A hidden route, unhidden

Most of my regular readers are probably aware of DDOT's 11th St Bridge project, which is replacing the existing 11th Street Bridge over the Anacostia with three new bridges...one for each direction of freeway and a new local bridge that'll link 11th St SE with Martin Luther King Ave SE.

A few of you may know that the Southeast Freeway between the 3rd St Tunnel (I-395) and the 11th St Bridge has carried a hidden Interstate designation: I-695. As part of the 11th St Bridge project, DDOT requested in 2009 to truncate I-295 (which had crossed the bridge, the ramp connections above M St SE that were taken out last year, and extended to Barney Circle) to Anacostia and extend I-695 across the 11th St Bridge.

This past weekend, I found visual proof that DDOT intends to at least partially sign I-695:



This is quite likely the first I-695 shield in DC in 40 years, if not ever. I-695 was originally slated to follow both the Southeast Freeway and also the cancelled "West Leg" of the core freeway system, from I-395 at Maine Ave northwest to I-66 near the Roosevelt Bridge. Though it's possible that the covered panel here may have had an I-695 shield at one point, it's hard to say for sure.

Corridor H field check/update

After doing some hiking in western Maryland on Sunday (to the highest point in Maryland, amongst other places), I headed home via the Corridor H area. Below is a field-check of the construction projects along the corridor, generally from west to east.

- Earthmoving and grading is now underway on either side of WV 93 north of Scherr, extending east to CR 1. No bridgework yet at either WV 93 or CR 1.

- Grading and the sole bridge (over CR 1) for the WV 93 connector appears to be complete. No paving operations.

- Unrelated to Corridor H, but in the Scherr vicinity, WVDOT is replacing a bridge on WV 42 just south of the WV 93 junction. The WV 42/93 junction is closed as a result. The detour uses Scherr Rd to cut the corner over to WV 93 (which is now an all-way stop), then CR 42/14 to get back to WV 42 south of the bridge. CR 42/14 has been repaved as a result, but there's a bridge on the road where "truck/buses cross one at a time".

- Grading is complete for the stretch that parallels CR 1 north of Greenland.

- Two fairly tall bridges are underway in the Greenland vicinity. One basically over Greenland itself (and the east-west portion of CR 1), and another about a half-mile or so to the north, over the north-south portion of CR 1. Bridge deck is being built for the former...most (but not all) of the I-beams are in place for the latter.

- Further south, earthmoving/grading has begun for the segment west of CR 3/Knobley Rd which passes through the gap in Knobly Mtn that the Middle Fork of Patterson Creek passes through. No bridgework yet at CR 3.

- As reported on various road groups in the past, grading is complete between CR 3 and CR 5/Patterson Creek Rd.

- I can confirm now that the junction with CR 5 at Forman will be a folded-diamond interchange, with the ramps folded to the west. The bridge on CR 5 over Corridor H is complete and open to traffic, and paving in this area is more or less complete, even including lane striping on Corridor H in the interchange vicinity.

- Paving is well underway between CR 5 and the Potomac River. The mainline lanes are being paved on concrete, and it appears that the shoulders between CR 5 and Fish Pond Rd (CR 220/8) will also be concrete. Between Fish Pond Rd and the Potomac, too early to tell whether the shoulders will be concrete or asphalt. Side road and ramp connections (as well as the whole interchange at CR 5) will be asphalt.

- Unrelated to Corridor H, but along CR 2/Old Fields Rd on the east side of Patterson Creek Mtn is a side road named "Never Ending Drive".

- Also as reported in the past, the bridge over the South Branch of the Potomac River is complete, as is the short segment between the bridge and the US 220/WV 28 interchange. The short segment also has signage posted. And thanks to a zoom lens, I can confirm that there's a US 48 reassurance shield posted westbound just before the bridge, as well as a distance sign showing mileage to Bismark, Davis, and Elkins.

A few WWB-related notes

As a few of you may know, I live very close to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge (I-95/I-495/DC Beltway across the Potomac). I've been more or less watching the progress on the bridge project, and the related interchange and Beltway reconstruction projects on either end, since I moved here. Especially since I use the WWB every day on my commute. It's been neat to watch the progress on both the bridge (seeing the new Thru Lanes open back in December) and the approaches on either end (moreso on the Virginia side, as most of the Maryland-side ramps were already built when I moved here).

Anyway, here's a few notes from over the past week:

A few items of note lately with the projects related to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge:

- Early last week (around Monday the 11th, give or take a day), the ramp from SB US 1 to the Outer Loop Thru Lanes opened.

- Around that same time, the configuration of the Outer Loop Local Lanes was changed slightly, to where the 3rd lane going across the bridge begins with the on-ramp from NB US 1. Not sure if this is a temporary or permanent setup...it looks temporary given that the right shoulder at that merge point (NB US 1 ramp onto the Local Lanes) is blocked off for some sort of work.

- On Friday, the right lane on NB US 1, before the ramp to access the Beltway, was reopened. It had been closed for the past 2 months.

- The new ramps from the Outer Loop to Telegraph Rd/Kings Hwy/Huntington Ave are progressing nicely. Paving of the approaches is now underway as well. According to the project website, these ramps are supposed to open by the end of this month (and will make my drive home from Springfield or points west a little easier).

- Permanent pavement and striping is in progress in some areas (except for the Thru Lanes themselves, most road surfaces through the project area have been old pavement/temproary pavement/base pavement, and not the permanent top layer). Areas that have had permanent pavement and striping added lately include the loop ramp from the Inner Loop to SB US 1, the Inner Loop just prior to the Thru/Local Lanes split (east of MD 210). Judging from the bridge-approach milling I've seen, permanent pavement for the Inner Loop Local Lanes in Maryland is in progress.

- The bike/ped path on the north side of the WWB is set to open on June 6. I have duty that weekend, but still intend to check out the trail one of those afternoons (Saturday the 6th or Sunday the 7th). I also intend to host a "meet" of fellow road/highway hobbyists after the trail opens, as it'd make a great vantage point for touring the WWB.

- No word yet on when the path connection to US 1 will open (it's being "unofficially used" already). The WWB website currently says "Late Spring 2009", but we're already into late spring, so who knows...