Virginia State Route 27 - History

History

The road was constructed as a part of the Pentagon Road Network during World War II to provide access to the newly constructed War Department headquarters buildings. The system included three cloverleaf interchanges which were "among the earliest such structures constructed in the United States." Those roads were transferred to the Virginia Department of Highways on December 17, 1964, and assigned the number Route 27. However, at that time, the Mixing Bowl included a ramp from the westbound Shirley Highway to the eastbound Route 27. When the high-occupancy vehicle lanes were added to I-395 in the 1970s, the Mixing Bowl was reconfigured so that the Route 27 lanes were separated as collector lanes from the through lanes of I-395. Because the collector lanes were built on the site of the ramp from westbound Shirley Highway to the eastbound Route 27, the ramp was replaced with a ramp from the eastbound Route 27 into the Pentagon South Parking Lot.

The Mixing Bowl is the first interchange in Northern Virginia with a three level bridge—ramp from I-395 to westbound Route 27 on the lowest level, eastbound Route 27 to Mixing Bowl in the middle; and southbound I-395 on top. In 1970 this was followed by a second three-level stack—Joyce Street South on the lowest level, eastbound Route 27 on the middle bridge and I-395 on the top level.

Route 27 is near the site of the September 11 attacks on the Pentagon. Many commuters and drivers on the road witnessed the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 fly directly over Route 27 and crash into the Pentagon. Witnesses included Daryl Donley and Steve Riskus, both of whom took some of the first photographs after the plane crashed. As the plane passed over Route 27, it clipped several light poles; one light pole landed on the windshield of a taxicab driven by Lloyd England. The section northeast of I-395 was closed for several weeks following the attack as a security measure. When it reopened, "No stopping" signs were placed along the section of Route 27 near the Pentagon. To increase security, the cloverleaf interchange between Route 27 and Columbia Pike was reconfigured, by eliminating the separate loop ramp from eastbound Route 27 to westbound Columbia Pike. The ramp from westbound Columbia Pike to eastbound Route 27 was relocated parallel to Route 27 and the resulting freed area was used to construct a security checkpoint leading to a new Pentagon loading dock. A driveway from the checkpoint runs parallel to Route 27 separated by a high metal fence. However, the Pentagon Memorial still remains visible behind this fence. North of the memorial, a high cement retaining wall and berm has been constructed to protect the Pentagon from any possible explosion threats on Route 27. These and related security improvements cost $35 million (equivalent to $43 million in 2012) and were completed in October 2004. On September 11, 2010, the portion of Route 27 near the crash site was dedicated as "9/11 Heroes Memorial Highway" after receiving that designation by the State Legislature. Commemorative signs have been added on both sides of the highway.

In 2001, planning began for a replacement of the US 50 bridge over Route 27, which had been built in 1944 by the War Department. Construction of a replacement bridge began in October 2005 and ended in August 2007. The project cost $6.5 million (equivalent to $8 million in 2012). At 3:40 a.m. on December 22, 2004, a gasoline tank truck overturned and exploded on Washington Boulevard at the Mixing Bowl, near the Pentagon. The accident killed the driver, and sparked initial concerns that this explosion was another terrorist attack. The driver was headed to a nearby gas station, near the Pentagon.