Interstate 266 would have branched off Interstate 66 just past the current Exit 72 which is the exit for US 29 Lee Highway and the Spout Run Parkway.  From there I-266 would have followed the Spout Run Parkway northeast towards the George Washington Memorial Parkway.  After passing the GW Parkway, I-266 would have crossed the Potomac River on the then-proposed Three Sisters Bridge.  On the DC Shoreline, I-266 would have turned east towards Georgetown and connected with the Whitehurst Freeway.  The Whitehurst Freeway would have been reconstructed to accommodate the increased traffic that would have resulted from I-266.  I-266 would have ended at I-66 near the Watergate complex.  The blue line on the following map shows the route Interstate 266 would have taken.

As a result of community opposition and the general anti-highway mentality of the time, Interstate 266, along with many other freeways in the DC area were not built.  Interstate 66 which Interstate 266 was to be a spur of was built, but with a significantly different design than that of the original plan.

The following two maps are from the November, 1973 "I-66 Corridor Transportation Alternatives Study: Draft Environmental/Section 4(f) Statement."  They show the route that I-266 would have taken from I-66 across the Potomac River to the DC Shoreline.  Note that these were not the only plans for I-266 that were considered.  I have heard of plans with a different interchange on the DC Shoreline as well as plans that had I-266 crossing the Potomac River from Rosslyn just north or south of Key Bridge.  I am still searching for these plans and I hope to include them here in the future.

This map does not show the Potomac Freeway/Palisades Parkway along the DC Shoreline to the west of I-266.  In other I-266 plans, there is a full, high-speed directional interchange shown between I-266 and the Potomac Freeway/Palisades Parkway.

There are several other sites that have information about Interstate 266 as well as information about the Washington, DC freeway plan in general.

Interstate 66 and Metrorail Vienna Route by Scott Kozel
Washington D.C. Interstates and Freeways by Scott Kozel
3-digit Interstates from I-66 by Kurumi

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08/01/01