Southeast Freeway ramp to NB Kenilworth Ave./D.C. 295 now open

Amy Freedman, wtop.com

WASHINGTON – Commuters are celebrating a considerable milestone in the 11th Street Bridge project.

The long-awaited, much-anticipated ramp connecting the Southeast-Southwest Freeway eastbound to D.C. 295/Kenilworth Avenue northbound opened Wednesday, Dec. 19.

Anyone who has endured those lengthy lines from the eastbound freeway to Pennsylvania Avenue and the Sousa Bridge, only to then wait in another lengthy line to turn left from Pennsylvania onto 295 northbound understands the significance of this.

Perhaps you used to take 295 south to the Howard Road exit, and then had to to merge onto 295 north in those terrible, accident-prone merge lanes. Some of the sneakier drivers may have even tried to avoid the long Sousa Bridge lines by taking the illegal left exit at Barney Circle, then plod their way over to Kenilworth from East Capitol.

Because the major highways in the District did not connect from all directions, those convoluted routes were once necessary. Now, since the opening of the southbound 295 ramp to the westbound freeway/I-395, and with the opening of this new ramp, we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. The wait is over.

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(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

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