BRIDGES OF WASHINGTON, D.C.

One of the major complications in the decades-long effort to develop a continuous bicycle and hiking trail along the entire length of both shores of the Anacostia was the occupation of a lengthy segment of the northern shore by the Washington Navy Yard. For more than 160 years, the Navy Yard was one of the biggest industrial employers in the District. In addition to ships, the Navy Yard was the largest manufacturer of naval ordnance in the world. All of these activities required river frontage, precluding not only riverfront recreational trails, but also any waterfront commercial or residential development. Industrial operations ceased in the 1960s, but the Navy Yard continued to house the administrative headquarters, as well as historical museums, for the U.S. Navy. The historical museums included displays of naval vessels on the former docks of the shipyard, again limiting other uses of the waterfront.

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In the early 2000s, as part of the business improvement plan for the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood, the western part of the Navy Yard was redeveloped into the headquarters for the U.S. Department of Transportation. Although the administrative offices of the U.S. Navy remained, the former activities that required direct access to the river, including tourist visits to naval ships, were eliminated in order to create a narrow ribbon of trail between the main facility and the river. The quay is only about twenty feet wide, and is flanked by a wall enclosing the active Navy Yard facility on the landward side. Although the pedestrian West Bank Trail along the Anacostia is continuous, the U.S. Navy prohibits the use of bicycles on this promenade, so cyclists must walk their bikes through this short, quarter-mile-long section. Within this area, a narrow, galvanized steel moveable plank can be lifted to allow access for small boats from the river into the administrative complex.

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The history and the current attractions of the former Navy Yard area, now known as Near Southeast, is described in my book, Bridges of Washington, DC: A History and Guide. The Navy Yard is part of the important, recurring theme about how the city has used environmental clean-up, development of recreational trails, and construction of riverfront condos and restaurants to turn the District’s formerly industrial waterfronts into prominent recreational, work, and residential destinations.