Electronic signs went up weeks ago at each end of Waterside Drive—a busy road in Northwest DC that connects Massachusetts Avenue to Rock Creek Parkway—saying that the road would be closed for weeks due to construction. The dates on the signs have shifted since they first went up; currently, it’s scheduled to be closed Friday, September 21, to Friday, November 13.
Waterside Drive is a main thoroughfare used daily by thousands of commuters exiting and entering Rock Creek Parkway. There are also about 20 residences on Waterside Drive, as well as embassies that use the road to access parking. According to a Rock Creek Park spokesperson, the southern portion of Waterside, connecting Massachusetts Avenue and the parkway, will be closed the entire time, while the portion of the road that’s north of Massachusetts Avenue will be closed between October 25 and November 13. The project is being managed by the Federal Highway Administration, and will involve significant rebuilding of the “severely deteriorated” road versus just repaving it.
Details until now had been hard to find about the disruption—even for those who live along the road, according to residents—but the National Park Service yesterday posted an update on the closure.
While an earlier plan had called for closing the road only during the hours of 9 AM and 3:30 PM each day, to minimize traffic disruption, now it will be closed the entire time “to protect the public and construction workers.” The only vehicles that will be allowed to access the road will be ones connected to the residences and embassies that need vehicular entry to Waterside Drive. It’s very likely that all the diverted vehicles will create heavier-than-usual traffic on portions of Massachusetts Avenue, P Street, Connecticut Avenue, and other surrounding roads.
Construction and closure updates will reportedly be posted on Rock Creek Park’s website and social media.
Sherri Dalphonse joined Washingtonian in 1986 as an editorial intern, and worked her way to the top of the masthead when she was named editor-in-chief in 2022. She oversees the magazine’s editorial staff, and guides the magazine’s stories and direction. She lives in DC.
