Transit Here are some key documents relating to transit issues affecting the Parker-Gray District History of the Braddock Road Metro Station Problems with Braddock Road Site (February 1972) Interesting article; shows City contemplated development all around Metro, that either George Washington School or Parker-Gray Middle School would need to be torn down  (guess which one was eventually destroyed?), and that the idea of tunneling  Route 1 under Patrick and Henry Streets was still alive. Site for Station Moved from Monroe Avenue to Braddock Road (July 1972)  Del Ray has actually "lost" three Metro stations; this was the first.  Metro Board Decides to Build Near RF&P Tracks (October 1972) This article Includes references to the possibility of moving Route 1 to the railroad right-of-way Rosemont Civic Association Battles Station Site (July 1976) Rosemont tries at a late stage to halt the construction of the Braddock Road Metro station. Braddock Road Area at Point of Revival (November 1983) Article written on the eve of the station opening; discusses future development, possible change in racial mix, and plans for the old Parker-Gray School (today the Madison Street townhouses) and the John Roberts public housing (now Colecroft). History of Route 1 (Patrick and Henry Streets) According to the City's response to the 1984 HUD investigation into housing discrimination in the Parker-Gray district, "Route 1 has been in its present location and along Henry Street since the 1930s.  The state highway department, with the City's concurrence, expanded Route 1 to Patrick Street in the late 1950s, when it built the Beltway (I-95, formerly Route I-495) interchange at Route 1.  During the late 1960s, commercial and residential property of blacks and whites was taken to widen the highway on Patrick Street and to angle the north- and south-end transitions from a paved one-way to a two-way route."  The City was attempting to rebut charges by the "16th Census Tract Crisis Committee" which filed the suit with HUD and denied that it had deliberately sited Route 1 in a predominantly black community.  Some of the articles below indicate that the Commonwealth of Virginia as well as the City looked repeatedly at alternatives for Route 1 from the 1950s through the 1970s.  Their failure to deal with Route 1 probably speaks for itself.  $107 Million Va Road Ideas Add to Area Planning Snarl (December 11, 1953) A proposal for expressways from Hybla Valley to the railroad bridge across the Potomac, which woud have relieved pressure on Route 1.  It is unclear from this article where the expressways would be routed inside Alexandria.  See the 1972 article below, where the expressways were proposed for the RF&P railroad right of way. Road Plan Eyed by Alexandria (October 22, 1959) The City proposes designating Henry Street as the southbound lane of Route 1 and for the first time expropriates Patrick Street for northbound Route 1.  The "Circumferential Highway" referred to in the article is the future Capital Beltway. Alexandria Considers Replacing Rte. 1 With Toll Road (April 16, 1972) The idea of expressways is revived as toll roads running along the RF&P right of way. Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens Small Area Plan (1992) U.S. Route 1 relocation was discussed in the original plan for Potomac Yard.  Here's what the City had to say then about the topic: Since the mid-1970's the City has considered eliminating the one way pairing of Patrick and Henry streets to serve as U.S. Route 1 through the older neighborhoods of the City. Most recently, in 1987, the City asked the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments (WMCOG) to conduct a preliminary feasibility study on the relocation of the Route 1 corridor. The WMCOG study reviewed four alternative alignments of U.S. Route 1, including a tunnel under Patrick and Henry Streets, a tunnel under Fayette Street, a four lane alignment along the RF&P railroad tracks and connecting to Huntington Avenue south of the Beltway, and a four lane alignment from Huntington Avenue into a tunnel in the Potomac paralleling the river bank. The study found that all of the new facilities would improve traffic conditions only temporarily: a new facility would attract new traffic and by the year 2010 Patrick and Henry Streets and any new facility would be severely congested. The costs of all of the alternatives were estimated to be prohibitively expensive. WMCOG also analyzed several HOV alternatives for U.S. Route 1, including the H0,V lanes on the new alignment alternatives, and the construction of an HOV-only facility. WMCOG found that the HOV alternatives kept congestion at or below 1988 levels while accommodating future growth in the corridor and recommended further study of the HOV possibilities.  (Potomac Yard/Potomac Greens Small Area Plan (1992) p. 23)