• This vital roadway carries close to 45,000 cars each day, keeping them                                                            
    off of Georgetown's overcrowded streets.  There is a steady stream of                                                         
    traffic throughout the day and into the evening on the Whitehurst -- not just                                                    
    at rush hour.  The study never does tell us where this traffic will go.

  • The Whitehurst is critical for access to downtown for daily commuters as well as for those who use it to get to
    downtown restaurants, shops, theaters, sports events, and museums.  It is an important approach route to
    the Kennedy Center.

  • The Freeway effectively allows thousands of vehicles to bypass Georgetown on weekends, the time when
    traffic there is most congested.  The study did not consider the impact of removing the Whitehurst on weekend
    traffic.  

  • The Whitehurst is part of the emergency evacuation route from downtown.

  • Heavy traffic on the proposed K Street boulevard would make it difficult for pedestrians to get to the
    waterfront park and would detract from its enjoyment.

  • Increased traffic congestion would increase air pollution levels.    

  • The Whitehurst was refurbished not long ago at a cost of $70 million and should last for decades -- 50 years
    with maintenance.

  • Removing the Whitehurst will not spur development along the waterfront or make it more vibrant.  Much of the
    area has been developed, and the loading docks and parking garage entrances on K Street are better left in
    the shadow of the Freeway.

  • The Tunnel Option would cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

  • It occasionally floods on K Street.

  • Sites in Foggy Bottom are being eyed for development should the Whitehurst                                                      
    be torn down, promising to bring more traffic congestion to all surrounding areas                                               
    and approach routes.  

  • The proposed alternatives for replacing the Whitehurst are unrealistic.

































                    
Whitehurst at 3 o'clock on a Monday
View of the Whitehurst from the park.
Why Deconstruction is Unfeasible
Even with widening, K Street would be inadequate to handle vehicles that now use the Whitehurst along
with the heavy traffic it already carries, and there would be traffic lights, bus stops, pedestrians, and
delivery trucks to impede the flow of traffic.  We would also lose hundreds of parking spaces along
K Street.   

Some options, including the costly tunnel, do not allow access from Key Bridge to K Street.  All traffic from
Key Bridge would be forced onto M Street, making congestion at the traffic light at Key Bridge and M Street
even more of a nightmare.  Ironically, one of the objectives in removing the Whitehurst -- which can be
entered from Key Bridge -- is supposed to be alleviation of traffic on M Street.     

The proposed alternatives that do allow access from Key Bridge to K Street require replacing the
Whitehurst with a massive unsightly ramp (a mini-Freeway), several blocks long and conservatively
estimated to cost close to fifty million dollars (but likely to cost far more).  

Tearing down the Whitehurst would also remove the connector to the E Street Expressway, an
invaluable route to E Street and the Constitution Avenue corridor.  This would inevitably lead to greater
traffic congestion on 27th Street, Virginia Avenue, and throughout Foggy Bottom.  

A valuable route for traffic from parts of DC and Virginia to Northwest DC would be lost.  Traffic coming from  
Southwest or Southeast DC and from the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Bridge use the Whitehurst for
access to the area west of the Freeway.  Virginia drivers would in all likelihood end up taking the GW
Parkway to Key Bridge if the Freeway were removed, adding to the 66,000 or so vehicles that use Key
Bridge each day and to the terrible congestion at the Key Bridge/M Street traffic light.  The study indicates
their numbers are significant.  During the morning rush hour, for example, when close to 2000 vehicles per
hour go from the Foxhall/MacArthur Boulevard/Canal Road area towards downtown, around 1000 travel in
the opposite direction to the area west of the Freeway.

There is likely to be a significant increase in traffic levels in Georgetown's residential areas.  
Many who now use the Whitehurst will not travel out of their way to sit in gridlock on M and K Streets, and  
will drive downtown through residential areas -- across Reservoir Road and P, Q, and R Streets.   

It bears repeating, the study does not clarify where the traffic that now uses the Freeway will go.
Campaign to Save the Whitehurst       yes@savethewhitehurst.org