Why is the Beltway so curvy around Connecticut Avenue?

[jsteele]

The Capital Beltway History website has this to say:

The Maryland segment of the beltway was planned to follow open corridors as much as possible, to avoid heavily developed areas where possible, and in Prince Georges County it was possible to avoid heavily developed areas, but in Montgomery County that was not possible in every area as there were some segments with heavy impacts to developed areas with many homes and businesses acquired for the highway right-of-way; and a 2-mile beltway segment was built through Rock Creek Park over the objections of state and federal public park agencies, something that probably would not have been possible after Congressional enactment of the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as one of the many things that NEPA did was to make it virtually impossible to build a highway through major public parkland. The alternative to the Rock Creek Park alignment would have been to locate the highway on a straighter alignment about a mile to the north, which would have been advantageous from a traffic engineering standpoint, but which was effectively politically impossible as it would have passed through heavily developed and very affluent residential sections of Bethesda. After NEPA, it is quite possible that it would not have been possible to find a feasible location build that segment of the Beltway if it had not already been built, and that would have left a missing link in the Beltway between MD-355 Wisconsin Avenue and MD-97 Georgia Avenue.

So, don't blame the residents of Chevy Chase, blame the people of Bethesda

And, if you think thinks are bad now, imagine if there was a gap between Georgia and Wisconsin Avenues...

[Anonymous]

Was the beltway already there when you chose your home/job? Of course it was - so getting mad about it now just makes you sound dumb.

I live in Loudoun and can't stand all the people who b*tch about the price of the toll on the Greenway. Hello people, it was there when you moved in and btw, its why you paid $100k less for your house than the rest of us. So stop your whining.

If you don't want a sucky commute, live closer to your job. Its a simple as that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was the beltway already there when you chose your home/job? Of course it was - so getting mad about it now just makes you sound dumb.

I live in Loudoun and can't stand all the people who b*tch about the price of the toll on the Greenway. Hello people, it was there when you moved in and btw, its why you paid $100k less for your house than the rest of us. So stop your whining.

If you don't want a sucky commute, live closer to your job. Its a simple as that.

amen! but you gotta admit... complaining feels good every once in a while...

[Anonymous]

Just wait fourty years for this area to become the super community they say it will. There are projections that the metro area will span from Baltimore to Richmond, and homes in the area will cost 14 million dollars.

I can only imagine then what traffic will truly be like.

Now, I too am a hater of the Beltway. The entrance ramps were not developed with enough merging room, and often you have to share the lane with those exiting, making merging even more difficult. Then add to it all the idiots who either just leave on their turn signals, signal left, then merge right, or don't signal at all. I can't stand those who will come into your lane, just inches in front of your car, not really caring if they hit you, or not.

[Anonymous]

ICC all the way. London is great they have 3 beltways. We need one more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was the beltway already there when you chose your home/job? Of course it was - so getting mad about it now just makes you sound dumb.

I live in Loudoun and can't stand all the people who b*tch about the price of the toll on the Greenway. Hello people, it was there when you moved in and btw, its why you paid $100k less for your house than the rest of us. So stop your whining.

If you don't want a sucky commute, live closer to your job. Its a simple as that.

GREAT post!

[Anonymous]

Here is the answer to the woman's question.

It was built around Rock Creek Park.

For the true Washingtonians (those who were born here) we call it the Rockville roller coaster. That part of the Beltway is technically still Kensington/Rockville/Bethesda...it is called the Rockville roller coaster because 'back in the day' that part of Bethesda (20817 - I cannot remember what the zip used to be) is geographically the most northern point of Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Just wait fourty years for this area to become the super community they say it will. There are projections that the metro area will span from Baltimore to Richmond, and homes in the area will cost 14 million dollars.

I can only imagine then what traffic will truly be like.

Now, I too am a hater of the Beltway. The entrance ramps were not developed with enough merging room, and often you have to share the lane with those exiting, making merging even more difficult. Then add to it all the idiots who either just leave on their turn signals, signal left, then merge right, or don't signal at all. I can't stand those who will come into your lane, just inches in front of your car, not really caring if they hit you, or not.

You don't have to wait. Our MEGALOPOLIS spans from Pennsylvania down to Richmond. About homes costing 14 million, that is ridiculous.

For those who complain, it is unjust, the beltway was not invisible when you bought your home. You just chose to ignore it. If it sucks, move. If you can't move, shut up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is the answer to the woman's question.

It was built around Rock Creek Park.

For the true Washingtonians (those who were born here) we call it the Rockville roller coaster. That part of the Beltway is technically still Kensington/Rockville/Bethesda...it is called the Rockville roller coaster because 'back in the day' that part of Bethesda (20817 - I cannot remember what the zip used to be) is geographically the most northern point of Bethesda.

OP here. How did you know I was a woman?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Just wait fourty years for this area to become the super community they say it will. There are projections that the metro area will span from Baltimore to Richmond, and homes in the area will cost 14 million dollars.

I can only imagine then what traffic will truly be like.

Now, I too am a hater of the Beltway. The entrance ramps were not developed with enough merging room, and often you have to share the lane with those exiting, making merging even more difficult. Then add to it all the idiots who either just leave on their turn signals, signal left, then merge right, or don't signal at all. I can't stand those who will come into your lane, just inches in front of your car, not really caring if they hit you, or not.

You don't have to wait. Our MEGALOPOLIS spans from Pennsylvania down to Richmond. About homes costing 14 million, that is ridiculous.

For those who complain, it is unjust, the beltway was not invisible when you bought your home. You just chose to ignore it. If it sucks, move. If you can't move, shut up.

It's 40 years away, it's not ridiculous to think that housing prices are not going to be that high. When the projections are saying this area is going to be a super metropolis. There are many rural areas in the span you mentioned, the projections make it sound as if it will be a super city. NBC news did a story on this a while back, it was pretty interesting.