District of Columbia

[ixnay]

Yes, 1995hoo, I've always liked the masonry work on some of DC's post-WW2 overpasses.

ixnay

[mariethefoxy]

do they still have that sign bridge in that area with the random covered up signs?

[1995hoo]

do they still have that sign bridge in that area with the random covered up signs?

Yes, the one with the wooden panels over the signs. In the first picture, it's through the tunnel to the left of where I was standing.

I wonder how long that thing has left before it comes down. The District has replaced a lot of signs in recent years, though on a sporadic basis. They haven't done a lot in that area, other than a few small signs on Virginia Avenue (can't say "LGSs" since one of them is white), but when they do come through, it'll likely be with a vengeance. WTOP mentioned that particular sign bridge in an online photo essay within the past year, which is the main reason I wonder how long it'll survive.

[abefroman329]

do they still have that sign bridge in that area with the random covered up signs?

Yes, the one with the wooden panels over the signs. In the first picture, it's through the tunnel to the left of where I was standing.

I wonder how long that thing has left before it comes down. The District has replaced a lot of signs in recent years, though on a sporadic basis. They haven't done a lot in that area, other than a few small signs on Virginia Avenue (can't say "LGSs" since one of them is white), but when they do come through, it'll likely be with a vengeance. WTOP mentioned that particular sign bridge in an online photo essay within the past year, which is the main reason I wonder how long it'll survive.

Personally, I can't wait for it to come down, since we'll finally learn what's underneath (I don't think anyone knows for sure).

[1995hoo]

We might learn, anyway. Might not. I hope we would get to see a picture of the uncovered signs, at least.

[1995hoo]

GGW has an item about a possible new loop ramp off K Street towards I-66 as part of a proposed streetcar extension to Georgetown:

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/30833/a-streetcar-to-georgetown-could-add-a-loop-ramp-under-k-street-and-a-pedestrian-walkway/

[froggie]

Goal being to eliminate the left turn lane and the left turn signal phase from westbound K to southbound 27th.  Makes it easier to route the streetcar through and down into lower Georgetown.  Also makes it easier for those in the West End, or along the K St corridor, to get onto 66.

[mrsman]

They're all taking in the sights along the Parkway, just as the National Park Service envisioned, right?

Wrong.

The drivers treat the G.W. Memorial Parkway as a freeway (I have been nearly rear-ended several times for stopping at that crossing on Columbia Island).

Yes, I'm well-aware and was being facetious. I have made many crossings of the Parkway on bike, and I take my life into my hands whenever I trust a crosswalk (I won't go until I get visual ID from both lanes).

It's utter madness and stupidity that the NPS continues the farce of the "park" aspect of it (http://www.nps.gov/gwmp/index.htm):

The George Washington Memorial Parkway was designed for recreational driving. It links sites that commemorate important episodes in American history and preserve habitat for local wildlife. The parkway and its associated trails provide a scenic place to play and rest in the busy Washington, DC metropolitan area.

I don't see how anyone can say that with a straight face.

For many of the NPS routes, It is a shame that there are restrictions on putting in place traffic signals.  There are many points along Beach Road or the GW Pkwy exit to Memorial Bridge that would be so much safer with traffic signals.

[cpzilliacus]

For many of the NPS routes, It is a shame that there are restrictions on putting in place traffic signals.  There are many points along Beach Road or the GW Pkwy exit to Memorial Bridge that would be so much safer with traffic signals.

Though there are signals on at several places on the NPS-maintained parkway system in the Washington area.

Including these (list is not all-inclusive):

George Washington Memorial Parkway at Slaters Lane (Alexandria)
Clara Barton Parkway at Chain Bridge/Canal Road, N.W.
Ohio Drive and Independence Avenue, S.W.
17th Street and Independence Avenue, S.W.
15th Street and Independence Avenue, S.W.
Several along Constitution Avenue, N.W. between 23rd Street and 17th Street (some are maintained by DDOT)
Naylor Road and Suitland Parkway
Forestville Road and Suitland Parkway
Beach Drive, N.W. at Park Road

[mattpedersen]

Forestville Road and Suitland Parkway

That one is maintained by Prince George's County DPWT

[cpzilliacus]

Forestville Road and Suitland Parkway

That one is maintained by Prince George's County DPWT

Agreed.  And the (soon to be gone) signal at Md. 4 and the Suitland Parkway is SHA-maintained. 

Not sure if SHA or NPS maintains the signal at Md. 637 (Naylor Road) and the Suitland Parkway.

[mattpedersen]

Well, the Naylor Road one is maintained by SHA. Its in the signal plan locator and the new fixtures that are being installed are unmistakable SHA spec.

[cpzilliacus]

Well, the Naylor Road one is maintained by SHA. Its in the signal plan locator and the new fixtures that are being installed are unmistakable SHA spec.

I think that signal may have been NPS-spec or even D.C.-spec in the distant past (say 15 or 20 years ago).

[1995hoo]

do they still have that sign bridge in that area with the random covered up signs?

I walked past there on Friday on my way to meet my wife after work (we park at her office near that sign bridge), so I took a few pictures.

 


The previous two pictures were taken from the sidewalk on 25 Street across from the Saudi Arabian embassy. Nearby, there is what should be an excellent vantage point on a walkway just off Juarez Circle. Unfortunately, it's become a refuse dump, apparently for homeless people. (At least there were no visible condoms or wrappers. Thursday morning there was an open condom wrapper on the inner sidewalk at Washington Circle. I did not stop to see whether the rubber itself was anywhere to be seen.)

 


This is the sort of view you get from that walkway. I don't know why people seem to feel the need to drive on the shoulder.

 


Edited to add: BTW, we've all speculated about the probability of there being an I-695 sign on the far left. What about the far right? There's something else covered over there, and certainly the shoulder is wide enough to support another lane. Does anyone know if there was at one point to have been an exit to the Kennedy Center, perhaps? A US-50 sign wouldn't really be logical at that location even though the Roosevelt Bridge carries it, and it's too far back for a GW Parkway sign. (Plus in either case presumably there'd be no need to cover those signs.) A Kennedy Center exit would make no sense with the roads as they are now, but had I-66 been finished there might have been some use for it. (I do not remember when the ramp to the Roosevelt Bridge from near the security guard's booth opened, but I seem to recall it wasn't there when I was a kid. We use it now on our commute home on days when we drive because it's easy access to I-66 and the HOV-2 restriction.)

[HTM Duke]

I know there was an exit for the Kennedy Center there at one point, but the only photographic evidence I've been able to find was a fuzzy picture on the DCRoads.net website, along with an aerial view from 2002 from Historic Aerials (though barricaded).  From what I can remember, around 2002 or so, the Kennedy Center underwent renovations, and the ramp was removed as well.  Also, arrow patches were added to signage leading to the Kennedy Center form the Whitehurst Freeway, instructing drivers to use US-29/K St instead of I-66.

[Alps]

I know there was an exit for the Kennedy Center there at one point, but the only photographic evidence I've been able to find was a fuzzy picture on the DCRoads.net website, along with an aerial view from 2002 from Historic Aerials (though barricaded).  From what I can remember, around 2002 or so, the Kennedy Center underwent renovations, and the ramp was removed as well.  Also, arrow patches were added to signage leading to the Kennedy Center form the Whitehurst Freeway, instructing drivers to use US-29/K St instead of I-66.

I had the same speculation and learned the same thing. Yes, that was absolutely a former ramp.

[1995hoo]

Thanks. Really interesting. I'm a little chagrined that I do not remember that exit, seeing as how I've lived in the area since 1974, but I've almost never used I-66 in that direction (I rarely went to that area at all prior to my wife working there unless I was going to the Kennedy Center, which was rare enough), so I guess it makes sense that I don't remember it.

If it weren't for the rush hour HOV-2 restriction, which benefits us time-wise in the afternoon even though it's out of our way distance-wise, I pretty much wouldn't use I-66 inside the Beltway at all other than the brief DC stub in the other direction during the morning rush hour.

[froggie]

The off-ramp to the Kennedy Center (which also went to northbound Rock Creek Pkwy) was still in place and open around 9/11 time.  It was barricaded by March, 2002, likely concurrent with the aforementioned renovations.  The access road in front of the Kennedy Center was completed in the latter half of 2004 (a temporary access road existed through much of 2002 and 2003).  The new ramp from the access road to WB 66 was not completed until mid-2005.

If you have Google Earth, there are several earlier aerial images that show the old ramp and the transition progress to the current configuration.

[1995hoo]

Thanks, I'll view that and Historic Aerials some other time. The office blocks that sort of stuff and I don't like viewing it on my phone, too small to be useful.

[mattpedersen]

Well, the Naylor Road one is maintained by SHA. Its in the signal plan locator and the new fixtures that are being installed are unmistakable SHA spec.

I think that signal may have been NPS-spec or even D.C.-spec in the distant past (say 15 or 20 years ago).

The previous signal was NPS-spec or DC-spec for sure. I have vague memories of it. All the signals were on short poles, none were over head. The Forestville Road signal was generic PG DPW&T spec.

[froggie]

Whatever it may have been before, by 2008 it was certainly not DDOT-spec.  The iteration from that time through at least 2014 was neither PGC, SHA, or DDOT spec.  Given that it was similar to formats I'd seen on various military bases, I assumed it was a Federal or NPS thing.

[mattpedersen]

Whatever it may have been before, by 2008 it was certainly not DDOT-spec.  The iteration from that time through at least 2014 was neither PGC, SHA, or DDOT spec.  Given that it was similar to formats I'd seen on various military bases, I assumed it was a Federal or NPS thing.

That DDOT spec signal was replaced when Suitland Parkway was rebuilt in the late 1980s

[cpzilliacus]

Whatever it may have been before, by 2008 it was certainly not DDOT-spec.

I am talking the period (roughly) from 1967 to 1985.

I had a somewhat distant cousin from Cleveland, Ohio who was a student at GWU and had some mental health issues (I think it was what was dubbed a "nervous breakdown" and as a result was a patient at St. Elizabeth's Hospital) in the late 1960's.  He would sometimes come along on a day pass when we went to visit my grandparents in southern Anne Arundel County, and we took the Suitland Parkway out to Md. 4 (in those days, all of the Parkway was under NPS maintenance (even in D.C.) and it was an almost-Super-2-type of road beyond the interchange at Md. 458 (Silver Hill Road), where it narrowed from 4 lanes divided to 2 lanes undivided).

Back then, the signal heads at Md. 637 (Naylor Road) were definitely in the "D.C." style (pretty sure they were grey).

The iteration from that time through at least 2014 was neither PGC, SHA, or DDOT spec.  Given that it was similar to formats I'd seen on various military bases, I assumed it was a Federal or NPS thing.

NPS would be my choice.

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post: Corroded Memorial Bridge gets $90 million grant for major overhaul

The Arlington Memorial Bridge, a symbol both of American ingenuity and the nation's sagging infrastructure, has received a $90 million grant for a massive reconstruction project, officials said Tuesday.

The infusion of federal dollars marks a major step toward restoring the deteriorating bridge, but it does not fully fund the project, which the National Park Service has estimated will cost $250 million. It is not clear where the rest of the money will come from, although the Park Service could seek additional federal money.

Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said the bridge, which carries 68,000 vehicles a day, will need to be shut to traffic in 2021 if the overhaul is not done. He said it would turn into a "footbridge."

[AlexandriaVA]

I wonder if they would (could?) rebuild the span as not a drawbridge. Can't remember any time in my lifetime that the drawbridge was raised, and I don't see any future need for it to raise. I presume it would save money as well.