Barney Circle
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Barney Circle is a neighborhood in the
southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...
quadrant of
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
It is located between the eastern edge of
Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...
and the west bank of the
Anacostia River The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid-Atlantic states, Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County, Maryland, Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Ch ...
. The neighborhood's name derives from the eponymous former
traffic circle A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...
Pennsylvania Avenue SE just before it crosses the John Philip Sousa Bridge over the Anacostia. The traffic circle is named for Commodore Joshua Barney, Commander of the Chesapeake Bay Flotilla in the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
. As it is east of
Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...
, this neighborhood is also commonly known as Hill East.


Neighborhood

The Barney Circle neighborhood is bounded by L Street SE, Southeast Boulevard SE, 14th Street SE,
East Capitol Street East Capitol Street is a major street that divides the northeast and southeast quadrants of Washington, D.C. It runs due east from the United States Capitol to the DC-Maryland border. The street is uninterrupted until Lincoln Park then cont ...
SE, 22nd Street SE, and Independence Avenue SE. However, many of the residents of the surrounding areas (such as the
Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US president Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, to near Ardmore Avenu ...
and Capitol Hill neighborhoods) consider themselves to live in Barney Circle. The neighborhood's imprecise boundaries may stretch as far north as East Capitol Street, as far south as the Southeast Boulevard, and as far east as D.C. Jail at 19th and D Streets SE.


History

The
Congressional Cemetery The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street in Washington, D.C., in the Hill East neighborhood on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American ...
was established in 1807 and the Eastern Methodist Cemetery operated from 1824 to 1892. Even though the neighborhood now known as Barney Circle was located near the District's Eastern Market and the Navy Yard, the construction of ammunition depots and the Washington Asylum Hospital in the mid-19th century push development southward on Barrack's Row in lieu of eastward on Pennsylvania Avenue SE. The neighborhood known as Barney Circle remained relatively undeveloped and its streets remained unpaved throughout the 19th century. The Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge that connected the neighborhood known as Barney Circle to neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River built until 1890. The neighborhood began to develop in 1902 after Arthur E. Randle won approval from the Congress to lay streetcar tracks across the bridge. The first houses in the core of the neighborhood were built in 1905. The East Washington Heights Traction Railroad was incorporated on June 18, 1898. By 1903 it ran from the Capitol along Pennsylvania Avenue SE to Barney Circle, and by 1908, it went across the
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
to Randle Highlands (now known as Twining) as far as 27th St SE. By 1917 it had been extended out Pennsylvania Avenue past 33rd Street SE., but the company ceased operations by 1923. In 1911 the
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
passed an act "to confirm the name of Commodore Barney Circle", after a local builder presented a paper on Barney to the Columbia Historical Society in 1910. The neighborhood experienced a building boom between 1919 and 1924, when over 70% of its buildings were constructed. At one point, up to 25 percent of the neighborhood was populated by individuals who worked at the Navy Yard. The rowhouses built to serve those blue-collar workers were modest, but comfortable. Most of the single-family brick rowhouses homes have at least two stories, two-three bedrooms, a couple of bathrooms, small yards, and low porches. Earlier developments on Capitol Hill featured homes which were narrow and deep, while the homes in the Barney Circle neighborhood are relatively wide and shallow. These types of homes, an innovation in the first decade of the 20th century, are known as "daylight rowhouses" because each room was lit as much as possible by sunlight coming through windows. The homes in the Barney Circle neighborhood generally are set back from the street at a uniform distance, and have a small front yard and an open-air
porch A porch (; , ) is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance to a building. A porch is placed in front of the façade of a building it commands, and forms a low front. Alternatively, it may be a vestibule (architecture), vestibule (a s ...
. As with most rowhouses, the homes typically have
mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...
s with
dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a Roof pitch, pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the ...
s which provide third-floor sleeping, working, or storage space. Although little of the architecture in the area is outstanding, the neighborhood has retained its historic appearance. Few homeowners have installed modern siding or altered their structure in an ahistoric manner.


Education

DCPS operates four schools that serve the neighborhood, including Eastern High School, Eliot-Hine Middle School, Payne Elementary School and the Capitol Hill Cluster School. The cluster school has three campuses: Stuart-Hobson Middle School, Watkins Elementary School, and Peabody Elementary School. President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
visited Stuart-Hobson in 2011 to commemorate
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., and often referred to shorthand as MLK Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed on the third Monday of January each year. King was the chief spokespers ...
and First Lady
Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...
surprised the students of Watkins in 2016 to promote gardening. The District of Columbia Public Charter School Board operates Friendship Public Charter School in Barney Circle that serves students from pre-K through the eighth grade.


Governance and Administrative Divisions

Barney Circle is located within Ward 6. Charles Allen has represented the neighborhood on the
Council of the District of Columbia The Council of the District of Columbia (or simply D.C. Council) is the legislative branch of the government of the District of Columbia. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state and is overseen ...
since January 2015. The heart of the community is located within Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6B. The core of Barney Circle is zoned in ANC 6B09, and may extend into 6B06, 6B07, 6B08, 6B10, and 7F07.


Culture

The
Congressional Cemetery The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street in Washington, D.C., in the Hill East neighborhood on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American ...
was created in 1807 holds the remains of
Elbridge Gerry Elbridge Gerry ( ; July 17, 1744 – November 23, 1814) was an American Founding Father, merchant, politician, and diplomat who served as the fifth vice president of the United States under President James Madison from 1813 until his death i ...
, a signer of the
Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...
and former
Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
,
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
photographer
Mathew Brady Mathew B. Brady ( – January 15, 1896) was an American photographer. Known as one of the earliest and most famous photographers in American history, he is best known for his scenes of the American Civil War, Civil War. He studied under invento ...
, the "March King"
John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( , ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era known primarily for American military March (music), marches. He is known as "The March King" or th ...
, the former
FBI Director The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a United States federal law enforcement agency, and is responsible for its day-to-day operations. The FBI director is appointed for a ...
, among other famous notables. The revival of the
Congressional Cemetery The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street in Washington, D.C., in the Hill East neighborhood on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American ...
in the early 2000s helped rejuvenate the neighborhood. The Association for the Preservation of Historic Congressional Cemetery manages the cemetery's K9 program, a program that allows 770 dogs the privilege to roam freely over the 35-acre property, as well as the "Rest in Bees" honey and "Notes from the Crypt" chamber music concerts. The cemetery also hosts film screenings and weddings. The announcement to build
Nationals Park Nationals Park is a baseball stadium along the Anacostia River in the Navy Yard (Washington, D.C.), Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals. Since its completion in 2008, it wa ...
in September 2014 in Navy Yard - a thirty-five minute walk from the core of Barney Circle - catalyzed further development in the neighborhood like Trusty's Full-Serve bar. Trusty's has functioned as neighborhood tavern that has operated in Barney Circle since 2005 with a clientele who avidly support the
Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...
and D.C. United. Wisdom, a
gin Gin () is a distilled alcoholic drink flavoured with juniper berries and other botanical ingredients. Gin originated as a medicinal liquor made by monks and alchemists across Europe. The modern gin was modified in Flanders and the Netherlands ...
parlor, opened in 2008 is known for its luxe cocktails and large selection of
absinthe Absinthe (, ) is an anise-flavored Liquor, spirit derived from several plants, including the flowers and leaves of ''Artemisia absinthium'' ("grand wormwood"), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. His ...
. The completion of the pedestrian bridge northwest of the Sousa bridge connected the neighborhood to The Wharf via the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail in the second decade of the 21st century. Barney Circle has three additional common green spaces where residents walk their dogs, practice guerilla gardening, and other beautification efforts: Dennis Dolinger Memorial Park, Commodore Barney Circle itself, and the
Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a primarily diagonal street in Washington, D.C. that connects the United States Capitol with the White House and then crosses northwest Washington, D.C. to Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown. Traveling through So ...
SE median. Neighborhood Restaurant Group is planning to open a "culinary clubhouse", branded as "The Roost" in 2020 that will accommodate over 400 seats. The Roost will include a sundae and frozen shop, "retro German health food", a taco stand, a beer bar, and a cocktail bar that will specialize in cocktails with a low alcohol percentage.
Hill Rag The ''Hill Rag'' is a community newspaper based in Washington, D.C.'s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Founded in October, 1976 it is published monthly in print and dailonline One of the few community newspapers still in print in DC, the ''Hill Rag'' wil ...
, a monthly community newspaper "of record", has reported on developments in and around Barney Circle since 1976. The Seafarers Yacht Club of Washington, DC, was established in 1945 south of the Congressional Cemetery. It is, by some assessments, the oldest
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
boat club on the East Coast.


Transit and transportation

Barney circle is accessible via metro, express bus lines, highways, and
Capital Bikeshare Capital Bikeshare (also abbreviated CaBi) is a bicycle-sharing system that serves Washington, D.C., and certain counties of the Washington metropolitan area, larger metropolitan area. it had 700+ stations and more than 5,400 bicycles. The memb ...
dock. The neighborhood is served by
Potomac Avenue station Potomac Avenue station is an island-platformed Washington Metro station in the Hill East neighborhood of Washington, D.C., U.S.. The station was opened on July 1, 1977, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (W ...
and
Stadium–Armory station Stadium–Armory station is a Washington Metro station in Southeast, Washington, D.C. It is located in the Hill East neighborhood near the border of Barney Circle and Kingman Park. The station was opened on July 1, 1977, and is operated by ...
and the 36 Pennsylvania Avenue busline. The John Philip Sousa Bridge was completed in 1942 and is named after the famed composer and DC native, who had died in 1933.


Traffic circle

Barney Circle was part of the original
L'Enfant Plan The L'Enfant Plan for the city of Washington, D.C. is the urban plan developed in 1791 by Major Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant for George Washington, the first president of the United States. It is regarded as a landmark in urban design and h ...
for the District of Columbia. However, it was designated a square, not a traffic circle, on the city's original plats. In 1867, the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad obtained the rights to the land where Barney Circle would be built for the purpose of building a rail crossing over the Anacostia. This along with reports by the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds (OPB&G) in the 1880s and 1890s that much of the area was under water at high tide, prevented the construction of a circular park as had been planned. By 1903, was constructed as a traffic circle instead, with the name "Pennsylvania Avenue Circle", and Pennsylvania Avenue passing through it to the Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge. On August 19, 1911, President
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...
signed S. 306 into law (Public Law No. 33), formally changing the name of the circle to "Commodore Barney Circle" in honor of Commodore Joshua Barney, though it was sometimes referred to as "Admiral Barney Circle". In 1939, the construction of the downstream span of the new John Philip Sousa Bridge reconfigured Barney Circle
A streetcar turnaround and bus lane
was carved from the center of the circle, and a $7,000 bus and streetcar terminal occupied the western portion of the site. The terminal opened on January 26, 1941, and ceased operation in 1960.


The Inner Loop's effect on Barney Circle

In 1956, federal and regional transportation planners proposed an Inner Loop Expressway composed of three circumferential
beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...
s for the District of Columbia. The innermost beltway would have formed a flattened oval about a mile in radius centered on the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
. The middle beltway would have formed an arc along the northern portion of the city, running from the proposed Barney Circle Freeway (whose terminus would have been near Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium) through Anacostia Park, cutting northwest through the
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...
neighborhood along Mt. Olivet Road NE, following the
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
rail line north to Missouri Avenue NW, along Missouri Avenue NW to Military Road NW, along Military Road NW across
Rock Creek Park Rock Creek Park is a large urban park that bisects the Northwest, Washington, D.C., Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. Created by Act of Congress in 1890, the park comprises 1,754 acres (2.74 mi2, 7.10 km2), generally along Rock Cr ...
to Nebraska Avenue NW, down Nebraska Avenue NW to New Mexico Avenue NW, and down New Mexico Avenue NW and across Glover-Archbold Park until it terminated near 37th Street NW at the north end of Georgetown. As part of this plan, Barney Circle was again rebuilt in 1971, now with freeway ramps leading to the Southeast/Southwest Freeway and the John Philip Sousa Bridge. Two decades of protest led to the cancellation of all but the Interstate 395 and Interstate 695 portions of the plan. The unbuilt portions of the project were finally cancelled in 1977.; ; The failure to complete the Inner Loop left the Sousa Bridge's approaches incomplete and confusing. The bus and streetcar terminal were removed, and Pennsylvania Avenue SE now ran directly through the center of the circle. M Street was disconnected from the circle, and now dead-ended in a roundabout a block east of 12th Street SE. Unmarked Interstate 695 delivered three lanes of traffic to a one-lane on-ramp to the bridge, and traffic backed up for miles every day as a
traffic light Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at intersection (road), road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order t ...
allowed only a few cars onto the bridge's southbound lanes during
rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English, Indian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice e ...
. Four lanes of traffic (two northbound, two southbound) passed beneath the bridge's terminus, dead-ending at a non-existent Inner Loop and connected haphazardly to the northeastern side of the circle. An off-ramp delivered most northbound bridge traffic around the incomplete Barney Circle and under the bridge onto Interstate 695 westbound. A dangerous right-hand turn with no deceleration ramp left local traffic coming to a swift halt to access 17th Street SE — but not Kentucky Avenue SE, which now had to be accessed from local streets. K Street SE now curved north and east around the west side of Barney Circle, and traffic lights on the street caused even more backups both on K Street and on the Sousa Bridge.


Barney Circle Freeway fight

In 1975, federal, regional, and city transportation planners proposed an extension to I-695/Southeast Freeway to be called the "Barney Circle Freeway" to help alleviate the problems created by the failure to complete the Inner Loop. The freeway would extend I-695 past its existing terminus at Barney Circle and travel along the western bank of the Anacostia River (through Anacostia Park) to
East Capitol Street East Capitol Street is a major street that divides the northeast and southeast quadrants of Washington, D.C. It runs due east from the United States Capitol to the DC-Maryland border. The street is uninterrupted until Lincoln Park then cont ...
and Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. A new bridge over the Anacostia River at Burnham Barrier would provide vehicles easy access to the Anacostia Freeway. The Barney Circle Freeway would have delinked Barney Circle from I-695, and reconstructed the on- and off-ramps to Sousa Bridge so that the bridge returned to its traditional function as a local bridge rather than a route for commuters to access the Anacostia Freeway and points east in the state of Maryland. The combined bridge and freeway project was ready for construction to begin in 1981, and its cost was estimated to be $93.5 million. But after protests from residents of Capitol Hill (who feared the Barney Circle Freeway would cause more traffic to flow into the area) as well as
environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...
s, the District of Columbia agreed to reduce the number of lanes on the Barney Circle Freeway to two from four. The protests and legal and regulatory challenges to the proposed freeway did not end, however, and by 1992 the freeway's cost had ballooned to $160 million and it remained unbuilt. By 1993, although costs for the project had increased to $200 million, D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly gave her approval for construction to begin. But construction was delayed yet again when the
Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...
Legal Defense Fund, Anacostia Watershed Society, Committee of 100 on the Federal City, Citizens Committee to Stop It Again, D.C. Federation of Civic Associations,
Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of grassroots environmental organizations in 73 countries. About half of the member groups call themselves "Friends of the Earth" in their own languages; the others use other ...
, Kingman Park Civic Association, the Barney Circle Neighborhood Watch, Urban Protectors, and American Rivers sued to force the city to scale back the freeway even further, add exit ramps at the junction of Pennsylvania Avenue SE and I-695, and alter traffic patterns (e.g., creating more one-way streets) on Capitol Hill.
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 ...
(FHWA) officials agreed in August 1994 to conduct an additional
environmental impact assessment Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental impact, environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the te ...
regarding the project, but later said the assessment's findings did not alter its earlier conclusion that construction of the roadway and bridge project was economically feasible, technologically appropriate, and environmentally sound. However, the D.C. City Council had the final say on whether to proceed with the project or not. In December 1994, the City Council bowed to neighborhood opposition and voted overwhelmingly to reject the project.


Restructuring of Barney Circle

Since the cancellation of the Inner Loop Expressway, motorists wanting to access the
Baltimore–Washington Parkway The Baltimore–Washington Parkway (also referred to as the B–W Parkway) is a controlled-access parkway in the U.S. state of Maryland, running southwest from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. The road begins at an interchange with U.S. Route&n ...
or
U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...
in Maryland (the John Hanson Highway) would often travel Interstate 695 to Barney Circle, wait at the traffic light there, cross the Sousa Bridge, wait at a traffic light on the southwestern terminus of the bridge, and make a left turn against oncoming traffic to access a narrow and dangerous ramp that led to northbound D.C. Route 295 (the Anacostia Freeway). The combination of traffic lights, left turn, and mixing of both through-traffic and local traffic created extensive traffic congestion on the Sousa Bridge during evening
rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English, Indian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice e ...
. In 2009, the
District of Columbia Department of Transportation The District Department of Transportation (DDOT, stylized as d.) is an agency of the government of the District of Columbia, in the United States, which manages and maintains publicly owned transportation infrastructure in the District of Colu ...
(DDOT) began the replacement of the 11th Street Bridges. It closed the westbound segment of Interstate 695 from the 11th Street Bridges to Barney Circle in late November 2012, and the eastbound lanes in early 2013. This portion of was Interstate 695 was subsequently decommissioned, turning roughly five blocks of six-lane highway into city streets from the National Highway System. The unfinished "mixing bowl" exchange on the southern terminus of the 11th Street Bridges was also altered. Local traffic was separated from through-traffic by the construction of a bridge dedicated for local traffic only, and ramps connecting the bridge to D.C. Route 295 were created. Construction of the new ramps began in May 2012, with the ramp from southbound D.C. Route 295 onto the 11th Street Bridge completed in July 2012. The ramp from the bridges to northbound D.C. Route 295 opened on December 19, 2012. These changes removed a significant portion of the traffic using Sousa Bridge, from 50,000 vehicles per day (each way) in 2004 to an estimated 35,000 vehicles per day (each way) in 2030. DDOT also redesigned and rebuilt the ramp from Pennsylvania Avenue SE to northbound D.C. Route 295 to improve its safety. Decommissioned Interstate 695 began to be transformed into a
boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway or wide road in a commercial district. In Europe, boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former ...
named "Southeast Boulevard". The reconstruction project, estimated to take 18 to 24 months, raised the roadway to bring it level with the grade of the surrounding streets. The six-lane former highway began to be turned into a four-lane grand boulevard with a landscaped
median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...
and pedestrian nature trail. Southeast Boulevard was designed to link Barney Circle to 11th Street SE. In 2013, DDOT published plans to reconfigure Barney Circle. Priorities for the project included improving and restoring access to neighborhood streets, and adding pedestrian and bicycle connectivity to local streets and the Anacostia River waterfront. DDOT also began exploring whether to connect Southeast Boulevard to 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th Streets SE. By 2014, DDOT's plan involved possible reconstructing of Barney Circle into an intermodal transportation hub as well. DDOT planners said that construction on this project might begin as early as 2016, but as of 2017 no work is planned.


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{Authority control Neighborhoods in Southeast (Washington, D.C.) Pennsylvania Avenue Squares, plazas, and circles in Washington, D.C. Streets in Washington, D.C.