Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway Bridge near P Street | |
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Coordinates | 38°55′N77°03′W / 38.91°N 77.05°W |
Locale | Washington D.C. U.S. |
Characteristics | |
Material | Concrete |
History | |
Construction end | 1936 |
Location | |
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The Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway Bridge near P Street is a bridge carrying the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway across Rock Creek in Washington, DC. It is the middle of three bridges where the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway switches from one side of the river to the other, the others being the L Street Bridge and the Shoreham Hill Bridge. The bridge is near the site of a historical river ford used by French soldiers traveling to Yorktown in 1781. [1] The bridge is reinforced concrete faced in mica schist. [2]
The original 1908 plans had the parkway cross from the west to the east side of Rock Creek farther north, near Lyons Mill. Frederick Law Olmsted opposed having the parkway run on the east side north of Q Street, due to the extensive grading required to accommodate the steepness of the valley at that point. The retaining walls that were built to protect the parkway proved inadequate, as a 1935 landslide after a heavy rain partially blocked the parkway for the next two years. [1]
The section of the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway from P Street south to K Street was the last portion of the parkway to open, in 1935. Initially, there was no bridge directly connecting the new segment to the existing segment on the opposite side of the creek. Traffic had to exit the parkway and climb out of the valley to city streets, use the high-level P Street Bridge, and then descend back into the valley. [2]
The low-level bridge directly connecting the parkway segments and bypassing the high-level bridge was completed in 1936, and was the last original bridge constructed on the parkway. [2] This completed the final link, allowing motorists to drive from Virginia Avenue to Rock Creek Park without any stoplights, leading to a rapid increase in commuter traffic that soon necessitated measures such as operating the entire parkway one-way during rush hour. [1]
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The Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, informally called the Rock Creek Parkway, is a parkway maintained by the National Park Service as part of Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. It runs next to the Potomac River and Rock Creek in a generally north–south direction, carrying four lanes of traffic from the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington Memorial Bridge north to a junction with Beach Drive near Connecticut Avenue at Calvert Street, N.W., just south of the National Zoological Park.
The George Washington Memorial Parkway, colloquially the G.W. Parkway, is a 25-mile-long (40 km) parkway that runs along the south bank of the Potomac River from Mount Vernon, Virginia, northwest to McLean, Virginia, and is maintained by the National Park Service (NPS). It is located almost entirely within Virginia, except for a short portion of the parkway northwest of the Arlington Memorial Bridge that passes over Columbia Island within the District of Columbia.
The Theodore Roosevelt Bridge is a bridge crossing the Potomac River which connects Washington, D.C., with the Commonwealth of Virginia. The bridge crosses over Theodore Roosevelt Island, and carries Interstate 66/U.S. Route 50. The center lane in the bridge is reversible; the middle barrier is moved with a barrier transfer machine. It's operated eastbound during the morning rush hour from 6-11 am. The bridge is named in honor of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States.
Clara Barton Parkway is an automobile parkway in the U.S. state of Maryland and the District of Columbia. The highway runs 6.8 miles (10.9 km) from MacArthur Boulevard in Carderock, Maryland, east to Canal Road at the Chain Bridge in Washington. Clara Barton Parkway is a two- to four-lane parkway that parallels the Potomac River and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C&O) in southwestern Montgomery County, Maryland, and the far western corner of Washington. The parkway provides access to the communities of Cabin John and Glen Echo and several units of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. The Maryland portion of the George Washington Memorial Parkway was constructed from Carderock past Interstate 495 (I-495) to Glen Echo in the early to mid-1960s. The parkway was proposed to continue west to Great Falls and east to Georgetown. However, these proposals never came to fruition and the parkway was extended only to the Chain Bridge in the early 1970s. The Maryland portion of the George Washington Memorial Parkway was renamed in 1989 for Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, and whose original headquarters is located in Glen Echo.
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The P Street Bridge or Lauzun's Legion Bridge is a 336-foot (102 m) concrete arch bridge that conveys P Street across Rock Creek and Rock Creek Park between the Georgetown and Dupont Circle neighborhoods of Northwest Washington, D.C. The first bridge at this site was constructed in 1855 and was replaced in 1935 by the current structure.
The M Street Bridge, also known as the M Street Overpass, carries M Street across Rock Creek and the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway. It lies between the neighborhoods of Georgetown and Foggy Bottom in Northwest Washington, D.C. The non-arched design of the bridge contrasts with that of all the other bridges rising over the parkway.
The Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge conveys Pennsylvania Avenue across Rock Creek and the adjoining Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, between the neighborhoods of Georgetown and Foggy Bottom in Northwest Washington, D.C. Pennsylvania Avenue terminates at M Street immediately west of the bridge.
The K Street Bridge is a complex of bridges over Rock Creek and the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway in Washington, D.C. The lower level of the bridge carries the surface street K Street, while the upper level carries the Whitehurst Freeway which terminates and merges into K Street immediately east of the bridge. The central bridge is flanked by two flyover ramps that connect to the nearby terminus of Interstate 66.
The Shoreham Hill Bridge is a bridge carrying the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway across Rock Creek in Washington, DC. It is the most upstream of three bridges where the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway switches from one side of the river to the other, the others being the bridge near P Street and the L Street Bridge.
The L Street Bridge is a bridge carrying the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway over Rock Creek in Washington, D.C. It is the most downstream of three bridges where the Parkway switches from one side of the river to the other, the others being the bridge near P Street and the Shoreham Hill Bridge. Despite its name, the bridge does not carry or cross L Street, but it is adjacent to L Street's western terminus.
The Rock Creek Trails are a series of trails through the Rock Creek valley and along the Potomac River in Washington, DC and Montgomery County, MD. The main route extends 22 miles from Lake Needwood in Maryland to the Inlet Bridge in Washington, DC, with a loop in the north part of Rock Creek Park and other trails through the Klingle Valley, Turkey Branch Valley and along the North Branch of Rock Creek. There are three separate trails that make up the main Rock Creek Trail route and others that connect to it. Along the Potomac River from Arlington Memorial Bridge to Rock Creek is a section sometimes called the Shoreline Trail.