News Release

Beach Drive will reopen Sept. 27

National Park Service finishes full rehabilitation on time

New trail railing, sign and road on Beach Drive

NPS / Jonathan Shafer

News Release Date: September 25, 2019

Contact: Jonathan Shafer, 202 619 7186

WASHINGTON — All of Beach Drive will reopen to drivers on Friday, Sept. 27 around noon. This means the three-year rehabilitation project on Beach Drive is now complete!

“Beach Drive is a historic road and a vital commuter route,” Superintendent Julia Washburn said. “We couldn’t have completed the project without our partners, especially the Federal Highway Administration and District Department of Transportation (DDOT).”
 

The rehabilitation of Beach Drive involved:

• Resurfacing or excavating more than 6.5 miles of road.

• Installing new pavement markers, center-line rumble strips, guardrails and road signs along the whole road.

• Repaving parking lots along the full length of Beach Drive.

• Improving safety markings and crosswalks throughout Beach Drive.

• Replacing traffic signals and streetlights.

• Rehabilitating or repairing six bridges.

• Protecting Rock Creek Park's ecological resources and historic landscape by working within the existing road's footprint.
   

Watch a video about the work and see before and after photos at go.nps.gov/beachdrive.
 

The project, which was managed by the Federal Highway Administration, was completed in four segments. Work on the first segment began in September 2016. 

The last rehabilitation of Beach Drive happened in 1991. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers designed Beach Drive in 1897 to improve access to America's first urban national park. Today, drivers take more than 12 million trips through Rock Creek Park every year, and more than 40,000 people enjoy the park every weekend.

Slide to see before and after

Left image
Beach Drive before rehabilitation in 2016
Credit: NPS / Marcey Frutchey

Right image
Beach Drive in 2019
Credit: NPS / Rachel Hendrix