The American Legion Memorial Bridge, also known as the American Legion Bridge and formerly as the Cabin John Bridge, is a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

carrying

Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway) The Capital Beltway is a Interstate Highway in the Washington metropolitan area that surrounds Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and its inner suburbs in adjacent Maryland and Virginia. It is the basis of the phrase "inside th ...

across the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...

between Montgomery County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in the United States. It is an

American Water Landmark An American Water Landmark is a landmark within the United States, Canada, or Mexico that is a historic location and is associated in some way with water. The American Water Works Association American Water Works Association (AWWA) is an internati ...

Plummers Island Plummers Island is a 12-acre Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution f ...

is located immediately downstream of the bridge. The bridge has five traffic lanes in each direction. The outermost lane in each direction is an entrance/exit-only lane for traffic to/from the

Clara Barton Parkway Clara Barton Parkway is an automobile parkway in the U.S. state of Maryland and the District of Columbia. The highway runs from MacArthur Boulevard in Carderock, Maryland, east to Canal Road at the Chain Bridge in Washington. Clara Barton Park ...

in Maryland and the

George Washington Memorial Parkway The George Washington Memorial Parkway, colloquially the G.W. Parkway, is a 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 ( ...

and Georgetown Pike ( State Route 193) in Virginia. There are no facilities for pedestrians or cyclists, which are prohibited.

History

American Legion Memorial Bridge, Maryland, April 20, 2014

Opened on December 31, 1962, the bridge was originally named the "Cabin John Bridge" because of its proximity to the community of Cabin John on the Maryland side of the Potomac River. The bridge opened without a ceremony due to the cold weather. On May 30, 1969, the bridge was officially renamed the "American Legion Memorial Bridge" in a ceremony led by Lt. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey, director of the U.S. Selective Service System. This action reduced confusion with the

Union Arch Bridge The Union Arch Bridge, also called the "Cabin John Bridge", is a historic masonry structure in Cabin John, Maryland. It was designed as part of the Washington Aqueduct. The bridge construction began in 1857 and was completed in 1864. The roadwa ...

, which carries the

Washington Aqueduct The Washington Aqueduct is an aqueduct that provides the public water supply system serving Washington, D.C., and parts of its suburbs, using water from the Potomac River. One of the first major aqueduct projects in the United States, the Aqueduc ...

and MacArthur Boulevard across

Cabin John Creek Cabin John Creek is a tributary stream of the Potomac River in Montgomery County, Maryland. The watershed covers an area of . The headwaters of the creek originate in the city of Rockville, and the creek flows southward for U.S. Geological Surv ...

and which some people also called "the Cabin John Bridge". The bridge was widened from its original 6-lane configuration to the current 10-lane version by 1992 via a third span filling the median between what was originally two separate spans. The American Legion Memorial Bridge is an important commuter route because of its proximity to

edge cities ''Edge city'' is a term that originated in the United States for a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a traditional downtown or central business district, in what had previously been a suburban residential or ru ...

and

high tech High technology (high tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or the newest te ...

centers in

and

. It is the only high volume crossing between Montgomery County, Maryland and Fairfax County, Virginia, the most populous counties in their respective states. It is also the only major crossing between Maryland and Virginia between the

Point of Rocks Bridge U.S. Route 15 (US 15) is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from Walterboro, South Carolina to Painted Post, New York. In Maryland, the highway runs from the Virginia state line at the Potomac River in Point of Rocks ...

, more than upstream and the

Chain Bridge A chain bridge is a historic form of suspension bridge for which chains or eyebars were used instead of wire ropes to carry the bridge deck. A famous example is the Széchenyi Chain Bridge in Budapest. Construction types are, as for other suspens ...

downstream between the Commonwealth of Virginia and the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. Congestion on the American Legion Bridge and commuter travel between the western Washington suburbs in both states has fueled support for a western bridge around the

Loudoun County Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun C ...

line in Virginia (

Virginia Route 28 State Route 28 (SR 28) in the U.S. state of Virginia is a primary state highway that traverses the counties of Loudoun, Fairfax, Prince William, and Fauquier in the U.S. state of Virginia. The route serves as a major artery in the Northern Vir ...

Fairfax County Parkway The Fairfax County Parkway, numbered State Route 286 (SR 286, formerly SR 7100), is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia, acting as an arterial route in Fairfax County with a mix of interchanges and signalized and ...

area), or farther out as part of the Western Transportation Corridor. Opponents claim that another bridge would increase development in those areas, increase traffic, and generate more pollution in the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

. The bridge crosses the western terminus of the

Potomac Heritage Trail The Potomac Heritage Trail, also known as the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail or the PHT, is a designated National Scenic Trail corridor spanning parts of the mid-Atlantic region of the United States that will connect various trails and hi ...

and the

on the Virginian side of the Potomac River. On the Maryland side, the bridge crosses over

MacArthur Boulevard MacArthur Boulevard may refer to: *MacArthur Boulevard (Washington, D.C.), a road that parallels the C&O Canal in Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland *MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland, California, a major boulevard in Oakland and a histo ...

, the

and the

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal and occasionally called the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River between Washington, D.C. and Cumberland, Maryland. It replaced the Potomac Canal, wh ...

. Lock 13 (Seven Locks 6) of the canal is underneath the bridge. The American Legion Memorial Bridge is one of the two locations at which the Capital Beltway crosses the Potomac River; the other is the

Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge (also known as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge or the Wilson Bridge) is a bascule bridge that spans the Potomac River between the independent city of Alexandria, Virginia, and Oxon Hill in Prince George's County, ...

American Legion Bridge expansion

In September 2017, Maryland Governor

Larry Hogan Lawrence Joseph Hogan Jr. (born May 25, 1956) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 62nd governor of Maryland since 2015. A moderate member of the Republican Party, he was secretary of appointments under Maryland governor Bo ...

announced plans to widen interstate highways I-270 and I-495 (Capital Beltway) with toll-funded express lanes planned, built, and operated through a

public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Review, Public Administ ...

(P3). It was announced on November 12, 2019, that the existing spans will be rebuilt and replaced with a new structure expanding capacity from eight to twelve lanes. On July 10, 2020, the

Maryland Department of Transportation The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) is an organization comprising five business units and one Authority: * Maryland Transportation Authority (Transportation Secretary serves as chairman of the Maryland Transportation Authority) * M ...

(MDOT) released its more than 18,000-page Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the project, which addresses the construction project's impacts on people and the environment. The expansion project would destroy large parts of

, which is located immediately downstream of the bridge. It would destroy or require relocation of the channel that separates the island from the mainland, clear-cut trees, and level a significant portion of the island. The native beech forest on the mainland side would also have to be cut down; wetlands between the mainland and the island would be destroyed, which can lead to a heavy infestation with invasive plants. In August 2022 the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

approved the proposed project. In October 2022 environmental and historic preservation groups filed suit against the state, citing deficiencies in the environmental review process and the projected impacts on Plummers Island. In November 2022 MDOT announced that it would not award a contract for construction of the proposed expansion project until after Governor Hogan has left office in January 2023. Decisions on the project will be made by the administration of newly-elected Governor

Wes Moore Westley Watende Omari Moore (born October 15, 1978) is an American politician, investment banker, author, and television producer. He is the governor-elect of Maryland, after defeating Republican Dan Cox in the 2022 Maryland gubernatorial ele ...

and the

Maryland Board of Public Works The Board of Public Works is a three-member body consisting of the Governor, Comptroller, and Treasurer of the state of Maryland in the United States. It oversees many aspects of the state's finances. History and purpose The board was established ...

References

External links

* * Map and satellite image fro
Eyeball series
{{Crossings navbox , structure = Bridges , place =

, bridge = American Legion Memorial Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream =

, upstream signs = , downstream =

, downstream signs = Cabin John, Maryland Interstate 95 Bridges over the Potomac River Bridges in Montgomery County, Maryland Bridges completed in 1962 Transportation in Fairfax County, Virginia McLean, Virginia Monuments and memorials in Virginia Road bridges in Maryland Road bridges in Virginia Bridges on the Interstate Highway System Potomac, Maryland Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States

History

American Legion Bridge expansion

See also

References

Further reading

External links