The planned two-month closure of Waterside Drive, Northwest, a busy DC road that connects Rock Creek Parkway to Massachusetts Avenue, has apparently been delayed until spring 2027.
The construction to refurbish the roadway had been expected to start this past Monday, September 21, but late last week construction crews doing preliminary excavation found what the National Park Service at the time described as a “large early‑1900s utility line.”
According to an email sent late Monday by Brian Joyner, the superintendent of Rock Creek Park, to ANC representatives, DC government officials, and some residents of Waterside Drive, “the utility line found is a 60″ stormwater main that will now have to be factored into a redesign of the project. We will likely be delaying the project until spring to allow time for the redesign and proper communication and notification to the community.”
As of this writing, an official statement has not been released to confirm the timing. We will continue to update this article as we get more information.
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.
