With the District of Columbia, U.S. Route 1 passes between Arlington, Virginia and Mount Rainier, Maryland

Mount Rainier, Maryland

Mount Rainier is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 8,498 at the 2000 census. Bordering Washington, DC, Mount Rainier got its start as a streetcar suburb. According to local tradition, surveyors from the Pacific Northwest named the town, giving the...

 predominantly along surface streets. However, it forms a few overlaps with other routes.

Northbound

U.S. Route 1 and Interstate 395

Interstate 395 (District of Columbia-Virginia)

Interstate 395 in Washington, D.C., and Virginia is a 13 mile long spur route that begins at a junction with Interstate 95 in Springfield, Virginia and ends in northwest Washington, D.C. It passes underneath the National Mall near the United States Capitol and ends at a junction with U.S...

 enter the District of Columbia from Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 on the 14th Street Bridge. Route 1 traffic exits Route 395 from the left to 14th Street

14th Street Northwest and Southwest (Washington, D.C.)

Fourteenth Street is a street in Northwest and Southwest Washington, D.C., located 1¼ mi. west of the U.S. Capitol. It runs from the 14th Street Bridge north to Eastern Avenue....

, S.W.

Washington, D.C. (southwest)

Southwest is the southwestern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and is located south of the National Mall and west of South Capitol Street. It is the smallest quadrant of the city. Southwest is small enough that it is frequently referred to as a neighborhood in and of...

  After 14th Street crosses the National Mall

National Mall

The National Mall is an open-area national park in downtown Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The National Mall is a unit of the National Park Service , and is administered by the National Mall and Memorial Parks unit...

, Route 1 turns right onto Constitution Avenue

Constitution Avenue

In Washington, D.C., Constitution Avenue is a major east-west street running just north of the United States Capitol in the city's Northwest and Northeast quadrants...

. It then turns left onto 6th Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. (northwest)

Northwest is the northwestern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and is located north of the National Mall and west of North Capitol Street...

, and then right onto Rhode Island Avenue

Rhode Island Avenue (Washington, D.C.)

Rhode Island Avenue is a diagonal avenue in the Northwest and Northeast quadrants of Washington, D.C. and the capital's inner suburbs in Prince George's County, Maryland. Paralleling New York Avenue, Rhode Island Avenue was one of the original streets in Pierre L'Enfant's plan for the capital. ...

. Route 1 continues on Rhode Island Avenue through Northeast Washington

Washington, D.C. (northeast)

Northeast is the northeastern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and is located north of East Capitol Street and east of North Capitol Street...

 and into Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

.

Southbound

U.S. Route 1 enters the District of Columbia from Maryland on Rhode Island Avenue. Route 1 turns left onto 6th Street, N.W., then right onto L Street, N.W., and then left onto 9th Street, N.W. It enters the Ninth Street Tunnel and joins Interstate 395, which it follows into Virginia.

History

When originally designated in 1926, US 1 entered Washington on Bladensburg Road. The old route then continued on Maryland Avenue and turned south on 1st Street, where it then turns left into the U.S. Capitol grounds. US 1 went around the Capitol making its way to Pennsylvania Avenue. The route continues on Pennsylvania Avenue to 14th Street where it turns south. US 1 then left Washington on 14th Street as it does today. By 1946, US 1 entered from the north using Rhode Island Avenue continuing all the way to 14th Street (via Vermont Avenue). It was shifted to its current alignment by 1967.

Related routes

U.S. Route 1 Alternate joins U.S. Route 1 at the corner of 6th Street and New York Avenue

New York Avenue (Washington, D.C.)

New York Avenue is one of the diagonal avenues radiating from the White House in Washington, D.C. It is a major east-west route in the city's Northwest and Northeast quadrants and connects downtown with points east and north of the city via Cheverly, Maryland, the John Hanson Highway and the...

, N.W.

Road concurrency

Northbound U.S. Route 1 is concurrent

Concurrency (road)

A concurrency, overlap, or coincidence in a road network is an instance of one physical road bearing two or more different highway, motorway, or other route numbers...

 with eastbound U.S. Route 50

U.S. Route 50 in the District of Columbia

U.S. Route 50 is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching just over from Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic Ocean, to West Sacramento, California, nearly to the Pacific Ocean...

along Constitution Avenue from 14th Street to 6th Street, N.W., and along 6th Street from Constitution Avenue to New York Avenue, N.W. Southbound U.S. Route 1 is concurrent with westbound U.S. Route 50 along L Street between 6th and 9th streets, N.W., and along 9th Street from L Street to Constitution Avenue. Both northbound and southbound Route 1 have concurrencies with Interstate 395.