Suitland Parkway Interchange work will create a new DC Route 295 crossing for cyclists and pedestrians

A version of this article was published on the WashCycle.

The new Douglass Bridge, currently under construction, promises to significantly upgrade one of the Anacostia River’s few bicycle crossings. But what has been less celebrated is that it will result in a new place where cyclists and pedestrians can cross the DC Route 295 barrier.

Though not as much of a bottleneck as the river, there are just over a dozen places where one can cross Route 295 by bike in DC over a 5.5 mile stretch—and fewer when railroad tracks are taken into account.

The crossing is part of the new Route 295/Suitland parkway. The old interchange, built in the early 1960’s, had no sidewalks and none added in the 2011 South Capitol Street FEIS. By 2013, the design included three alternatives: one with a 10’ sidewalk, one with a 12’ sidewalk, and one with a 10’ shared-use path separated by a small barrier, all on the west side.

The preferred alternative was a sidewalk. Later a shared-used path was added to the other side with an at-grade crossing of the ramp.

In 2014, there was a Revised Preferred Alternative that changed the ramp and put the path through an underpass below “Ramp B.” The path doesn’t show up in this 2014 drawing.

By 2018, the plans clearly showed a network of sidewalks and paths would connect the bridge and the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail to new sidewalks along Suitland Parkway and Firth Sterling; and existing sidewalks along Howard and South Capitol Street would be replaced and improved.

Work on Ramp B and the tunnel is underway. Here’s what it looked like in 2019.

And in 2020.

Unfortunately, this won’t create a direct connection to the Suitland Parkway Trail. After passing through the tunnel and under Route 295, trail users will need to go east on Firth Sterling along the sidewalk and then south on Howard and Sheridan roads for about a half mile to get to the trail head.

DDOT is working on a redesign of the trail (which is in shameful shape anyway) and maybe that will include a better connection.