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George Washington Memorial Parkway
Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C.
A TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE OF PARKWAY DESIGN
Like its predecessor, George Washington Memorial Parkway was heralded as a model for state-of-the-art parkway design. While Mount Vernon Memorial Highway was built for motorists traveling at 35-45 mph, postwar parkway designers calculated for speeds of 50-60 mph.
Donaldson Run Bridge, 1994 (HABS/Boucher) |
Postwar sections have longer, more sweeping curves, continuous safety medians, and soaring concrete bridges spanning the steep ravines of the Potomac Palisades. Access was even more strictly controlled through cloverleafs and bridges. Variable-width medians and different alignments for north- and southbound traffic allowed designers to fit the parkway more closely to the terrain and helped preserve attractive natural scenery. The area north of Key Bridge was considered one of the best examples of postwar parkway design. Images of this stretch appeared in numerous highway engineering textbooks.
Looking North from Key Bridge, 1953 (NARA) |
Reconstruction near Spout Run 1993 (HAER/Davis) |
CHANGE AND CONTINUITY
George Washington Memorial Parkway retains its original character to a considerable degree, but it has undergone a number of changes to accommodate shifting public demands and growing traffic burdens.
The construction of National Airport required a major relocation of the original Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, which passed near the site of today's Metro station. The section between the airport and I-395 was later expanded to six lanes to accommodate increased traffic. Traffic concerns also forced parkway officials to update the circulation pattern on Columbia Island and, most recently, to widen the parkway between Spout Run and Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Bridge. The National Park Service's concern for maintaining the parkway's visual character can be seen in the hand-laid stone facings on the extensive concrete guard walls required by modern safety regulations.
Stone-covered concrete guardwall, 1993 (HAER/Davis) |
| Introduction | Acadia | Blue Ridge Parkway | Colonial Parkway | Generals Highway | George Washington Memorial Parkway | Great Smoky Mountains | Mount Rainier | Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway | Shenandoah's Skyline Drive | Southwest Circle Tour | Vicksburg | Yellowstone | Yosemite | Discover History |
