Streets and highways of Washington, D.C.

The streets and highways of Washington, D.C. are very important for moving people around the city. Washington, D.C. is the federal capital of the United States, and it was planned carefully when it was built. Because of this, the streets there have a special layout and way of numbering addresses.

There are many roads in the city—about 1,500 miles (2,400 km) of public roads in total. Most of these roads, around 1,392 miles (2,240 km), are taken care of and kept in good condition by the city government itself. This helps make sure people can get around easily in the nation’s capital.

City layout

See also: L'Enfant Plan

Washington, D.C. was created in 1790 to be the permanent national capital. A new capital city was founded in 1791 near an existing settlement called Georgetown. The original street layout was designed by Pierre Charles L'Enfant.

As a planned city, Washington was designed in a Baroque style with avenues spreading out from rectangles, which created space for parks and gardens. The city is split into four parts, called quadrants: Northwest (NW), Northeast (NE), Southeast (SE), and Southwest (SW). Streets are named with letters and numbers to show their location, like C Street SW or 4th Street NW. Many diagonal streets are named after U.S. states, such as Pennsylvania Avenue, which connects the White House to the U.S. Capitol.

There is no J Street in any quadrant because, in the past, the letters "I" and "J" looked too similar when written by hand. Some letters like X, Y, Z, and B are also not used as street names.

Expansion of the street-name system

See also: Georgetown street renaming

In the 1800s, each area in Washington, D.C. had its own street system. In 1871, a new law combined all areas into one city government.

Later laws tried to make all streets follow the same plan. Some people were upset because their land would be used to move streets. In 1901, a new naming system was created. Streets going north and south were numbered. East and west streets were named after famous Americans, using easy-to-remember names in order. This helped make it easier to find places in the city.

Address system

The city uses a special way to give addresses, based on a system with the Capitol building as the starting point. This system helps people know exactly where a place is and how far they need to travel. For example, the address 633 A Street SE tells you it is southeast of the Capitol, one block south of East Capitol Street, on the south side of A Street SE, between 6th and 7th Streets SE.

Another example is the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. This means it is at 16th Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Addresses work both ways; an address at 514 19th St NW would be on 19th St west of the Capitol. The city also uses the word “unit” for the first block of a street instead of a zero or one, which is different from most American cities.

Major roads

Interstate highways

Interstate 495, called the "Capital Beltway", forms a circle around Washington, D.C., and is often used to describe areas inside or outside of this beltway. It passes through a small part of the city at its southern end near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. I-66 starts near Georgetown, connects to the Beltway, and goes through Northern Virginia. I-295 begins at the eastern side of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and ends at the 11th Street Bridges, where it meets I-695 to cross the Anacostia River into downtown. Near the U.S. Capitol Building, I-695 connects with I-395, a main route for commuters from New York Avenue to the Beltway and Interstate 95 in Springfield, Virginia. The Inner Loop was a planned set of highways in the city center, but only parts of it were built. Today, people often use "inner loop" to mean the lanes of 495 that go clockwise around Washington.

Other expressways and parkways

The Anacostia Freeway continues north from where I-295 ends and connects to the Baltimore–Washington Parkway, which leads to Maryland Route 295. The Suitland Parkway links the city to suburbs in Prince George's County, Maryland. The Whitehurst Freeway is an elevated road over K Street in Georgetown, helping traffic on US 29 avoid busy streets between the Key Bridge and downtown. The E Street Expressway connects I-66 to areas near the city's Foggy Bottom and the White House. The Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway offers a route into downtown from the north and west.

City streets

Important city streets include MacArthur Boulevard NW, 14th Street NW, 16th Street NW, 18th Street NW, 7th Street NW, Connecticut Avenue NW, K Street NW, H Street NW, Wisconsin Avenue, M Street NW, H Street NE, Pennsylvania Avenue, Constitution Avenue, Independence Avenue, Massachusetts Avenue, U Street NW, South Dakota Ave NE, North Capitol Street, South Capitol Street, East Capitol Street, Georgia Avenue, Minnesota Avenue, Benning Road, Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, New York Avenue, and Rhode Island Avenue.

City streets usually do not have numbers, but some U.S. Routes run along them.