U.S. Route 50 in the District of Columbia

U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50
	Map of the District of Columbia with US 50 highlighted in red
Route information
	Maintained by DDOT
Length	7.7 mi (12.4 km)
Major junctions
West end	I-66 / US 50 in Rosslyn, VA
	I-66 in Foggy Bottom; US 1 in Downtown Washington; I-395 in Mount Vernon Square
East end	US 50 near Cheverly, MD
Location
Country	United States
Federal district	District of Columbia
Highway system
	United States Numbered Highway System; List; Special; Divided; Streets and Highways of Washington, DC; Interstate; US; DC; State-Named Streets;

U.S. Route 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching just over 3,000 miles (4,800 km) from Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic Ocean, to West Sacramento, California, nearly to the Pacific Ocean. In the District of Columbia, US 50 passes between Arlington County, Virginia, and Prince George's County, Maryland, predominantly along surface streets, including a part of Constitution Avenue along the National Mall.

Route description

South Facade of the White House, passed by US 50 in Washington, D.C.

Eastbound

U.S. Route 50 and Interstate 66 enter the District of Columbia from Arlington, Virginia on the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge over the Potomac River. US 50 traffic exits I-66 to Constitution Avenue, N.W., along the north side of the National Mall, passing the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the White House, the World War II Memorial, and the Washington Monument, then traveling between Federal Triangle's office buildings on the north and the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, National Museum of Natural History, and a National Gallery of Art sculpture garden to its south.

Near the National Art Gallery, Route 50 turns left onto 6th Street, N.W., and after several blocks, right onto New York Avenue, N.W. The route continues northeast on New York Avenue through Northeast Washington, passing the United States National Arboretum. Beyond the Arboretum, New York Avenue becomes a freeway, with an off-level interchange with South Dakota Avenue, N.E. in the Fort Lincoln area. US 50 then crosses the Anacostia River and continues into Maryland, where it becomes the John Hanson Highway and soon has an interchange with the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.

Westbound

US Route 50 enters the District of Columbia from Maryland on the John Hanson Highway, which, as noted above, eventually becomes New York Avenue, N.E. The westbound route then follows New York Avenue into Northwest Washington, then turns right onto L Street, N.W., left onto 9th Street, N.W., and right onto Constitution Avenue, N.W. After passing the National Mall, it then joins Interstate 66, which it follows across the Potomac River into Virginia on the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge.

Overlaps

Northbound U.S. Route 1 is concurrent with eastbound U.S. Route 50 along Constitution Avenue from 14th Street to 6th Street, N.W., and along 6th Street from Constitution Avenue to New York Avenue, N.W. Southbound U.S. Route 1 is concurrent with westbound U.S. Route 50 along L Street between 6th and 9th streets, N.W., and along 9th Street from L Street to Constitution Avenue. Interstate 66 and U.S. Route 50 are concurrent on the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge. U.S. Route 1 Alternate is concurrent with Route 50 along New York Avenue between 6th Street, N.W., and Bladensburg Road, N.E.

Interstate 395 junction

The northern terminus of Interstate 395 is at a signaled intersection with New York Avenue and 4th Street, N.W. At that intersection, traffic from New York Avenue in either direction may turn south onto Interstate 395, but traffic on northbound Interstate 395 may turn only right (east) onto New York Avenue, but not west toward downtown Washington.

History

The New York Avenue Industrial Freeway, if built, would have replaced New York Avenue as U.S. Route 50 east of Interstate 395.

Major intersections

The entire route is in the District of Columbia. All exits are unnumbered.

Location	mi^[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Potomac River	0.00	0.00	US 50 west (Arlington Boulevard)	Continuation into Virginia
	0.20	0.32	I-66 west / George Washington Parkway north	Western terminus of concurrency with I-66; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	0.20– 0.50	0.32– 0.80	Theodore Roosevelt Bridge
Foggy Bottom	0.60	0.97	I-66 east	Eastern terminus of concurrency with I-66; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Foggy Bottom	0.80	1.29	23rd Street NW	Eastern terminus of freeway section
National Mall–Downtown	1.80	2.90	US 1 south (14th Street NW) to I-395 south	Western terminus of concurrency with US 1
	2.00	3.22	12th Street Expressway	Northern terminus of one-way expressway
	2.20	3.54	9th Street Expressway south to I-395 (Southwest Freeway)	Northern terminus of one-way expressway; southern terminus of one-way routings of US 1 / US 50
Downtown	2.50	4.02	US 1 Alt. north (Pennsylvania Avenue NW)	Southern terminus of US 1 Alternate; no direct southbound access
Mount Vernon Square	3.20	5.15	US 1 north (6th Street NW)	Eastern terminus of concurrency with US 1 and one-way routings; US 50 west connects to 9th Street via L Street
Mount Vernon Square	3.40	5.47	I-395 south (3rd Street Tunnel) to I-295	Northern terminus of I-395
NoMa	3.80	6.12	North Capitol Street	Grade-separated interchange
Gateway–Arboretum	6.00	9.66	US 1 Alt. (Bladensburg Road NE) – Bladensburg, MD	Western terminus of freeway section
Gateway–Arboretum	6.70	10.78	36th Place NE	Eastbound exit and entrance
Fort Lincoln	7.10	11.43	South Dakota Avenue NE / Fort Lincoln Drive NE	No eastbound access to Fort Lincoln Drive
Anacostia River	7.60	12.23	Bridge
Anacostia Park	7.70	12.39	US 50 east to Baltimore–Washington Parkway / MD 201 / I-295 – Baltimore, Annapolis, Bladensburg, Alexandria, Richmond	Continuation into Maryland via John Hanson Highway
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Incomplete access