This is from March, but I just now became aware of it, and might be interesting to members here: Washington's Circumferential Highway: Fighting Over the Capital Beltway (http://ghostsofdc.org/2012/03/08/washingtons-circumferential-highway-fighting-over-the-capital-beltway/)
See also this Washington Post article from 1999 (they have a free "long-term" archive with a few pretty good articles, like this one): Washington's Main Drag (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/2000/beltway083099.htm)