U.S. Route 29 in the District of Columbia

File:Whitehurst Freeway.jpg

From Virginia, US 29 enters the District of Columbia on the Key Bridge. It then bypasses Georgetown on the Whitehurst Freeway, an elevated highway over K Street Northwest and Water Street Northwest. After crossing the K Street Bridge, US 29 then travels along K Street Northwest through Downtown. From K Street, US 29 turns left at 11th Street Northwest, then right at Rhode Island Avenue Northwest. US 29 northbound turns left at 6th Street Northwest, then left again onto Florida Avenue Northwest before turning right onto Georgia Avenue Northwest. US 29 southbound traffic on Georgia Avenue continues straight at Florida Avenue, where Georgia Avenue becomes 7th Street Northwest, then turns right at Rhode Island Avenue Northwest. US 29 follows Georgia Avenue Northwest out of DC and into Maryland.

File:2016-10-02 10 48 24 View south along U.S. Route 29 (Georgia Avenue NW) at Quackenbos Street NW in Washington, D.C..jpg

US 29 has taken several routes through D.C. over the decades, including segments along New Hampshire Avenue NW, Dupont Circle, 16th Street Northwest, and Alaska Avenue NW.{{citation needed|date=February 2013}}

Before the Whitehurst Freeway was built, the Georgetown waterfront experienced periods of prosperity and decline.{{cite web |url= http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc15.htm |title= Georgetown Historic District |work= National Register of Historic Places |publisher= National Park Service |access-date= July 17, 2009 |archive-date= May 31, 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090531051131/http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc15.htm |url-status= live }} The freeway was seen as a component of what would eventually be the "Inner Loop", a system of three concentric high-speed freeways. The Whitehurst Freeway would form part of the innermost loop, which was an ellipse roughly centered on and built about {{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in}} from the White House.{{cite book |last= Bednar |first= Michael |title= L' Enfant's Legacy: Public Open Spaces in Washington, D.C. |location= Baltimore |publisher= Johns Hopkins University Press |year= 2006 |page= 23}} (By the 1950s, planners envisioned replacing the Whitehurst Freeway with a much more massive, eight-lane road.){{cite book |last1= Gutheim |first1= Frederick A. |last2= Lee |first2= Antoinette J. |name-list-style= amp |title= Worthy of the Nation: Washington, D.C., From L'Enfant to the National Capital Planning Commission |location= Baltimore |publisher= Johns Hopkins University Press |year= 2006 |page= 335}} Planning for a "sky-road" above K Street Northwest along the Georgetown waterfront was already long-planned by the time architectural drawings were released to the public in December 1941.{{cite news |last= Wentworth |first= Howard F. |title= Work to Begin Next Spring On Washington's 'Sky-Road' |newspaper= Washington Post |date= December 5, 1941|page=12}} Congress authorized construction of the freeway on January 24, 1942,{{cite news |title= Revised Road Program for D.C. Approved |newspaper= Washington Post |date= January 25, 1942|page=13}} and appropriated $2.2 million (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US-GDP|2200000|1942}}}} in {{Inflation/year|index=US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|index=US-GDP}}) of federal funds for its construction on February 6.{{cite news |title= U.S. to Pay 2/3 of 4 D.C. Highways |newspaper= Washington Post |date= February 7, 1942 |page=13}} But, with the outbreak of World War II and the diversion of steel for war material, construction of the freeway was indefinitely postponed in May 1942.{{cite news |title=Temporary Buildings to Last Only for War Desired by Kutz; Hopes for Elevated Highway |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1942-05-26/ed-1/seq-28/ |newspaper=Washington Evening Star |date=May 26, 1942 |at=p. B-7 col 1 |access-date=April 28, 2023 |archive-date=April 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428060015/https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1942-05-26/ed-1/seq-28/ |url-status=live }} Gas rationing during the war caused the number of automobiles on roads to drop precipitously, helping to make the freeway unnecessary.{{cite news |title= Men, Material For Expansion Needs Lacking |newspaper= Washington Post |date= January 12, 1943|page=5}} Planning for postwar construction did not cease during the war, however. In May 1943, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts approved a plan for postwar construction in Washington that gave a high priority to the K Street freeway in fiscal 1947 (which began in July 1946).{{cite news |last= Young |first= Roger |title= D.C. Engineers Map 30-Million Postwar Work |newspaper= Washington Post |date= May 23, 1943|page=14}}

Construction of the $3.294-million (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US-GDP|3294000|1949}}}} in {{Inflation/year|index=US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|index=US-GDP}}) freeway began on June 1, 1947. The structure was built by engineer Archibald Alexander.{{cite web |url= http://www.dcroads.net/roads/whitehurst/ |first= Steve |last= Anderson |work= DC Roads |title= Whitehurst Freeway (US 29) |publisher= Self-published |access-date= July 17, 2009 |archive-date= September 13, 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090913072755/http://www.dcroads.net/roads/whitehurst/ |url-status= live }}{{verify credibility|failed=y|date= December 2013}} The Des Moines, Iowa, firm of Alexander & Repass successfully bid to construct the viaduct. The cost of the freeway was split between the DC and federal governments, with cost overruns to be paid from DC reserves."K Street Highway Costs Up 22 Pct.; Job Starts June 1." Washington Post. April 12, 1947. p. 2 Extra federal funds were procured in the fiscal 1949 budget to speed its construction.{{cite news |title= Highway Budget Includes Funds to Speed 3 Projects |newspaper= Washington Post |date= September 25, 1947|page=15}} Construction of the freeway required the demolition of the Key House at 3516 M Street Northwest. Although efforts to have the home dismantled rather than demolished were successful, President Harry S. Truman declined to expend federal funds to have the home rebuilt elsewhere, and the structure went into storage.{{cite news |last= Andrews |first= Dorothea |title= President Kills Rebuilding of Francis Scott Key House |newspaper= Washington Post |date= June 29, 1948|page=B1}}{{efn|The structure had been radically changed since it was owned by Francis Scott Key, and its historic value has been contested by the National Park Service (NPS). Nonetheless, the NPS lost track of the dismantled structure by 1981. An NPS investigation discovered the building materials were stolen by local residents, and what remained had been disposed of informally after 1948.{{cite news |last= Zito |first= Tom |title= The Case of the Lost Landmark: What So Proudly They Nailed is Gone |newspaper= Washington Post |date= May 13, 1981|page=B1}}{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/rocr/fsk_house.pdf |last=Mackintosh |first=Barry |title=The Loss of the Francis Scott Key House: Was It Really? |publisher=National Park Service |date=July 1981 |access-date=February 22, 2024 |archive-date=November 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112234200/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/rocr/fsk_house.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cbignore}}}}

Herbert C. Whitehurst, director of the DC highway department, died on September 1, 1948.{{cite news |title= Herbert C. Whitehurst |work= Washington Evening Star |date= September 2, 1958 |page= 1 |url= http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/HistArchive/?p_product=EANX-NB&p_theme=ahnp&p_nbid=G5DI5ABPMTQxMzIxMzYzMy45ODIxMzM6MTo3OnJhLTk2NjY&p_action=doc&s_lastnonissuequeryname=9&d_viewref=search&p_queryname=9&p_docnum=8&p_docref=v2:13D5DA85AE05A305@EANX-NB-14859A4FD10B0D9E@2432797-14854E86D991157F@11-14868039B736A4C0@ }} A week later, his successor, Gordon R. Young, suggested that the then-under construction freeway should be named for him, in honor of his leadership in constructing many highway and bridges,{{cite news |title= K Street Highway Will Be Named for Whitehurst |work= Washington Evening Star |date= September 9, 1948 |page= 1 |url= http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/HistArchive/?p_product=EANX-NB&p_theme=ahnp&p_nbid=G5DI5ABPMTQxMzIxMzYzMy45ODIxMzM6MTo3OnJhLTk2NjY&p_action=doc&s_lastnonissuequeryname=6&d_viewref=search&p_queryname=6&p_docnum=1&p_docref=v2:13D5DA85AE05A305@EANX-NB-1485A1243758671D@2432804-14854E8F1CDFC036@0-1486821B73CF0FC0@ }} including the new Chain Bridge; the Dupont, Scott, and Thomas Circle underpasses; the Fourteenth Street Bridge; the Calvert Street Bridge; and the Klingle Street Bridge.{{cite news |title= Whitehurst Freeway is Opened to Traffic After Ceremonies |work= Washington Evening Star |page= 1 |url= http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/HistArchive/?p_product=EANX-NB&p_theme=ahnp&p_nbid=G5DI5ABPMTQxMzIxMzYzMy45ODIxMzM6MTo3OnJhLTk2NjY&p_action=doc&s_lastnonissuequeryname=9&d_viewref=search&p_queryname=9&p_docnum=10&toc=true&p_docref=v2:13D5DA85AE05A305@EANX-NB-14854E1FC68E1245@2433199-1485343BF537316C@0 }} The Commissioners of the District of Columbia approved naming the freeway after Whitehurst.

The Whitehurst Freeway opened on October 8, 1949. Whitehurst's granddaughter Maria cut the ceremonial ribbon during the opening ceremonies.

File:Whitehurst Freeway and Waterfront Center.jpg as seen from Georgetown Waterfront Park]]

Demolition of the Whitehurst Freeway was first proposed in 1970. A report commissioned by the National Capital Planning Commission and the Georgetown Citizens' Association said the freeway blocked vistas, inhibited development of the waterfront, was poorly engineered, and caused traffic backups at both of its ends. The report urged the city to bury the freeway in an enclosed trench and sell the air rights above it to developers or use it as parkland.{{cite news |last= Weil |first= Martin |title= New Plan Urged for Riverfront |newspaper= Washington Post |date= December 22, 1970 |page=A19}} But in 1977, DC director of municipal planning Ben Gilbert claimed that the Whitehurst Freeway's "removal is not practical in the near future and maybe never".{{cite news |last= Conroy |first= Sarah Booth |title= Georgetown Waterfront Plans |newspaper= Washington Post |date= January 8, 1977|page=C1}}

In 1985, DC Mayor Marion Barry said he wanted to retain the Whitehurst Freeway.

File:2016-10-02 07 29 06 View west along K Street NW at Thomas Jefferson Street NW, directly underneath U.S. Route 29 (Whitehurst Freeway) in Washington, D.C..jpg

City public works officials implemented a $47-million (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US-GDP|47000000|1989}}}} in {{Inflation/year|index=US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|index=US-GDP}}) rehabilitation of the Whitehurst Freeway in 1989. The year-long construction project, which would be 80 percent paid for by the federal government and take more than a year to complete, added shoulders to the freeway that widened it to {{convert|60|ft|m}} from {{convert|52|ft|m}}, replaced the entire deck, added drains, and improved the lighting. Officials also sandblasted rust and old paint from the understructure and repainted it. A westbound ramp used to access the Key Bridge was also eliminated, and replaced with a new traffic route that required motorists to go to Canal Road Northwest/M Street Northwest, wait for the traffic light, and turn east to access the Key Bridge. Two unused ramps at the eastern end of Whitehurst Freeway were also demolished. (The ramps were built to connect the freeway to the proposed Inner Loop, but that project was never constructed.) Prior to the rehabilitation, city officials studied the feasibility and cost of either burying the freeway in a tunnel or widening K Street Northwest into a much larger boulevard. Cost considerations (one cost estimate for the tunnel was $400 million, equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US-GDP|400000000|1990}}}} in {{Inflation/year|index=US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|index=US-GDP}}) and the inability to connect the tunnel or boulevard to the Key Bridge far above it ruled out both options. Construction on the renovation began in December 1990.{{cite news |last= Fehr |first= Stephen C. |title= Boulevard Backers Back |newspaper= Washington Post |date= September 9, 1991|page=D6}}

In 1991, with refurbishment of the Whitehurst Freeway about 40 percent complete, Georgetown residents asked the new mayor, Sharon Pratt, to reverse the Barry administration's decision and tear down the Whitehurst Freeway. Pratt declined to do so.

In 2007, DC Mayor Adrian Fenty halted plans for an environmental impact study for the proposed demolition, stating that his administration is "not going to be spending money on this particular issue. You do not have to worry."{{cite news |title= Mayor Freezes Study on Whitehurst Future |work= The Northwest Current |date= July 4, 2007}}{{page needed|date= December 2013}}

In 1960, the District Department of Transportation proposed construction of a new Potomac River Freeway. The Whitehurst Freeway and portion of US 29 carried by it would be redesignated as the Potomac River Freeway. The new parkway would be built on top of Canal Road Northwest and extend to the Georgetown Reservoir, where it would connect to the George Washington Memorial Parkway (called the Clara Barton Parkway after 1989). A proposed spur of the Potomac River Freeway, designated Interstate 266 (I-266), would begin at the junction of the Potomac River Freeway and Foxhall Road Northwest and be carried over a proposed Three Sisters Bridge to Virginia. There it would connect (via an as-yet-undefined route) with I-66.{{cite book |last= Schrag |first= Zachary M. |title= The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro |url= https://archive.org/details/greatsocietysubw00schr |url-access= limited |location= Baltimore |publisher= Johns Hopkins University Press |year= 2006 |page= [https://archive.org/details/greatsocietysubw00schr/page/n138 120]}}

The entire route is in Washington, D.C.

{{jcttop|state=DC|county=none|hatnote=off|length_ref=}}

{{DCint

|location=none

|lspan=2

|mile=0.0

|road={{jct|state=VA|US|29|dir1=south|city1=Rosslyn}}

|notes=Continuation into Virginia

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{{jctbridge

|mile=0.1

|bridge=Key Bridge

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{{DCint

|location=Georgetown

|mile=0.3

|road=M Street NW

|notes=Western terminus of Whitehurst Freeway

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{{DCint

|location1=Georgetown

|location2=Foggy Bottom

|mile=0.8

|type=incomplete

|road={{jct|state=DC|I|66|dir1=west|toroad=yes|road|E Street Expressway|location1=Kennedy Center}}

|notes=Northbound exit and southbound entrance; eastern terminus of I-66}}

{{DCint

|location=Foggy Bottom

|lspan=3

|mile=0.9

|type=incomplete

|road={{jct|state=DC|road|Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway north / 27th Street NW|to1=to|I|66|dir1=west}}

|notes=No northbound access to Rock Creek Parkway; eastern terminus of Whitehurst Freeway

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{{DCint

|mile=1.0

|type=incomplete

|road=K Street NW west

|notes=Southbound exit and northbound entrance

}}

{{jctbridge

|mile=1.3

|bridge=Tunnel underneath Washington Circle

|notes=Service roads provide access to the circle

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{{DCint

|location=Shaw

|mile=3.1

|road={{jct|state=DC|US|1|name1=Rhode Island Avenue NW east / 6th Street NW south}}

|notes=US 29 transitions between Rhode Island Avenue and 6th Street

}}

{{DCint

|location=Shepherd Park

|mile=8.6

|road={{jct|state=MD|US|29|dir1=north|name1=Georgia Avenue|road|Eastern Avenue NW}}

|notes=Continuation into Maryland

}}

{{jctbtm|keys=incomplete}}

{{Noteslist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|U.S. Route 29 in the District of Columbia}}

{{Attached KML|display=title,inline}}

• [http://www.georgetowndc.com/site_media/pdf/WHF_Draft_Existing_Conditions_Report.pdf District of Columbia Department of Transportation. Whitehurst Freeway Deconstruction Feasibility Study. October 2005.]

{{state detail page browse|type=US|route=29|state=District of Columbia|statebefore=Virginia|stateafter=Maryland}}

{{Georgetown, Washington, D.C.}}

29

District of Columbia

Category:Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)