Western Avenue (Washington, D.C.)
| Western Avenue NW | |
| Former name(s) | Columbia Boulevard, Boundary Avenue |
|---|---|
| Owner | District of Columbia |
| Maintained by | DDOT |
| Length | 3.5 mi (5.6 km) |
| Location | Northwest, Washington, DC |
| Nearest metro station | Friendship Heights |
| Coordinates | 38°58′00″N 77°04′41″W / 38.966735°N 77.078174°WCoordinates: 38°58′00″N 77°04′41″W / 38.966735°N 77.078174°W |
| West end |
 MD 396 (Westmoreland Circle) |
| Major junctions |
 MD 355 (Wisconsin Avenue) MD 185 / Chevy Chase Circle
|
| East end | Oregon Avenue NW |
| Construction | |
| Commissioned | January 1893 |
| Construction start | c. 1900 |
| Completion | c. 1931 |
| Other | |
| Designer | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers |
Western Avenue is one of three boundary streets between Washington, D.C., and the state of Maryland. It follows a southwest-to-northeast line, beginning at Westmoreland Circle in the south and ending at Oregon Avenue NW in the north. It is roughly 3.5 miles (5.6 km) in length. First proposed in 1893, it was constructed somewhat fitfully from about 1900 to 1931.
Western Avenue passes through largely residential neighborhoods on its journey north until it reaches the retail-heavy Friendship Heights neighborhood, where it crosses Wisconsin Avenue NW. After a short distance north through more residential areas, it passes through Chevy Chase Circle, where it crosses Connecticut Avenue NW. Its remaining length is again residential, passing through Pinehurst Circle until it reached Oregon Avenue NW. For most of its length it is a two-lane street with curbside parking, although it widens to four lanes around the traffic-heavy Friendship Heights area. The street lies entirely within the District of Columbia and is itself not the boundary of the city, which "runs right through the front lawns of the houses on the Maryland side of Western Avenue."
Originally, government officials did not foresee that the city of Washington would expand to fill the boundaries of the entire District of Columbia. The "Federal City", or City of Washington, originally lay within an area bounded by Boundary Street (northwest and northeast), 15th Street (east), East Capitol Street, the Anacostia River, the Potomac River, and Rock Creek. "Boundary Street" was the original name for Florida Avenue, but the name was changed in 1890 as the city rapidly began expanding outward into the rural areas of what was then known as "Washington County".
In January 1893, the Anthropological Society of Washington issued a report calling for a "grand avenue or boulevard to form the boundary of the District of Columbia on the three land sides". The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey map for 1894 shows no street having been constructed along the District's northwest boundary.
...
Wikipedia