A unit of National Capital Parks - East

SUITLAND PARKWAY (U.S. Reservation 675) The US Air Force (USAF)and the National Park Service (NPS) issued an environmental assessment for "Management Of Flight Obstructions To Preserve Safety At Andrews Air Force Base". There was a 30-day public review period in early 2003, and comments were received. In April and May 2003 the USAF and NPS, respectively, issued decision documents selecting the vegetation management alternative to trim, remove, and replace trees to bring the runways into compliance with airspace clearance requirements established to ensure safe operation of the air base. Suitland Parkway is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its vegetation is considered a cultural landscape. In order to achieve the safety objectives while maintaining the trees, as possible, the NPS, USAF, and the Maryland State Historic Preservation Office have executed a Memorandum of Agreement to direct sensitive management of the trees. A Vegetation Management Plan has been prepared for implementation of the project. Trimming of the parkway trees adjacent to Andrews Air Force Base will begin during the summer of 2004. For additional information about the project, call the park at 202-690-5185. Suitland Parkway is a limited access scenic roadway that was constructed during the early months of World War II by the Bureau of Public Roads to serve as a rapid transit road between Camp Springs in Prince George's County, Maryland, to Bolling Field Air Force Base, and ultimately the Pentagon and downtown Washington, D.C. In 1945, Camp Springs was renamed Andrews Field. Today the Parkway is a dual lane roadway used by visitors and commuters approaching the nation's capital from the east. The White House frequently uses the Parkway along with congressional and military personnel, as well as foreign dignitaries who fly into and out of Andrews Air Force Base. The Parkway corridor is often the first image foreign heads of state get of the United States. Suitland Parkway begins at the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge (South Capitol Street Bridge) in the District of Columbia, and extends 9.35 miles to Maryland Route 4 (Pennsylvania Avenue) at Andrews Air Force Base. Today, the Maryland portion of the Suitland Parkway, approximately 6 miles in length, stretching from Southern Avenue to Route 4, on some 610 acres, is under the jurisdiction of National Capital Parks-East, a unit of the National Park Service. Opened during World War II on December 9, 1944, Suitland Parkway culminated efforts by the Federal Works Agency/Public Roads Administration (Bureau of Public Roads, now the Federal Highway Administration), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. On August 17, 1949 congressional legislation provided for the development, administration, and maintenance of the Suitland Parkway in the State of Maryland as an extension of the park system of the District of Columbia and its environs by the Secretary of the Interior…." That legislation further stated that "[T]he Parkway shall be developed, operated, and administered as a limited access road primarily to provide a dignified, protected, safe, and suitable approach for passenger vehicle traffic to the National Capital and for an uninterrupted means of access between the several Federal establishments adjacent thereto and the seat of government in the District of Columbia." As one of the National Capital Parks, Suitland Parkway is also subject to additional legislation that gives specific direction to preserving the forests and natural scenery in and about Washington. As part of the National Park system, the Suitland Parkway protects natural and nationally significant historic resources promoting and regulating the use of the area in such a manner as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. Suitland Parkway was nominated for the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 as an historic transportation entryway into the nation's capital and for its landscape architecture. It was listed on that register on June 2, 1995. Click HERE for additional facts about Suitland Parkway For information, contact National Capital Parks-East Headquarters at (202)690-5185. http://www.nps.gov/nace/suitlandparkway.htm