, but you can find a good amount of cutouts there.

[Mapmikey]

Someone visiting DC probably won't go to Winchester, but you can find a good amount of cutouts there.

This is no longer the case as a bunch were replaced between 2009-12...there may be a few left...

Most places are really getting rid of them.  Last places with tons of them that I was at (as of a couple years ago) Clifton Forge and Covington.  Christiansburg and Harrisonburg have a few and Richmond just a handful now.

Mapmikey

[1995hoo]

I saw a fair number of them in Winchester last year when we went out there after visiting our favorite winery. When I say "a good amount" I mean "relative to most other Virginia locations I visit regularly," not necessarily "they're all over the place." I can't say I recall which route we used, though.

I haven't been to Clifton Forge since 2006 en route to the Homestead. A friend of ours who lives there had recommended using Sulphur Springs Road as an interesting back road. I'm glad I went that way the one time.

[hbelkins]

Someone visiting DC probably won't go to Winchester, but you can find a good amount of cutouts there.

This is no longer the case as a bunch were replaced between 2009-12...there may be a few left...

Most places are really getting rid of them.  Last places with tons of them that I was at (as of a couple years ago) Clifton Forge and Covington.  Christiansburg and Harrisonburg have a few and Richmond just a handful now.

Mapmikey

Still a bunch in Norton, the last time I was there.