Re: Airports Authority Might Adopt Dulles Rail Project

"Dick Boyd" <dickboyd@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> This is more anecdotal than historically documented. When the Airport
> Authority was in the formative stages, I-595 was being constructed to
> National Airport. Land had been condemned and purchased by VDOT. People
> in Arlington did not want the elevated highway and got an injunction
> against the use of the land for any transportation purpose.

A compromise was reached whereby a smaller-scale highway upgrade was
built. The original US-1 through Crystal City was a 4-lane undivided
highway.

Much of I-595 would have been an 8-lane elevated freeway on an
embankment with concrete retaining walls, elevated high enough to pass
over crossing streets. The continuing rapid growth of Crystal City to
the west of US-1 had brought the original plan into question, since it
would be then seen as a barrier dividing Crystal City. A new plan was
devised that provided a mostly-at-grade US-1 6-lane boulevard, with two
grade separations, one interchange, and two at-grade intersections.
This provided a US-1 freeway with full control of access from I-395 (old
I-95) to 0.7 mile south at 20th Street, and at-grade limited access for
another 0.6 mile. The project continued as a 6-lane arterial for
another 0.5 mile, to south of Glebe Road, including a widened bridge
over Four Mile Run. This was constructed with Interstate substitution
funds and completed in mid-1988.

http://www.roadstothefuture.com/DC_Interstate_Fwy.html

--
Scott M. Kozel Highway and Transportation History Websites
Virginia/Maryland/Washington, D.C. http://www.roadstothefuture.com
Philadelphia and Delaware Valley http://www.pennways.com
.