14th Street Bridge towards Capitol Hill – best route?

[billy]

My bike commute takes me from the Pentagon City/Crystal City area up to Federal Center SW (near 4th and D St SW). I typically take the MVT to the 14th Street Bridge. From there, I head up the trail along Ohio Drive to 15th Street, and then I hang a right on Independence, which I take all the way to 4th Street.

The other day, I noticed another bike commuter who works in the same area heading in another direction to leave the office. Shortly thereafter, as I was riding down Ohio Drive from 15th Street, I saw the same person merging onto Ohio Drive from the direction of E. Potomac Park/Maine Avenue. I wouldn’t have any idea how to get through the maze of highways and bridges in the Waterfront SW area to get back to the 14th Street Bridge.

My route works just fine for me, and has for a couple of years now, but is there a more direct/less traffic-heavy route that anyone recommends that connects the 14th Street Bridge to the L’Enfant/Federal Center SW/Capital South area?

Thanks,
billy

Topic

[Mark Blacknell]

He’s probably heading down to the L’Enfant promenade, and taking the ped/bike bridge you see at ~10 o’clock in this picture. http://bit.ly/exs0x7 It runs along the southern side of the bridge until you land in the middle of East Potomac Park, where you have to sort of backtrack a small bit and come up Ohio Dr. If I were walking, or coming from south of L’Enfant Plaza that’s probably the route I’d take. But on a bike from Capitol Hill, I think it’s probably more trouble than your present route.

[billy]

Aha, thanks for the visual. That definitely clears things up a bit. I never really go down that way, but might be something worth exploring. Much appreciated!

[Rootchopper]

I’ve been bike commuting to L’Enfant Plaza from Virgina for years and I almost always take the Case Bridge to L’Enfant Promenade. Coming off the 14th Street bridge I take a left at the Jefferson Memorial and backtrack to Ohio Drive. Left on Ohio, left on Buckeye, left to go south on I395. At the on ramp, get on the sidewalk at the curb cut on the right side and ride over the Case Bridge alongside I-395. The views of the Washington Channel are nice. This route dumps you out at Benjamin Banneker Circle at the end of L’Enfant Promenade where you can take a right and glide down to Maine Ave. I much prefer this to riding on Maine Avenue directly from the Tidal Basin area because it avoids some pretty messy traffic merging and squeezing into narrow lanes on Maine. It’s also better than Independence because it avoids lights, tourists, buses, etc.

[Just161]

This is definitely important as foot traffic will be increasing exponentially over the next 6 weeks around the 15th/Wallenburg/Tidal Basin “pinch point.”

[billy]

@Rootchopper 2827 wrote:

I’ve been bike commuting to L’Enfant Plaza from Virgina for years and I almost always take the Case Bridge to L’Enfant Promenade. Coming off the 14th Street bridge I take a left at the Jefferson Memorial and backtrack to Ohio Drive. Left on Ohio, left on Buckeye, left to go south on I395. At the on ramp, get on the sidewalk at the curb cut on the right side and ride over the Case Bridge alongside I-395. The views of the Washington Channel are nice. This route dumps you out at Benjamin Banneker Circle at the end of L’Enfant Promenade where you can take a right and glide down to Maine Ave. I much prefer this to riding on Maine Avenue directly from the Tidal Basin area because it avoids some pretty messy traffic merging and squeezing into narrow lanes on Maine. It’s also better than Independence because it avoids lights, tourists, buses, etc.

Awesome, thanks! Will definitely give this a try. Will need to figure out the best way to get over to Banneker Circle to my office, but this seems like a pretty workable route. Independence is generally not that bad, in my experience, but I always hit at least 1 light, and sometimes barely escape death dodging cars or buses at 12th Street while heading east in the morning.

@Just161 2835 wrote:

This is definitely important as foot traffic will be increasing exponentially over the next 6 weeks around the 15th/Wallenburg/Tidal Basin “pinch point.”

Good point. I generally don’t have too much trouble on the way into the office, as it is early enough, but I’m sure the ride home will be miserable.

[Author]

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