Ohio Drive

Ohio Drive is a street in Southwest Washington, DC, located in East and West Potomac Parks, straddling along the Tidal Basin, Washington Channel, and the Potomac River. Unlike many most roads named after states in Washington, Ohio Drive is not an avenue, nor it is heavily used, like say, Wisconsin or Rhode Island Avenues. However, the segment from Independence Avenue to the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway is an important commuter route.

Ohio Drive starts at the Lincoln Memorial and continues south on the west side of West Potomac Park. It crosses a small channel connecting the Potomac River to the Tidal Basin, and crawls under the 14th Street Bridge and WMATA's yellow line span. The Jefferson Memorial can be seen here. Along the yellow line is a parking lot, which is good for taking wonderful shots of yellow line trains entering or exiting Washington.

The street continues along the west side of East Potomac Park all the way almost to the southern point of the island, in which the street does an about-face, and continues up the eastern side.

On the eastern side, Ohio Driver continues onward, passing under Lower 14th Street and CSX railroad tracks. It ends at East Basin Drive, where that street in turn, connects to Maine Avenue.

In the 19th Century, an Ohio Avenue did exist just south of and parallel to Pennsylvania Avenue. The avenue was obliterated in the early 20th Century by the Federal Triangle complex proposed by the 1902 Senate Park Commission Plan. The Department of Commerce and the IRS currently sit on the path of the old Ohio Avenue.