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38°54′20″N77°02′29″W / 38.9056494°N 77.0414223°W /38.9056494; -77.0414223
The name "M Street" refers to two major roads in theUnited States capital ofWashington, D.C. Because of theCartesian coordinate system used to name streets in Washington, the name "M Street" can be used to refer to any east–west street located twelve blocks north or south of the dome of theUnited States Capitol (not thirteen blocks, as there is no J Street). Thus, in allfour quadrants of the city there are streets called "M Street", which are disambiguated by quadrant designations, namely, M StreetNW,NE,SW, andSE.
InNorthwest Washington, M Street is a major streetdowntown and the main east–west street in theGeorgetown neighborhood.
M Street NW begins at theKey Bridge, which crosses thePotomac River at the 3500 block. To the west of 36th Street, M Street turns intoCanal Road. M Street was originally called Bridge Street until the roads in Georgetown wererenamed in 1895 to conform to thestreet names used inPierre Charles L'Enfant's original plan for the federal city. Where 32nd Street would otherwise be, M Street intersects withWisconsin Avenue. At 29th Street, it meets the western terminus ofPennsylvania Avenue. This is the last major intersection before theM Street Bridge overRock Creek, which forms the eastern border of Georgetown. The section in Georgetown carries heavy commuter traffic because it connects Pennsylvania Avenue with the Key Bridge and Canal Road.[1]
From Pennsylvania Avenue toThomas Circle at14th Street, M Street is designated forone-way traffic with vehicles driving westbound-only. M Street once again becomes two-way in Georgetown. This stretch is highly developed, consisting mainly of apartments from 26th to 21st and businesses from 21st to Thomas Circle.
From 14th Street to 5th Street NW, M Street is again two-way. Although, halfway through the 900 block, the street turns eastbound. Between 9th and7th Streets NW, it passes underneath theWalter E. Washington Convention Center. From 5th Street toNorth Capitol Street, it assumes a complex traffic pattern because of the intersections and near-intersections of several high-traffic streets: M,New York Avenue/U.S. Route 50, the northern terminus ofInterstate 395, New Jersey Avenue, and North Capitol Street. Traffic is west-to-east from 5th to 4th, east-to-west from New York to 4th, and west-to-east from New York through North Capitol and onto M Street NE.
M Street NE runs west-to-east from North Capitol Street toFlorida Avenue between 6th and 7th, where it terminates at the gates ofGallaudet University. Along the way, it uses an overpass to avoid theUnion Stationrail yard.
Because the interveningTrinidad neighborhood does not follow the grid pattern, M Street does not emerge again until Bladensburg Road (between 16th and 17th). This two-way stretch dead-ends after intersecting with Maryland Avenue (where 26th Street would be), because the remaining land between that intersection and theAnacostia River is occupied by theUnited States National Arboretum andLangston Golf Course. The portion of Washington across the Anacostia follows its own variant of the grid pattern, so while there is no M Street NE, theDeanwood neighborhood ofAnacostia does have a Meade Street NE in the location where M Street would have re-emerged.
About a mile south of the U.S. Capitol, M Street is a major east–west traffic thoroughfare connectingMaine Avenue withInterstate 295. ThePotomac River prevents M Street from extending farther west than 6th Street/Maine Avenue. Likewise, theAnacostia River limits M Street SE east of 11th to being a named on-ramp for I-295 (the11th Street Bridges to the immediate south and theSoutheast Freeway to the immediate north), Water Street SE (home of several boating clubs), and Pennsylvania Avenue SE at theJohn Philip Sousa Bridge before terminating.
The most prominent intersection on M Street between those points is with South Capitol Street. M Street runs along the northern edge of theWashington Navy Yard (between 1st and 11th) and nearNationals Park, between 1st and South Capitol.
Another segment of M Street SE continues east of the Anacostia River. Beginning at theAnacostia Freeway (DC-295, roughly where 29th Street would be), it runs diagonally southeast for two blocks, merges with Anacostia Road for one block, then straightens out for two blocks before terminating at 34th Street SE. Its route is blocked byMassachusetts Avenue SE andFort Dupont Park.
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