Washington Boulevard (Arlington)

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Washington Boulevard
Columbia Island, DC
East endArlington Memorial Bridge on Columbia Island, DC

Washington Boulevard is a major arterial road in

Columbia Island, providing a connection between SR 27 and the Arlington Memorial Bridge.[3]

Route description

West of the Pentagon

One-way traffic heading westbound approaching the Lee Highway intersection

Washington Boulevard begins as a one-way residential street heading westbound in

State Route 237), SR 237 transitions to Washington Boulevard and Fairfax Drive (the eastbound road in the one-way pair on the other side of I-66. Shortly east of this intersection, the two roads merge and Washington Boulevard continues as two-way undivided road. An intersection with Sycamore Street provides access to the East Falls Church Washington Metro station, which serves the Orange and Silver Lines.[1]

Continuing east in

Virginia Square and Clarendon neighborhoods. In downtown Clarendon, the road intersects the one-way pair of Wilson Boulevard and Clarendon Boulevard. It also intersects SR 237 once again, this time at 10th Street North.[1]

Beyond 10th Street, Washington Boulevard takes a more southern direction and enters the

Mixing Bowl.[1]

Mixing Bowl

See also: Pentagon road network
Westbound Washington Boulevard at the Mixing Bowl

The Mixing Bowl interchange connects Washington Boulevard with

HOV lanes. The Mixing Bowl also has ramps to and from Arlington Ridge Road and Army Navy Drive, providing access to Pentagon City.[1]

East of the interchange, Washington Boulevard turns north, meeting the eastern terminus of SR 244 at a

District of Columbia.[1]

District of Columbia

Crossing of Boundary Channel in 2020

Washington Boulevard exists for just 0.4 miles (0.64 km) within the District, and road signage is scarce. The road travels north on

Columbia Island, a National Park Service-maintained island within the District of Columbia despite it being located west of the Potomac River. The road has an interchange with the George Washington Memorial Parkway, with both directions of Washington Boulevard accessing the southbound parkway and the northbound parkway accessing the northbound boulevard. Just before the eastern terminus, the boulevard has an exit ramp that travels underneath the Arlington Memorial Bridge bound for the northbound parkway and US 50 west, before coming to an end at Arlington Memorial Circle, which accesses both the Memorial Bridge and Arlington National Cemetery.[1]

History

The Pentagon Memorial, located just east of Washington Boulevard

The first section of Washington Boulevard was built just north of the Fairfax line of the Washington, Arlington and Falls Church between Falls Church and Clarendon in the 1920s. Between I-395 and Clarendon, Washington Boulevard was built on the right-of-way of the Washington, Arlington and Falls Church's South Arlington Branch in the late 1920s. The road was completed when the section from I-395 to Memorial Circle was built in the early 1940s.

September 11 attacks

Main articles: American Airlines Flight 77 and September 11 attacks

On September 11, 2001, many commuters and drivers witnessed the hijacked

taxicab driven by Lloyd England. That section of Washington Boulevard was closed for several weeks following the attacks.[6]

Other incidents

At 3:40 a.m. on December 22, 2004, a

I-395, near the Pentagon. The accident killed the driver, and sparked initial concerns that this explosion was another terrorist attack. The driver was headed to the Citgo gas station, near the Pentagon.[7]

Improvements

Eastbound traffic approaching the Freedmans Village Bridge

In 2012, work began on a new bridge over Columbia Pike, which had been in planning since 1990.[8] The original bridge dated from the 1940s. Due to budget constraints, the bridge had to be scaled down, lacking the bicycle paths and other touches originally planned.[8] Work was completed in December 2015 and the bridge was dedicated as the "Freedmans Village Bridge" in September 2015.[9][4]

In 2015, VDOT began the work of replacing the bridge over Route 110/Richmond Highway that was built in 1941. Work lasted until May of 2019 when the longer, higher and wider replacement bridge was completed. It was then named Arlington Veterans Bridge.[10]

Shared use path

The Washington Boulevard Trail is a pair of

Arlington Boulevard Trail
in Arlington.

The first of the two trails built was the easternmost section from the

Lady Bird Johnson Park and then along the edge of the Pentagon and the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial. The trail was originally built concurrent with the Pentagon in 1943 as an unpaved path, but in 1993 the county made plans to pave and grade it.[11] This work was completed in the late 1990s. In 2006, as part of a renovation of the Pentagon following 9/11, a section was built adjacent to the new security wall. Another section along the Pentagon Memorial was built in conjunction with that project and opened in September 2008. From 2015 to 2018, VDOT rebuilt the Washington Boulevard Bridge over Route 110, later renamed Arlington Veterans Bridge, with a 14' side path replacing the old, narrow sidewalk. At the same time they built the section of trail from the Pentagon parking lot ramp to the security wall section built in 2006 and built a short section from the Pentagon Memorial to Columbia Pike. That work was completed in December 2017.[12]

The second trail is a 0.7-mile (1.1 km) long mutli-use trail along the south side of Washington Boulevard from Rolfe Street at Towers Park to Arlington Boulevard and the Arlington Boulevard Trail. It was first proposed in Arlington's 1994 Bicycle Transportation Plan.[13] The first section of the trail, from Arlington Boulevard to Walter Reed Road, was built in 2009–2010.[14] The section, from Walter Reed to Rolfe St. was built between February and November 2018, with the final ribbon cutting on the trail occurring on November 30, 2018.[15]

In the future, the two sections are to be connected by a path built in conjunction with a project to expand Arlington National Cemetery. That project will realign Columbia Pike and add a sidepath to connect the two pieces of the Washington Boulevard Trail, as well as a section of sidepath built between Rolfe and Orme Streets in 2015 as part of the Freedmans Village Bridge. [16]

Major intersections

StateCountyLocationmi[1][2]kmDestinationsNotes
East Falls Church
0.00.0Westmoreland Street
0.20.32
I-66
west		Westbound exit only; tolled PM rush hours except HOV-2+ vehicles
0.40.64
 US 29 / SR 237 west (Lee Highway) – Falls Church		SR 237 continues west
0.60.97Eastern terminus of one-way segment
I-66
east		SR 237 continues east
Clarendon4.16.6 SR 237 (10th Street North)
Washington
Western terminus of SR 27; separate exits for US 50 east and west
Penrose
5.38.5South Courthouse Road / Second Street South – Fort MyerSeparate exit for Fort Myer northbound
5.99.5
Baileys Crossroads
Freedmans Village Bridge;[4] separate exits for SR 244 east and west northbound
I-395 south / South Arlington Ridge Road – Richmond
Exit 8A on I-395
Washington
Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; exit 8B on I-395; also serves Army Navy Drive
HOV Lane
Westbound exit and eastbound entrance to I-395 HOV-3+ lanes (peak-direction)
Pentagon South Parking, Pentagon Memorial
Separate exits for SR 244 and parking westbound
7.211.6Pentagon Mall and River EntrancesSouthbound exit and entrance
7.411.9



 To
Boundary Channel Drive
; signed for I-395 westbound, SR 110 eastbound
Boundary Channel7.512.1Bridge (eastern terminus of SR 27)
George Washington Parkway
south
7.712.4
George Washington Parkway
north
7.912.7
Washington, DC
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Google (February 10, 2020). "Washington Boulevard" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Google (February 11, 2020). "Washington Boulevard" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  3. ^ Google (February 11, 2020). "Washington Boulevard" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c Coy, Brian; Holland, Michelle (September 10, 2015). "Governor McAuliffe Dedicates New Washington Boulevard Bridge over Columbia Pike in Arlington" (Press release). Virginia Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
  5. ^ Wheeler, Gary (September 11, 2001). "Witnesses: Airplane hit the Pentagon hard". Gannett News Service.
  6. ^ Washington, Adrienne T. (October 5, 2001). "Reopening airport helps; now let's aid the displaced". Washington Times.
  7. ^ Jackman, Tom (December 23, 2004). "Gas Truck Driver Dies in Fiery Va. Wreck". The Washington Post.
  8. ^ a b Schulte, Brigid (March 3, 2005). "New Life for Bridge's Renovation". The Washington Post.
  9. ^ "Route 27/244 Interchange". Virginia Department of Transportation. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
  10. ^ Alrey (June 21, 2019). "Video: Arlington Veterans Bridge Project Complete". Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  11. ^ Hong, Peter (9 December 1993). "Ambitious Bike Plan Proposed: Board to Consider Adding More Paths And On-Road Lanes". The Washington Post.
  12. ^ Cranor, David. "VDOT project widens Washington Boulevard Trail over Route 27, Phase II in Penrose has begun". The WashCycle. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  13. ^ Lang, Katy. "Phase Two of the Washington Boulevard Trail is Opening". Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  14. ^ Cranor, David. "Washington Boulevard Trail Phase I Underway". The WashCycle. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  15. ^ "Washington Boulevard Trail Ribbon-Cutting". Arlington VA Projects & Planning. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  16. ^ Burgess, Gillian. "Arlington Cemetery is expanding to the south. That could help cyclists". Greater Greater Washington. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
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