The Northeast Freeway was a planned freeway in
Prince George's County, Maryland
)
, demonym = Prince Georgian
, ZIP codes = 20607–20774
, area codes = 240, 301
, founded date = April 23
, founded year = 1696
, named for = Prince George of Denmark
, leader_title = Executive
, leader_name = Angela D. Alsobroo ...
that would have run from the
North Central Freeway
The North Central Freeway was a planned freeway in the District of Columbia that would have run from the Inner Loop in D.C. to the Capital Beltway (I-495) at Silver Spring.
The entire route was canceled in 1977 amid vitriolic protest from Washi ...
in 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, ...
northeast to the
College Park Interchange
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 t ...
on the
Capital Beltway (I-495). The route would have carried
Interstate 95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...
from the Capital Beltway into 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, ...
.
The entire route was canceled in 1977 after the government of the District of Columbia canceled the
North Central Freeway
The North Central Freeway was a planned freeway in the District of Columbia that would have run from the Inner Loop in D.C. to the Capital Beltway (I-495) at Silver Spring.
The entire route was canceled in 1977 amid vitriolic protest from Washi ...
, cutting off the southern end of the Northeast Freeway from the D.C. freeway network. The cancellation of the route led to the truncation of
Interstate 95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...
at the
College Park Interchange
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 t ...
and its subsequent rerouting onto the eastern half of the
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 ...
. The completed portion of I-95 that ran from downtown Washington to the
Springfield Interchange
The Springfield Interchange, also known as the Mixing Bowl, is the interchange of Interstate 95, Interstate 395, and Interstate 495 in Springfield, Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C. The interchange is located at exit 57 on the Capital Beltwa ...
in Virginia is now designated as
I-395 Interstate 395 may refer to:
*Interstate 395 (Connecticut–Massachusetts), a spur from I-95 to Auburn, Massachusetts
*Interstate 395 (Delaware), a proposed portion of I-95 in Delaware, when it was under construction
*Interstate 395 (Florida), a spu ...
. The stub end of I-95 south of the College Park Interchange in Maryland was converted into a
Park & Ride
A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system (rap ...
lot in 1986, and a new flyover ramp was constructed for the southbound direction to allow a seamless merge with eastbound I-495.
Route description
As proposed in the 1971 D.C. Interstate System program, the Northeast Freeway, eight lanes wide, would have separated from the
North Central Freeway
The North Central Freeway was a planned freeway in the District of Columbia that would have run from the Inner Loop in D.C. to the Capital Beltway (I-495) at Silver Spring.
The entire route was canceled in 1977 amid vitriolic protest from Washi ...
south of
Takoma Park, Washington, D.C., running northeast out of the District in the vicinity of New Hampshire Avenue. Exiting the District, it would have merged with the
Pepco
The Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO) is an American utility company that supplies electric power to the city of Washington, D.C. and to surrounding communities in Maryland. It is owned by Exelon.
The company's current trademarked slogan i ...
power line corridor and run straight northeast, crossing
Northwest Branch Park
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
in the outer suburban area. (A portion of the current I-95 route parallels the Pepco power line corridor from I-495 to the Old Gunpowder Road overpass, just past Exit 29.) The route would have merged with the
College Park Interchange
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 t ...
on the Capital Beltway, joining the segment of I-95 completed in 1971, continuing it northeast to
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
.
History
1963-64 North Central Freeway Study
In a series of proposals published in 1963 and 1964, the subsequent study of the
North Central Freeway
The North Central Freeway was a planned freeway in the District of Columbia that would have run from the Inner Loop in D.C. to the Capital Beltway (I-495) at Silver Spring.
The entire route was canceled in 1977 amid vitriolic protest from Washi ...
and Northeast Freeway indirectly ignored the earlier suggestions regarding the use of the
B&O railroad corridor; instead, no less than 17 separate alignments were proposed, many of which did not make much use of the railroad alignment.
One important aspect of the study was the consideration of a consolidated route, where the North Central Freeway and Northeast Freeway would join together into a single freeway that would then run south to the
Inner Loop Inner loop may refer to:
*Inner loop in computer programs
*Inner Loop (Phoenix), a section of Interstate 10 in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, United States
*Inner Loop (Rochester), an expressway around downtown Rochester, New York, United States
* Inne ...
. Many different alignments, including ones paralleling Georgia Avenue and Sherman Avenue through northern D.C., were considered as part of a consolidated routing of the North Central Freeway south of the Northeast Freeway.
[Willinger, Douglas]
''A Trip Within the Beltway:'' 1963-64 North Central Freeway Study
URL accessed 13:33, 13 February 2007.
This study stated that the Northeast Freeway should enter D.C. between Gallatin St. and Galloway St., in the vicinity of
Michigan Park, where it would run west for 3/4 mile through
Fort Drive Circle Park before intercepting the B&O corridor near
Fort Totten, Washington, D.C. This plan,a major departure from the 1960 route, was adopted to ensure that the route followed the right-of-way of the circumferential
Fort Drive Parkway, thus addressing the complaints of local residents, while conforming with the state of Maryland's plans to run the Northeast Freeway through
Northwest Branch Park
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
. The study elucidated three separate options that could be followed once the route reached Fort Totten:
*a route extending west of the B&O railroad to meet a North Central Freeway routed via Georgia Avenue and Sherman Avenue
*a route that would turn south along the railroad and parallel a separately-routed North Central Freeway
*a route that would combine with a North Central Freeway routed via the railroad corridor
The last option was the option recommended by the study.
1966 North Central Freeway Supplementary Study
The enormous opposition to the 1964 and 1965 alignments for the North Central Freeway led to a supplementary study being conducted in 1966 that affected the routing of the Northeast Freeway.
As noted above, the Northeast Freeway (I-95) was to enter the District via the Fort Drive route. The 1966 plans included several changes to the junction with the North Central Freeway; one lane per carriageway from I-95 would connect with ramps to and from North Capitol Street, while the remaining three lanes per carriageway would join with the six-lane North Central Freeway. 'Round-the-corner' connections between I-95 south and I-70S north, and between I-70S south and I-95 north, were also removed from the junction in the 1966 study. Otherwise, few modifications were made to the routing of the Northeast Freeway.
[Willinger, Douglas]
''A Trip Within the Beltway'': 1966 North Central Freeway Supplemental Study
URL accessed 15:15, 8 February 2007.
1971 De Leuw-Weese Study
In 1971, a study released by De Leuw-Weese defined a new route for the Northeast Freeway that had a significantly lower impact on surrounding neighborhoods. I-95 was planned as an eight-lane freeway within a right-of-way; it would have run entirely within the
Pepco
The Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO) is an American utility company that supplies electric power to the city of Washington, D.C. and to surrounding communities in Maryland. It is owned by Exelon.
The company's current trademarked slogan i ...
power line corridor, and would have entered D.C. in the vicinity of New Hampshire Avenue, following it for in a depressed roadway configuration, before burrowing beneath it to join and parallel the B&O railroad corridor. The median of this route was planned as a transit right-of-way; the transit line was later built as the
WMATA
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States Con ...
Green Line
Green Line may refer to:
Places Military and political
* Green Line (France), the German occupation line in France during World War II
* Green Line (Israel), the 1949 armistice line established between Israel and its neighbours
** City Line ( ...
.
[Willinger, Douglas]
''A Trip Within the Beltway'': 1971 DeLeuw
URL accessed 15:28, 8 February 2007.
The study described this routing as superior to previous routings, especially in terms of cost and complexity of construction. The study concluded that the route as proposed, between the Union Station interchange and the
College Park Interchange
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 t ...
(thus including the connecting segment of the
North Central Freeway
The North Central Freeway was a planned freeway in the District of Columbia that would have run from the Inner Loop in D.C. to the Capital Beltway (I-495) at Silver Spring.
The entire route was canceled in 1977 amid vitriolic protest from Washi ...
), would have been in length, cost only $176 million to construct, and would have displaced a maximum of 59 homes in the District and 110 in Maryland, with most of the displacements a result of expansive interchange design.
[Willinger, Douglas]
''A Trip Within the Beltway'': 1971: PEPCO I-95 Conceptualization
URL accessed 14:37, 8 February 2007.
1973 Pepco Route
In 1973, this routing was adopted by the
Maryland State Highway Administration
The Maryland State Highway Administration (abbreviated MDOT SHA or simply SHA) is the state transportation business unit responsible for maintaining Maryland's numbered highways outside Baltimore City. Formed originally under authority of the Ge ...
for official study. However, this routing was modified somewhat from the 1971 plan; the Northeast Freeway segment was narrowed to six lanes, in a 2-2-2 configuration with a center reversible roadway. It would have crossed
Northwest Branch Park
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
in a
cut-and-cover
A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube constr ...
tunnel, and the burrowed crossing of New Hampshire Avenue in Maryland next to the southern end of the Pepco route linking the Northeast Freeway with the North Central Freeway was replaced with an elevated, sharply curved crossing with a design speed (the remainder of the route would be 70 mph), necessitated by the challenging topography of the area and the need to avoid rebuilding the Pepco substation. The segment along New Hampshire Avenue would have been depressed, with no apparent consideration for a cut and cover segment either in Maryland for new retail development, nor in Washington, D.C., such as for preserving the dignity of the Eastern Star Masonic Home property. This version of the Northeast Freeway would have had only three interchanges at Adelphi Road, University Boulevard (
MD 193) and East–West Highway (
MD 410).
The routing as proposed by MDOT SHA would have been in length, avoided the wholesale destruction of portions of Northwest Branch Park, and displaced a significantly fewer number of homes — only 25 in D.C., and zero in Maryland, mainly due to less expansive interchange designs. However, the 2-2-2 configuration would have resulted in a minimum 25% capacity reduction compared to a 4-4 configuration, though been virtually as wide owing to the extra shoulders from the median carriageway.
See also
*
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 ...
*
North Central Freeway
The North Central Freeway was a planned freeway in the District of Columbia that would have run from the Inner Loop in D.C. to the Capital Beltway (I-495) at Silver Spring.
The entire route was canceled in 1977 amid vitriolic protest from Washi ...
*
Inner Loop (Washington, D.C.)
References
External links
''Roads to the Future'': Washington D.C. Interstates and Freeways{dead link, date=February 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
Interstate 95
Roads in Washington, D.C.
Cancelled highway projects in the United States
Freeways in the United States