14th Satellite Awards, Motion picture winners and nominees, Best Screenplay – Original
Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber for (500) Days of Summer


14th Saturn Awards
The 14th Saturn Awards, honoring the best in science fiction, fantasy and horror film in 1986, were held on May 17, 1987.


14th Saturn Awards, Winners and nominees
Below is a complete list of nominees and winners. Winners are highlighted in bold.


14th Screen Actors Guild Awards
The 14th ceremony of the Screen Actors Guild Awards, honoring the best in film and television acting achievement for the year 2007, took place on January 27, 2008 and, for the 12th consecutive time was held at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles, California. It was broadcast live simultaneously by TNT and TBS.


14th Screen Actors Guild Awards
The nominees were announced on December 20, 2007 by Jeanne Tripplehorn and Terrence Howard at Los Angeles' Pacific Design Center's Silver Screen Theater.


14th Screen Actors Guild Awards
Into the Wild received the highest number of nominations among the film categories with four, three for acting and one for ensemble performance. In the television categories The Sopranos, 30 Rock and Ugly Betty had the most nominations with three each.


14th Screen Actors Guild Awards
The 2007 Screen Actors Guild Awards was the first to give awards for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture and Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series.


14th Screen Actors Guild Awards
The 2007 ceremony celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Screen Actors Guild with historical background and film clips presented in segments introduced by Blair Underwood throughout the ceremony. Charles Durning was presented with an award for Lifetime Achievement following accolades by Denis Leary and Burt Reynolds.


14th Screen Actors Guild Awards
The ceremony was held in the midst of the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike. Because the acting community steadfastly had supported the writers during this period, the WGA granted a waiver on December 11, 2007, to SAG for the awards show, allowing members to attend without having to cross picket lines. While talk of the strike was kept to a minimum, Julie Christie openly acknowledged it in her acceptance speech, commenting, "It's lovely to receive an award from your own union, especially at a time when we're being so forcefully reminded how important unions are." In her acceptance speech, Tina Fey thanked the Screen Actors Guild for its support of the WGA.


14th Screen Actors Guild Awards
After acknowledging the recent death of Heath Ledger, Daniel Day-Lewis dedicated his award to the actor.


14th Screen Actors Guild Awards, In Memoriam
Denis Leary introduced a previously recorded "In Memoriam" segment which honored the life and career of the great actors who died last year:


14th Scripps National Spelling Bee
The 14th National Spelling Bee was held at the National Museum in Washington, D.C. on May 31, 1938. Scripps-Howard would not sponsor the Bee until 1941.


14th Scripps National Spelling Bee
The winner was 12-year-old Marian Richardson, who attended a one-room schoolhouse in Floyd County, Indiana, correctly spelling the word sanitarium. Jean Pierce of Kenmore, New York placed second after failing to correctly spell pronunciation.


14th Scripps National Spelling Bee
Winner Marian Richardson, later Byrnes, became an environmental activist in Chicago, and died on May 20, 2010.


14th Searchlight Battery (Finland)
The 14th Searchlight Battery (Finnish: 14. Valonheitinpatteri (14.Vh.Ptri)) was a Finnish anti-aircraft searchlight battery formed from women of the Lotta Svärd organization ("searchlight lottas", Finnish: valonheitinlotat) at the end of the Continuation War. The battery was formed to free men for other tasks and was used in the air-defence of Helsinki. The battery was the only armed unit in Finnish Army made up from women that was organized as a military unit fit for combat duty. The searchlight battery was operational from late summer 1944 to the end of the Continuation War but did not see action.


14th Searchlight Battery (Finland), Background
As the air-defences of Helsinki were improved in spring 1944 after the winter bombings it was decided to replace some of the personnel in searchlight units with women to ease manpower shortage. Three hundred women were selected from students working already in air surveillance duties, of whom 215 arrived for searchlight training. The trainees were mainly from Helsinki University of Technology, University of Helsinki and Ateneum, but also from schools in Turku and Tampere.


14th Searchlight Battery (Finland), Background
The training began on 31 May 1944 in Laajasalo in Helsinki, but was suspended already on 9 June since there was no guarantee that the women would continue to serve after fall (student work responsibility only covered summer months). The training continued after the women expressed interest in the task and pledged to serve for as long as the war demanded or a minimum of one year. After this the number of trainees was set at 145 and the training was concentrated to Anti-aircraft regiment 1 (Finnish: Ilmatorjuntarykmentti 1 (ItR 1)) in Helsinki, while the training in 1st


14th Searchlight Battery (Finland), Background
Independent Anti-aircraft Battalion (Finnish: 1. Erillinen ilmatorjuntapatteristo (1.Er.ItPsto)) in Turku and 2nd Independent Anti-aircraft Battalion (Finnish: 2. Erillinen ilmatorjuntapatteristo (2.Er.ItPsto)) in Tampere was discontinued. Captain K. H. Pentti led the training while Inkeri Simola acted as the Lotta leader. Simola was later succeeded by Aino Airamo. A voluntary written commitment to remain in service as well as passing a medical examination for continuous outdoor duty was required from the women who wished to serve in the searchlight battery.


14th Searchlight Battery (Finland), Training
The women completed their training successfully. They were divided into four groups: 25 searchlight team leaders, 30 acoustic locator operators, 63 searchlight operators and 29 generator operators. Three Second Lieutenants, 30 non-commissioned officers and nine soldiers formed the training staff. The course included several military subjects that had not been taught to Lottas before. Armed service caused a minor crisis for the Lotta Svärd organization, which had emphasized a principle of nonviolence. Because of Soviet agent and invasion danger the Lotta Svärd central committee had to consent to arming the women in the searchlight battery.


14th Searchlight Battery (Finland), Training
The leader of the Lotta Svärd organization, Fanni Luukkonen, said that armed service for women meant the "death of womanhood" (Finnish: "naiseuden kuolema"), but that the wartime situation demanded extraordinary measures. The weapon used by the women was an Italian Terni military rifle that was also used by other anti-aircraft units.


14th Searchlight Battery (Finland), Active service
As the training ended on 26 July the women were formed into 14th Searchlight Battery and attached to Anti-aircraft Regiment 1. The battery operated as per normal military chain of command structure and in early August it was assigned to guard the least dangerous sector in the North-Western Helsinki. The battery did not see action and after armistice it was disbanded by the order of commander of the Airforce on 24 September.


14th Seiyu Awards
The 14th Seiyu Awards (声優アワード) were announced on March 7, 2020 by Nippon Cultural Broadcasting. The winners of the Merit Awards, the Kei Tomiyama Award, and the Kazue Takahashi Award, were announced on 18 February 2020. The ceremony was originally scheduled to be held at the Bunka Housou Media Plus Hall, but was cancelled during COVID-19 pandemic. The results were instead announced on the Chou! A&G radio program.


14th Seiyu Awards, Award winners
Magical Angel Creamy Mami (Toshio Ohtomo), Mars (Six God Combination Godmars)


14th Senate of Spain
The 14th Senate of Spain is the current meeting of the Senate of Spain, the upper house of the Spanish Cortes Generales, with the membership determined primarily by the results of the general election held on 10 November 2019. The Senate met for the first time on 3 December 2019. According to the Constitution of Spain the maximum legislative term of the senate is 4 years from the preceding election.


14th Senate of Spain, Election
The 14th Spanish general election under the 1978 Constitution was held on 10 November 2019. It saw the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) remaining the largest party in the Senate, but falling short of a majority.


14th Senate of Spain, History
The new senate met for the first time on 3 December 2019 and after two rounds of voting Pilar Llop (PSOE) was  elected as President of the Senate of Spain.


14th Senate of Spain, History
Other members of the Bureau of the Senate were also elected on 3 December 2019: Cristina Narbona (PSOE), First Vice-President; Pío García-Escudero (PP), Second Vice-President; Francisco Fajardo (PSOE), First Secretary; Imanol Landa (EAJ), Second Secretary; Rafael Hernando (PP), Third Secretary; and Cristina Ayala (PP), Fourth Secretary.


14th Senate of Spain, Deaths, resignations and regional legislature appointments
The 14th senate has seen the following deaths, resignations and regional legislature appointments:


14th Special Forces Division
The 14th Special Forces Division is a division of the Syrian Armed Forces specializing in light infantry operations.


14th Special Forces Division, Role
Syrians use the term 'Special Forces' to describe the 14th, 15th divisions, as well as the independent 'special forces' regiments, but they more closely resemble conventional light infantry units, than Western Special Forces in both mission and composition.


14th Special Forces Division, Role
The term Special Forces has been applied ostensibly because of their specialized training in airborne and air assaultoperations, but they should be regarded as light infantry forces and elite only in relation to the conventional armored and mechanized brigades of the Syrian Army.


14th Special Forces Division, History
Women special military forces from the Defense Companies in the '70s and early '80s ate live snakes as part of their training while children being trained in paramilitary activities were trained to stab live puppies to death. Syrian special forces also ate live scorpions, live snakes, and live puppies during training. Syrian soldiers are also trained to handle vipers.


14th Special Forces Division, History
The 14th Special Forces Division was established to command three Special Forces Regiments after the mid 1990s restructuring of Ali Haydar’s consolidated Special Forces Command.


14th Special Forces Division, History
Haydar's Special Forces expanded in size to 25,000 men, and formed a key part of the Syrian government's security apparatus. The Special Forces were trained in airborne operations, and were rivaled on power only by the Defense Companies controlled by Hafez's brother, Rifaat. As such, the 14th Division became a strong counter-weight to the Defense Companies, as both these formations were largely airborne divisions.


14th Special Forces Division, History
Traditionally they are recruited from the Alawite sect to ensure loyalty to the government. Intelligence sources state it is likely that such units are involved in crushing popular dissent and neutralizing ringleaders.


14th Special Forces Division, Syrian occupation of Lebanon
Under Haydar, the Special Forces units were deployed to Lebanon as part of the Syrian intervention in the Lebanese Civil War. During the war they engaged with PLO units under the command of Yasser Arafat.


14th Special Forces Division, Syrian Civil War
The government committed much of the 14th Special Forces Division to the assault of Homs, in which it fought some of the strongest rebel positions of Homs’ southwest Baba Amr, Inshaat, and Jobar neighborhoods.


14th Special Forces Division, Syrian Civil War
Opposition reports specifically cited activity from the 556th Special Forces Regiment, but most frequently cited the 14th Special Forces Division generally. Activity was reported in different parts of the city during similar time-frames, suggesting that at least one additional regiment from the 14th Special Forces was involved in the Homs operation.


14th Sri Lankan Television State Awards
The 14th Television State Awards festival (Sinhala: 14 වැනි රූපවාහිනී රාජ්‍ය සම්මාන උලෙළ), was held to honor the television programs of 2018 Sinhala television on November 21, 2019, at the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre, Colombo 07, Sri Lanka. The event was organized by the State Television Advisory Council, Arts Council of Sri Lanka, Department of Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Housing and Cultural Affairs. Ravindra Randeniya and Malini Fonseka were attended as the Chief Guests.


14th Sri Lankan Television State Awards
At the award ceremony, Dr. Lalitha Siribandhana (Sinhala Medium) and Mr. S. Vishwanathan (Tamil Medium) received the Lifetime Achievement Award.


14th Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly
The 14th Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) was elected by the 1st Session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly on 11 April 2019. It was named 14th Presidium until sometime in 2021 when the body's name was changed to the current one.


14th State Affairs Commission
The 14th State Affairs Commission (SAC) of North Korea was elected by the 1st Session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly on 11 April 2019.


14th Street (Hoboken)
14th Street is a county highway in Hudson County, New Jersey, designated County Route 670. It begins at an intersection with Manhattan Avenue in Union City, also known as the South Wing Viaduct, and proceeds east over the 14th Street Viaduct to terminate at Sinatra Drive on the banks of the Hudson River in Hoboken. It is located at the northern end of Hoboken's street grid, and one of the only east–west streets in the city that allows for two-way traffic. It is located two blocks south of Weehawken Cove.


14th Street (Hoboken), The Viaduct
The four lane 14th Street Viaduct begins at the intersection of Willow Avenue, and travels perpendicular to the Hudson Palisades in Union City. It ascends to connect to the Wing Viaduct (which is designated as CR 683), which runs along the face of the cliff. Portions of the massive retaining wall were originally parts of the North Hudson County Railway's Hillside Line. At its summit the south wing becomes Paterson Plank Road in Jersey City Heights, while the north wing rises to Manhattan Avenue and Mountain Road. Just north of its lower end is the Willow Avenue Viaduct, which travels over the Hudson Bergen Light Rail and serves local as well as Lincoln Tunnel-bound traffic.


14th Street (Hoboken), The Viaduct
The 1,460 foot-long Viaduct was constructed in 1908, and provided a road for horses and carriages. It is estimated that that Viaduct carries approximately 20,000 vehicles daily. It does not have a designated bike lane, but does include a sidewalk and small shoulder on its southern side.


14th Street (Hoboken), The Viaduct
Plans were unveiled for improvements to the area beneath the bridge on September 7, 2010, which include a dog run, playground, raised sidewalks and narrower streets for improved pedestrian safety, a block of active recreation space with a multi-use court and two blocks of multi-purpose space that can be used for farmer's markets and other community purposes. The plans also include the closing of east-west blocks of South Marginal Street to vehicular traffic, which was already done with the street in front of the Clearview Cinemas that opened just south of the Viaduct's span in 2009.


14th Street (Hoboken), The Viaduct
The plans were part of a $55 million federally funded improvement project for Hudson County that was spurred by the 2007 collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Limits on the reconstruction were imposed by the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office, due to the structure's historic significance. The restoration of the Viaduct is also attributed as the cause of the increased development in the area of Washington Park in Union City and Ogden Avenue in Jersey City, which to which South Wing of the Viaduct lead via Manhattan Avenue. Projects are also being developed at the foot of the Viaduct, including retail and residential construction, and at other areas near the Viaduct that were previously occupied by manufacturing and warehousing facilities.


14th Street (Hoboken), The Viaduct
The renovation's completion was delayed by Superstorm Sandy, but nonetheless completed before the revised, post-Sandy deadline of August 2014. A ceremony was held on July 7, 2014 to mark the completion of work on the Viaduct. Mayor Dawn Zimmer, Senator Robert Menendez, and several other mayors and dignitaries were to be on hand to celebrate the completed renovation. The completed viaduct opened on July 21, though some elements of the renovation were to be completed past this date, such as Wi-Fi-connected security cameras above and below the structure, accessible by the police departments of Hoboken, Union City and Jersey City, as well as the Hudson County Sheriff's office.


14th Street (Hoboken), Transportation
New Jersey Transit operates bus routes 22, 89 (to North Hudson) 119 and 126 (to Port Authority Bus Terminal) along the street.


14th Street (Hoboken), Transportation
A ferry had been located at the foot of 14th Street for many years, and was later replaced by Bethlehem Shipyard drydock. In 2009 service was restored. Operated by New York Waterway, daily service runs to the West Midtown Ferry Terminal, with some trips via Lincoln Harbor, and the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal.


14th Street (Manhattan)
14th Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, traveling between Eleventh Avenue on Manhattan's West Side and Avenue C on Manhattan's East Side. It forms a boundary between several neighborhoods and is sometimes considered the border between Lower Manhattan and Midtown Manhattan.


14th Street (Manhattan)
At Broadway, 14th Street forms the southern boundary of Union Square. It is also considered the northern boundary of Greenwich Village, Alphabet City, and the East Village, and the southern boundary of Chelsea, Flatiron/Lower Midtown, and Gramercy. West of Third Avenue, 14th Street marks the southern terminus of western Manhattan's grid system. North of 14th Street, the streets make up a near-perfect grid that runs in numerical order. South of 14th, the grid continues in the East Village almost perfectly, but not so in Greenwich Village, where an older and less uniform grid plan applies.


14th Street (Manhattan)
In the early history of New York City, 14th Street was an upscale location. However, it lost its glamour and status as the city grew northward and today it is primarily zoned as a commercial street. In October 2019, a busway restriction was put in place between Third and Ninth Avenues, prohibiting most types of vehicles during the daytime.


14th Street (Manhattan), History
The street was designated by the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 as the southernmost of 15 east–west streets that would be 100 feet (30 m) in width (while other streets were designated as 60 feet (18 m) wide).


14th Street (Manhattan), Description
West 14th Street begins at an interchange with New York State Route 9A northeast of Greenwich Village. At the end of the interchange, it intersects with 10th Avenue. The street continues east, intersecting with Washington Street, Ninth Avenue/Hudson Street, Eighth Avenue, Seventh Avenue, Sixth Avenue, and Fifth Avenue. After Fifth Avenue, West 14th Street becomes East 14th Street and goes on to form the southern border of Union Square between University Place and Fourth Avenue. East of Fourth Avenue, 14th Street forms the southern end of Irving Place, a north-south road that terminates at Gramercy Park.


14th Street (Manhattan), Description
14th Street then intersects with Third Avenue, which forms the border between the neighborhoods of the East Village to the south and Gramercy to the north. The street goes on to intersect with Second Avenue. At First Avenue, 14th Street widens from a four-lane road to a six-lane divided boulevard with a westbound service road. It then intersects with the main thoroughfares of Alphabet City: Avenue A, Avenue B, and Avenue C, where the street terminates.


14th Street (Manhattan), Description
It formerly terminated at FDR Drive via an on-ramp to the southbound FDR before the September 11 attacks, when the New York Police Department vacated the portion between Avenue C and FDR due to the presence of the nearby ConEdison East River Generating Station along 14th and 15th Streets as a possible terrorist target.


14th Street (Manhattan), Description
Since October 2019, vehicle restrictions are in place on 14th Street between Third and Ninth Avenues from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. The only vehicles that can use the busway are buses, trucks making deliveries on 14th Street, emergency and Access-A-Ride vehicles, and local traffic traveling for no more than one block.


14th Street (Manhattan), Public transportation
14th Street is well served by the New York City Subway. The BMT Canarsie Line (L train) runs underneath 14th Street from Eighth Avenue to the East River, stopping at Eighth Avenue, Sixth Avenue, Union Square, Third Avenue, and First Avenue. Additionally, every subway route that crosses 14th Street has a stop there, except for the B and D trains:


14th Street (Manhattan), Public transportation
A station at Second Avenue and 14th Street is planned as part of Phase 3 of the Second Avenue Subway, which is currently unfunded.


14th Street (Manhattan), Public transportation
PATH also makes a stop at 14th Street at its intersection with Sixth Avenue.


14th Street (Manhattan), Public transportation
In the past, every former IRT elevated line had a station at 14th Street:


14th Street (Manhattan), Public transportation
Two New York City Bus routes serve the entire street, the M14A and M14D.


14th Street (Manhattan), Public transportation, Bus priority and truck access
Alongside the Canarsie Tunnel closure between 2019 and 2020, the New York City Department of Transportation began planning conversion of 14th Street between Third and Ninth Avenues into a bus-only corridor during rush hours. The department began planning a new Select Bus Service bus rapid transit route to be implemented across 14th Street. At the time, the M14A/D routes were among the busiest and slowest NYCT bus routes. The M14A/D were converted to Select Bus Service routes on July 1, 2019.


14th Street (Manhattan), Public transportation, Bus priority and truck access
The 14th Street busway was inspired by Toronto's successful King Street Pilot Project, which sped up transit times for transit riders on the 504 King streetcar route, the Toronto Transit Commission's busiest surface route. As part of the busway plan, the only vehicles that could use the busway, between 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, would be buses, trucks making deliveries on 14th Street, emergency and Access-A-Ride vehicles. Local traffic would be required to turn off 14th Street at the next intersection.


14th Street (Manhattan), Public transportation, Bus priority and truck access
Arthur Schwartz, a lawyer who lives on nearby 12th Street, blocked the plan by filing several injunctions to halt its implementation. As a result, the busway was not implemented as scheduled in July 2019; pushing its implementation back to August 2019. The plan was blocked once again, pending an appeal. The August ruling was later overturned by a panel of judges who approved the busway's implementation, which took effect on October 3, 2019. The busway was so successful on its first day that M14 buses had to be slowed down in order to keep from running ahead of their posted schedules.


14th Street (Washington, D.C.)
14th Street NW/SW is a street in Northwest and Southwest quadrants of Washington, D.C., located 1.25 miles (2.01 km) west of the U.S. Capitol. It runs from the 14th Street Bridge north to Eastern Avenue.


14th Street (Washington, D.C.)
Northbound U.S. Route 1 runs along 14th Street from the bridge to Constitution Avenue, where it turns east with US 50. US 1 southbound previously used 15th Street NW due to the ban on left turns from westbound Constitution Avenue to 14th Street, but it now uses the Ninth Street Tunnel, five blocks to the east. 14th Street crosses the National Mall and runs near the White House and through the western side of Washington's Logan Circle neighborhood.


14th Street (Washington, D.C.)
Because it connects to one of the main bridges crossing the Potomac River into Virginia, 14th Street has always been a major transportation corridor. It was the location of one of the first streetcar lines, and today it is the location of several afternoon carpooling "slug lines", which allow commuters to meet the high-occupancy vehicle requirements of I-395, the Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway.


14th Street (Washington, D.C.), History
In the middle of the 20th century, 14th Street NW near the intersection of P Street was home to many car dealerships and was known as "auto row". The Casino Royal at 14th and H Streets was one of the city's most popular nightclubs. The street was the location of race riots in 1968 after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.


14th Street (Washington, D.C.), History
In the 1980s, a portion of 14th Street became known primarily for its red-light district. Many strip clubs and massage parlors were concentrated roughly between New York Avenue and K Street, while prostitutes plied their trade around Logan Circle. However, rising land values eventually pushed out the adult businesses. The Source Theatre, founded by Bart Whiteman, was given some credit for the area's revival. Whiteman stood outside the theater to escort people inside in order to make them feel safer. The opening of a Whole Foods Market at 14th and P Streets in 2000 is also considered a major turning point for the neighborhood.


14th Street (Washington, D.C.), History
With the gentrification of the neighborhoods through which it passes – particularly downtown, Logan Circle, the U Street Corridor, and Columbia Heights – 14th Street is now known for live theater, art galleries, and trendy restaurants. Moreover, while the nominal center of the city's gay life is still Dupont Circle, the Washington Blade called 14th Street between U Street and Massachusetts Avenue (Thomas Circle) the best place to see and be seen. As of 2012, the center of gravity had shifted and Logan Circle was voted "DC's gay neighborhood."


14th Street (Washington, D.C.), History
14th Street, especially south of Florida Avenue, is rapidly gentrifying and now known as one of the preeminent dining destinations in the Greater Washington area. In a nine-month period alone between 2012 and 2013, 24 new restaurants opened on 14th Street. In a two-year span, almost every block of 14th between Rhode Island and Florida Avenues had a major residential redevelopment project scheduled, adding more than 1,200 housing units and 85,000 square feet (7,900 m2) of retail.


14th Street (Washington, D.C.), Transit service
Fourteenth Street has been a major transit route ever since the Capital Traction Company streetcar line was built around the turn of the 20th century. The successor to that line is the Metrobus 14th Street Line—routes 52 & 54.


14th Street (Washington, D.C.), Transit service, Rail
There are two Metrorail stations on 14th Street (the U Street station is one block east, at 13th and U Streets NW and is considered the most convenient stop to visit the heart of 14th St between P and V Sts NW):


14th Street (Washington, D.C.), Transit service, Bus, Metrobus
The following Metrobus routes travel along the street (listed from south to north):


14th Street (Washington, D.C.), Transit service, Bus, DC Circulator
The DC Circulator's Woodley Park–Adams Morgan–McPherson Square Metro bus line travels along 14th Street between Columbia Heights and Franklin Square.


14th Street Limited Line
The 14th Street Limited Line, designated Route 59, is a limited stop peak hour-only MetroExtra bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between Takoma station which is served by the Red Line of the Washington Metro and Federal Triangle station which is served by the Orange, Blue, and Silver lines of the Washington Metro. The line operates every 15 minutes during rush hours and trips are roughly 50 minutes. This line provides additional service during peak hours along the 14th Street corridor supplementing routes 52 and 54.


14th Street Limited Line, Background
Route 59 provides limited stop service along the 14th Street corridor supplementing routes 52 and 54. The route operates in both directions during rush hours serving 18 stops southbound and 19 stops northbound. Route 59 currently operates out of Bladensburg garage. Prior to 2019, route 59 would operate out of Northern division before being closed due to structural problems.


14th Street Limited Line, History
The 14th Street Line run by routes 52 and 54 are one of the most heavily used routes in the Metrobus system with about 15,000 riders use these buses on a typical weekday. Those routes connects Takoma station to Downtown Washington DC via 14th Street. However, the routes suffers from crowding, delays, traffic, and ineffectiveness due to the routes having at least 26 stops and frequency of buses are at least 20 minutes. This leads to residents opting for the more efficient 16th Street buses (the S1, S2 and S9).


14th Street Limited Line, History
The idea for a 14th Street express line came as far back as 2012. In 2011, WMATA teamed up with the DC Department of Transportation to study the 14th Street corridor with the biggest conclusion being an express service. The study concluded that express bus service on the 14th Street line (it called express service “limited-stop bus service”) would benefit riders:


14th Street Limited Line, History
The advantages to this proposal are that this service would not only enhance route capacity, but would also improve service frequencies at bus stops served by the limited stop service (service frequency at local-only stops would not be impacted). It would also reduce travel times for passengers able to utilize the bus stops that would be served by the limited stop service. The primary disadvantage is that this proposal would likely incur additional operating costs.


14th Street Limited Line, History
WMATA also recommended extending route 53 from McPherson Square station up to G street running more service north of Colorado Avenue NW, and extending service to the Waterfront area, as well as giving riders better information, doing more to enforce parking restrictions, using articulated buses and training bus operators specifically for the lines they drive.


14th Street Limited Line, History
However, the proposal could not find enough support in previous city budget negotiations, and the idea was scrapped. Since 2012, the 14th Street corridor began to grow even more with businesses in the area nearly doubling from 7,371 in 2011, to 13,992 in 2015.


14th Street Limited Line, History, Proposed New Route
The proposal came back between 2016 and 2017 due to the increased ridership along 14th Street and due to more political support.


14th Street Limited Line, History, Proposed New Route
During WMATA's FY2018 budget, it was proposed for the 14th Street limited stop route to be called Route 59 which would operate a limited stop segment between Takoma station and Federal Triangle station replacing route 54's routing between Metro Center station and Federal Triangle as a respond to requests by the District of Columbia and District Department of Transportation. The route will be implemented as soon as December 2017 if passed.


14th Street Limited Line, History, Proposed New Route
Many residents and local leaders were in favored for the new limited stop service and pushed the DC Council to fund for the new route. The proposal was endorsed by several Advisory Neighborhood Commissions in the 14th Street corridor to respond to growing development activity and passenger crowding on local service.


14th Street Limited Line, History, Proposed New Route
Ward 4 Council member Brandon Todd stated on the 59 proposal:


14th Street Limited Line, History, Proposed New Route
I strongly support the creation of an express bus line on 14th street. With increased residential and commercial development along that corridor, there has never been a more important time to make this critical investment in our transportation network…Ward 4 cannot wait any longer for more robust and efficient transportation options.


14th Street Limited Line, History, Proposed New Route
Ward 1 Council member Brianne Nadeau, a 52 and 54 bus rider herself, has also pledged early support:


14th Street Limited Line, History, Proposed New Route
As the population along 14th Street continues to grow, it’s vital that we provide additional service in this well-utilized corridor… Access to reliable bus service is essential for District residents, and express service on other bus lines has provided relief to those who rely on transit to get around the city.


14th Street Limited Line, History, Proposed New Route
At-large Council members Robert White, Elissa Silverman, and David Grosso, along with Ward 6's Charles Allen, have also said they support the new bus service.


14th Street Limited Line, History, Proposed New Route
As an up-town resident far from a Metro station myself,” says White, “I know the 59 bus could offer critical economic, transit and environmental benefits to our residents and neighborhoods and is the closest we can get to bus rapid transit right now.


14th Street Limited Line, History, Proposed New Route
Funding would still need to be approved with mayor Bowser submitting her budget proposal and the DC Council will debate and amend it before a final approval in late spring.


14th Street Limited Line, History, Proposed New Route
On March 29, 2017, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser announced funding for additional service along 14th Street.


14th Street Limited Line, History, Proposed New Route
On June 13, 2017, the DC Council and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser approved WMATA's FY2018 budget (a $1.2 million budget) which includes the new limited stop route along 14th Street. Councilmembers who publicly advocated in favor of 59 funding include Brianne Nadeau, Brandon Todd, Jack Evans, Elissa Silverman, David Grosso, Charles Allen, and Robert White. The new route will begin in December 2017 to ease out the overcrowding already on routes 52, 53, and 54.


14th Street Limited Line, History, Route Implication
In December 2017, WMATA announced that route 59 will begin service on January 8, 2018. The new route 59 will operate between Takoma station and Federal Triangle station along the 14th Street corridor making limited stops every 15 minutes during weekday rush hours only between 6:30-9:30 AM and 3:45-7:00 PM. Route 59 will enhance route capacity and also improve service frequencies at stops served by the limited-stop bus.


14th Street Limited Line, History, Route Implication
In the process of the new route 59, route 52 was extended to Southwest Waterfront discontinuing service along D street, route 53 was discontinued and replaced by route 54, and route 54 was shorten to Metro Center with Federal Triangle service replaced by route 59. All the changes happened on December 17, 2017 while route 59 began service on January 8, 2018.


14th Street Limited Line, History, Route Implication
The launch of route 59 was met with positives from 14th street residents, council members, and riders on its first day. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser held a press conference with riders following the inaugural ride from Takoma station. After Mayor Bowser ride, she stated;


14th Street Limited Line, History, Route Implication
Safe and reliable public transportation makes it easier for residents to get to work, school, and beyond. The 14th Street corridor has seen substantial economic development and growth, making it one of the most heavily traveled corridors in the District. As the District continues to grow, we’re going to continue finding ways to make it easier for our residents to share in our prosperity.


14th Street Limited Line, History, Route Implication
The route was successful on its first day and helped out routes 52 and 54 from overcrowding and delays.


14th Street Limited Line, History, Changes
In 2019 during WMATA's FY2021 year, WMATA proposed to give route 59 daily service in order to replace route 54. Route 59 will operate every 8 minutes during peak hours and during the same span as route 54 during off peak hours and weekends. However, the route will become a local route between 14th and Colorado and Takoma station serving all stops in between the two points. This was due to the following reasons:


14th Street Limited Line, History, Changes
About 4,800 riders board Route 52 or 54 local service at stops south of 14th Street & Colorado Avenue that are not served by route 59, which would see a 50% reduction in frequency of local service. This is approximately 38% of the total 12,800 riders that board all 52, 54 buses on an average weekday according to WMATA. Approximate frequency at stops south of Colorado Avenue would be as follows:


14th Street Limited Line, History, Changes
If the proposals were to gone through, routes 52 and 59 would be the only two routes running along the 14th Street Corridor. However, WMATA later backed out the proposals due to customer pushback on April 2, 2020.


14th Street Limited Line, History, Changes
All Route 59 service was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. The route would later resume on August 23, 2020.


14th Street Limited Line, History, Changes
In February 2021 during the FY2022 budget, WMATA proposed to eliminate the 59 if they do not get any federal funding.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.)
The 14th Street Line, designated Routes 52, 54, is a daily bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between Takoma station of the Red Line of the Washington Metro and L'Enfant Plaza station (52) of the Blue, Yellow, Orange, Green, and Silver lines of the Washington Metro or Metro Center station (54) of the Red, Blue, Orange, and Silver Lines of the Washington Metro. The line operates at every 12 minutes frequencies during the day and 10-30 minutes during late night service. Trips roughly take 40-60 minutes to complete. Select trips begin/end at 14th Street and Colorado Avenue NW as well.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), Background
The 14th Street Line is one of the most heavily used routes in the Metrobus system with about 15,000 riders using these buses on a typical weekday. Those routes connect Takoma station to Downtown DC via 14th Street. However, the routes suffer from crowding, delays, traffic, and ineffectiveness due to the routes having at least 26 stops and the frequency of buses is at least 20 minutes. This led to residents opting for the more efficient 16th Street buses (the S1, S2, S4, and S9) prior to 2017.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), Background
Routes 52 and 54 operate daily 24 hours a day between Takoma station and L'Enfant Plaza station or Metro Center station, running along the 14th Street corridor and connecting many neighborhoods to various Metro stations. Route 52 only serves Takoma station during the early mornings and late nights daily, terminating at 14th Street and Colorado Avenue NW during most of the day. Route 54 operates at all times to Takoma station. Additionally, select route 54 trips are operated during school days from 14th & Aspen Streets NW or Reeves Center going northbound.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), Background
Routes 52 and 54 currently operate out of Western division. It originally operated out of Northern division until 2019 when it was closed. At one point, routes 52 and 54 utilized articulated buses, but later stopped using them on a regular basis.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
The line was originally operated under the Capital Traction Company which began service in 1895. Congress authorized the Rock Creek Railway to purchase and merge with any connecting company, and to change its name which was implemented on September 21, 1895. This merger took place with the Washington and Georgetown on September 21, 1895.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
In 1896, the former Rock Creek line experimented with a new power system on U Street NW between 9th Street NW and 18th Street NW. The Love system transmitted electricity through a set of trolley wheels running on underground conduit rails instead of through the sliding shoe used elsewhere. While the system worked it was more expensive to install. In the spring of 1899 it was replaced with the sliding shoe and the line continued to the Calvert Street Loop.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
Meanwhile the branch of the Pennsylvania Avenue Line from the east edge of the White House northeast on New York Avenue and north on 14th Street Northwest to Florida Avenue, part of the original charter, was opened November 15, 1862. A law passed June 30, 1864 allowed it to continue the line north; it was eventually extended to Park Road and later to Colorado Avenue, where it connected to the Washington and Maryland Line.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
The line was originally run by cable cars but was electrified after the powerhouse along 14th street burnt down. The line was later electrified on February 27, 1898. The Pennsylvania Avenue Line and 7th Street Line later followed in 1898.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
By the 1920s, cars were turned at four northern terminals: Park Road, Decatur Street, Colorado Avenue, and Takoma (via the Washington and Maryland Line). Some Park Road cars turned west on Pennsylvania Avenue, while cars from all four terminals turned east. 14th Street was also used by Chevy Chase Line cars to Chevy Chase Lake, which turned off at the U Street Line.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
The North American Company, a transit and utilities holding company began to acquire stock in the Washington Railway in 1922, gaining a controlling interest by 1928. By December 31, 1933, it owned 50.016% of the voting stock. North American tried to purchase Capital Traction, but Capital Traction always remained widely owned by the residents of Washington, without a principal stock holder. North American never owned more than 2.5% of Capital Traction stock.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
Nonetheless the Great Depression proved difficult for the transit companies and so to survive, on December 1, 1933 Washington Railway, Capital Traction, and Washington Rapid Transit merged to form the Capital Transit Company. Washington Railway continued as a holding company, owning 50% of Capital Transit and 100% of PEPCO, but Capital Traction was later dissolved. For the first time street railways in Washington were under the management of one company.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
After the 1933 consolidation, the Fourteenth Street Line was combined with part of the ex-Washington Railway and Electric Company Fourth Street Line, which used Fourteenth Street from the White House south to the Bureau of Engraving, where a new underground terminal was built. It later formed routes 50, 52, and 54 which were used the old Fourteenth Street Line, running respectively to the Bureau of Engraving, the ex-WR&E Eleventh Street Line (via U Street), and the Pennsylvania Avenue Line to the Navy Yard. Route 52 was discontinued which ran to U street and 11th Street, but 50 and 54 remained until January 28, 1962.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
Routes 50 and 54 were later acquired to run by buses under DC Transit when streetcars began to phase out. Routes 50 and 54 operated from Takoma and Bureau of Engraving and Printing (50) and Navy Yard (54) primarily running along 14th Street. Route 52 would also be reincarnated to operate a similar pattern to route 52 but altered slightly running via Independence Avenue, 12th Street, and D street. Most trips would end at 14th and Colorado while some trips are extended to Takoma. Routes 50, 52, and 54 eventually became Metrobus routes on February 4, 1973 when WMATA acquired DC Transit and three other transit agencies.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
Other routes that weren't formed under the Metrobus tag were the 56 and 58. Route 56 operated from Summit Hills Apartments to the Bureau of Engraving and route 58 operated to Takoma. Route 56 was later renamed routes 50, 52, and 54 when the merger happened in 1973 while route 58 was later renamed route K8.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
On February 6, 1978, routes 50, 52, and 54 were rerouted to serve the newly opened Takoma station in order to connect riders to the Washington Metro.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
During the mid-1990s, route 50 was discontinued, route 52 was shortened to L'Enfant Plaza station, and route 54 was shortened to Federal Triangle. Route 54 was later  extended to the L'Enfant Plaza station during the 1990s. Several years after route 50 was eliminated, a new route 53 was introduced to operate along the former route 50 routing between Takoma station and the Bureau of Engraving. It was then later shortened to Federal Triangle and then later shorten to Franklin Square/McPherson Square station.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
In 2015, WMATA proposed to cut back the 54 to McPherson Square station due to low ridership south of the station. Service to Archives station and L'Enfant Plaza station would be discontinued. But it was also proposed to improve the frequency of buses between Takoma station and 14th Street and Colorado due to high ridership volume.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
On June 26, 2016, route 54 was shorten to Federal Triangle with alternative service provided by routes 52 and 53. However, the frequency of buses increased between Takoma station and 14th Street and Colorado.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
In 2017, WMATA proposed many changes to the 52, 53, and 54.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
WMATA proposed to reroute Route 52 to serve the Wharf development via 12th Street, Maine Avenue, and 7th Street SW to and from L'Enfant Plaza station. WMATA also proposed to combine routes 53 and 54 into a new route 54 operating to and from Metro Center station (12th and F Streets NW) shortening route 54 even further. WMATA would also adjust the weekday schedule to coordinate local route 52 and 54 service with a proposed new MetroExtra limited-stop route 59, serve the Wharf, and decrease the time between buses to Takoma station.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
These proposed changes were in order to provide service to the new Wharf development, coordinate schedules with new route 59 limited-stop service, simplify 14th Street service and route designations, alleviate bus congestion at Franklin Square, and responds to requests by the District of Columbia and District Department of Transportation. Performance measures for routes 52, 53, and 54 goes as the following:


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
If the changes are approved, the changes will be implemented as soon as December 2017.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
At the time of the proposals, route 52 and 54 would mainly operate up to 14th Street and Colorado and would only run to Takoma station during select times and Sundays (it would start at Takoma station however). Route 53 would operate between Monday and Saturday only its full route.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
On June 13, 2017, the DC Council and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser approved WMATA's FY2018 budget (a $1.2 million budget) which includes the new limited stop route and reconstructed service along 14th Street. Changes will be implemented as soon as December 2017.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
On December 17, 2017, route 52 was extended along 12th Street and Maine Avenue SW in order to serve the Wharf development to and from L'Enfant Plaza station with most service along D Street being discontinued. Routes 53 and 54 were combined into one route operating between Takoma station and Metro Center station (F & 12th streets NW) with the 53 designation and service to Federal Triangle being discontinued.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
A new route 59 limited-stop route was also introduced to operate alongside routes 52 and 54 between Takoma station and Federal Triangle which replaced the 54 portion between Metro Center and Federal Triangle and fully replaced route 53. Service began on January 8, 2018.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
In 2019 during WMATA's FY2021 year, WMATA proposed to replace route 54 and give route 59 daily service. Route 59 will operate every 8 minutes during peak hours and during the same span as route 54 during off peak hours and weekends. However, the route will become a local route between 14th and Colorado and Takoma station serving all stops in between the two points. This was due to the following reasons:


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
About 4,800 riders board Route 52 or 54 local service at stops south of 14th Street & Colorado Avenue that are not served by route 59, which would see a 50% reduction in frequency of local service. This is approximately 38% of the total 12,800 riders that board all 52, 54 buses on an average weekday according to WMATA. Approximate frequency at stops south of Colorado Avenue would be as follows:


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
If the proposals were to gone through, routes 52 and 59 would be the only two routes running along the 14th Street Corridor. However, WMATA later backed out the proposals due to customer pushback on April 2, 2020.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the line was reduced to operate on its Saturday supplemental schedule during the weekdays beginning on March 16, 2020. On March 18, 2020, the line was further reduced to operate on its Sunday schedule. On March 21, 2020, weekend service on the 52 became suspended and Route 54 was reduced to operate every 30 minutes. Service was restored to its full service on August 23, 2020.


14th Street Line (Washington, D.C.), History
On September 5, 2021, the frequency between buses improved to every 12 minutes daily.


14th Street Theatre
For the theater that was once in New York City see Fourteenth Street Theatre


14th Street Theatre
The 14th Street Theatre, located at 2037 E. 14th Street in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, was a 288-seat theater built in 2002 as part of Playhouse Square. Originally built for Second City Cleveland, the theater closed in 2013 and is now Cibreo Privato, the private dining space for the Italian restaurant Cibreo, owned and operated by Driftwood Restaurant Group.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown
The 14th Street Tunnel shutdown (also referred to as the L Project, the L train shutdown, or the Canarsie Tunnel reconstruction) was the partial closure and reconstruction of the New York City Subway's 14th Street Tunnel that took place from April 2019 to April 2020. The tunnel carries the BMT Canarsie Line (serving the L train) under the East River in New York City, connecting the boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan, and is used by an average of 225,000 passengers per weekday.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown
A key segment of the 14th Street Tunnel, between the Bedford Avenue station in Brooklyn and the First Avenue station in Manhattan, would be partially closed for 15 to 20 months to allow for necessary and extensive repairs to the underwater tubes after it was flooded and severely damaged during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown
Two options were proposed in 2016: a three-year construction period where one tube at a time would be closed or an 18-month closure where both tubes would be worked on simultaneously. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority ultimately chose the 18-month closure option because it would be less disruptive to passenger service. The shutdown period was later reduced to 15 months to reduce service disruption. To accommodate displaced passengers, new or expanded bus, subway, and ferry service was to be added, and a 14th Street busway would have been implemented.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown
The shutdown plan was criticized by riders who use the L train and people living along or near 14th Street in Manhattan, as it would have had adverse effects on other subway routes and on vehicular traffic. In January 2019, it was announced that the shutdown would not be a full-time closure, but a night and weekend closure. Ultimately, the line was not closed; night and weekend service was merely reduced.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Background
In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused severe damage to New York City, and many subway tunnels were inundated with floodwater. The storm flooded nine of the system's 14 underwater tunnels, many subway lines and yards, and completely destroyed a portion of the Rockaway Line (A train) in Queens, as well as much of the South Ferry terminal at Manhattan's southern tip.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Background
The subway opened with limited service two days after the storm and was running at 80 percent capacity within five days; however, some infrastructure needed repairs, which were staggered over several years starting in 2013. A year after the storm, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which operates the New York City Subway, said that Hurricane Sandy "was unprecedented in terms of the amount of damage that we were seeing throughout the system."


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Background
Reconstruction required many weekend closures on several lines and long-term closures on the Greenpoint Tunnel (G train), Montague Street Tunnel (R train), Rockaway Line, and the South Ferry station. A long-term closure was planned for the 14th Street Tunnel because it was significantly damaged by the storm surge. Moreover, the 14th Street Tunnel dates from 1924; thus its equipment was already 88 years old when Hurricane Sandy occurred.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Closure options
In January 2016, the Canarsie Line between the Bedford Avenue station in Brooklyn and the Eighth Avenue station in Manhattan was proposed for either of two shutdown options. One option involved shuttering the entire segment for eighteen months. The other option would allow the MTA to operate two segments of track for three years: a single-track segment between Bedford and Eighth Avenues with a capacity of 5 trains per hour per direction, and regular service between Lorimer Street and Rockaway Parkway.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Closure options
For both options, the Third Avenue station would be closed and new exits and elevators at the First Avenue and Bedford Avenue stations would be added. The renovations would cost between $800 million and $1 billion; as of July 2018, the project budget includes $926 million. During the shutdown, workers would replace damaged communications, power and signal wires, third rails and tracks, duct banks, pump rooms, circuit breaker houses, tunnel lighting, concrete lining, and fire protection systems. Three new electric substations would provide more power to run more trains during rush hours.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Closure options
The closure would affect the 225,000 subway riders per weekday who travel on the 14th Street Tunnel between Brooklyn and Manhattan. This accounts for about 75% of the 300,000 riders per day who use the L train. Community meetings were held to determine which of the two options would be better. In an internal assessment, the MTA concluded that four out of five L train riders would be less impacted by the full-closure option compared to the partial-closure option. Additionally, the single-track option would result in severe overcrowding at First and Bedford Avenues.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Closure options
A subsequent poll conducted by transit-advocacy group Riders Alliance revealed that 77 percent of L train riders preferred the 18-month closure option. In July 2016, it was announced that the MTA had chosen the 18-month full closure option. Riders reacted with both disappointment over the closure, and relief that the service disruption would be shorter. The New York Post described the closure with the headline, "2019 is the year Williamsburg dies."


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Closure options
The MTA named Judlau Contracting and TC Electric as the project's contractors on April 3, 2017, at which time the duration of the shutdown was shortened to 15 months. It offered the contractors a $188,000-a-day bonus for completing work up to 60 days early. as well as a $15 million bonus for completing the project on time; the MTA also stipulated that the companies would need to pay a fine of $410,000 for each day that work is delayed past the 15-month deadline. The joint venture is also responsible for renovating the First Avenue and Bedford Avenue stations during the shutdown, as well as adding platform screen doors to the Third Avenue station. According to a July 2018 report, construction was supposed to be "substantially completed" by November 2020.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Initial mitigation plans
The MTA indicated that during the shutdown, the L route would only have a frequency of ten trains per hour between Bedford Avenue and Rockaway Parkway, because of severely constrained terminal capacity at Bedford Avenue. In mid-2016, the MTA devised preliminary mitigation plans, which proposed additional shuttle bus, ferry, and subway service. A ferry route between Williamsburg and the East Village of Manhattan would be instituted; the M14A and M14D buses might be converted to Select Bus Service; and dedicated bus lanes would be placed on crosstown corridors in Manhattan.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Initial mitigation plans
The MTA would institute two out-of-system subway transfers, free if paid via MetroCard: one between Broadway (G train) and Lorimer Street (J and M trains), and one between Livonia Avenue (L train) and Junius Street (3 train). In addition, the plan included extending G trains from four cars to eight cars, as well as running the M train to Midtown Manhattan daily, instead of on weekdays only. Preliminary documents also proposed that the four toll-free East River bridges between Manhattan and Long Island (the Queensboro, Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn Bridges) might gain a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) restriction of at least three passengers per vehicle during rush hours.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Initial mitigation plans
In December 2017, the MTA and the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) released a more concrete mitigation plan, based on projections that 80% of riders would transfer to other subway services to get to Manhattan, while 15% would use buses. An HOV restriction on the Williamsburg Bridge during rush hours would allow it to accommodate three Select Bus Service (SBS) routes between Brooklyn and Manhattan.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Initial mitigation plans
Route L1 would stretch from Union Square, Manhattan, to the Grand Street station in Brooklyn; L2 would connect SoHo, Manhattan to the Grand Street station; and L3 would go from SoHo to Bedford Avenue. In addition, 14th Street between Third and Ninth Avenues would be converted into a bus-only corridor during rush hours to accommodate an SBS route across 14th Street, connecting to a ferry route at Stuyvesant Cove Park near 23rd Street.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Initial mitigation plans
The mitigation plan also entailed improvements to six subway stations, new entrances at two stations, enlarged crosswalks near these subway stations, longer G and C trains, three free out-of-system transfers, increased service on the G, J/Z and M trains, and a weekend extension of the M train to 96th Street and Second Avenue. Finally, the plan included an expansion of New York City's privately operated bike share system, Citi Bike, as well as upgrades to bike lanes on Brooklyn's Grand Street and a pair of crosstown bike lanes on 12th and 13th Streets. Some subway entrances on each of the affected routes would also be reopened.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Initial mitigation plans
On December 14, 2017, members of the New York City Council held a hearing in which they asked the MTA head and NYCDOT Commissioner over the shutdown. The central question was whether the MTA could complete repairs by the July 2020 deadline. It was projected that during the shutdown, the 14th Street buses would become the most-used bus corridor in the city, and that 70 buses in each direction would travel across the Williamsburg Bridge every hour. As a result, Lower Manhattan politicians worried that the narrow streets in the area would not be able to accommodate the high-capacity buses.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Modified mitigation plans
In June 2018, as part of a lawsuit settlement, the MTA agreed to install elevators at the Sixth Avenue station and conduct an environmental impact study on the Canarsie Tunnel rehabilitation's effects. The city also considered turning 14th Street into an exclusive busway 17 hours a day during all days of the week, and changed its initial plans for a two-way bike lane on 13th Street to two separate bike lanes on 12th and 13th Streets.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Modified mitigation plans
When the 14th Street busway was enforced during the shutdown, the only vehicles that would be able to use the busway would be buses, trucks making deliveries on 14th Street, emergency and Access-A-Ride vehicles, and local traffic traveling for no more than one block. According to Winnie Hu, a transit specialist at The New York Times, the plan was inspired by Toronto's successful King Street Pilot Project, where restriction on ordinary vehicles on a section of previously clogged King Street sped up transit times for riders on the 504 King streetcar route, the Toronto Transit Commission's busiest surface route. The Toronto experiment allowed ordinary vehicles to continue to briefly use King Street, provided they turned off at the next stoplight.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Modified mitigation plans
Separately, the MTA revised contingency plans so that there would be four SBS routes. They included the already-planned L1 Union Square–Grand Street, L2 SoHo–Grand Street, and L3 SoHo–Bedford Avenue routes, as well as a new route L4 between Union Square and Bedford Avenue. The four routes combined would carry 17% of displaced L train riders, while subways would carry another 70% and other transport methods would make up the remaining 13%. Citi Bike announced plans to add 1,250 bikes and 2,500 bike-share docks during the shutdown. A private company also announced their intention to create a luxury "New L" shuttle van service during the shutdown.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Modified mitigation plans
In July 2018, the MTA and NYCDOT announced that the M14 Select Bus Service route would be implemented by January 6, 2019, three months before the tunnel was set to shut down. It would initially run with five stops in each direction between First Avenue/14th Street and 10th Avenue/14th Street. Local service on the M14A and M14D would be retained with minor modifications. One or two weeks before the tunnel closes, the M14 SBS would be extended to Stuyvesant Cove. The M14A/D local and the M14 SBS would be able to serve a combined 84,000 passengers every hour, with a bus every two minutes during rush hours. Sidewalks on nearby streets would be widened, and temporary pedestrian plazas would be designated, to accommodate the new Select Bus Service routes.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Modified mitigation plans
The MTA also released additional details about headways on affected transit routes. The peak frequency of the G train would be increased from eight trains per hour (TPH) to 15 TPH between Court Square and Bedford–Nostrand Avenues, and from 8 to 12 TPH south of Bedford–Nostrand Avenues. Some G trains would have been extended to 18th Avenue during rush hours due to capacity constraints at Church Avenue.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Modified mitigation plans
The M train's peak frequency would be increased from 9 to 14 TPH between Myrtle Avenue and Manhattan, while the frequency of the J/Z and R trains would be decreased to accommodate the additional M service running on the same tracks. Several other subway routes between Manhattan and Brooklyn or Queens would have additional off-peak service. For bus route headways, the combined peak frequency of the M14 variants would be increased from 25 buses per hour to 35, and the B39 bus across the Williamsburg Bridge would be temporarily suspended because it would completely duplicate the temporary L3 route.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Modified mitigation plans
The L1 through L4 buses would provide a combined 80 buses per hour during peak hours. Headways on local bus routes in Brooklyn that would connect with the L shuttle buses, such as the B6, B32, B48, B57, B60, B62 and B103, would also be increased. The ferry service between Stuyvesant Cove and North 7th Street would run at a frequency of 8 trips per hour in each direction during rush hours. 7 trains would see increased service during rush hours, with fourteen additional 7 train round trips.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Modified mitigation plans
In September 2018, the MTA indicated that the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) had been selected to manage the temporary L shuttle ferry's operation, since the corporation had already operated ferry routes in New York City under the NYC Ferry label. In turn, the NYCEDC was to contract the temporary shuttle ferry's operation out to NY Waterway as per the results of a request for proposals. The ferry was to operate for 15 months during the shutdown.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Modified mitigation plans
The shuttle was to operate every 10 to 15 minutes from 6 a.m. until midnight on weekday nights, and until 2 a.m. on weekend nights. During rush hours, ferries would run every 7½ minutes. Free transfers were to be available between the ferry and two Select Bus Service routes, one on either side of the East River. The same month, it was announced that an additional bus route, L5, was to operate rush hours between Canarsie Pier and Crown Heights, connecting Canarsie residents to the Crown Heights–Utica Avenue station on the 2, 3, 4, and 5 trains. Unlike the other temporary routes, the L5 was not going to be a SBS route, and was only supposed to operate during rush hours every 20 minutes, making limited stops between Canarsie Pier and Utica Avenue.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Modified mitigation plans
That October, the MTA clarified its proposed temporary changes to subway service. During weekdays, there would be major increases in the number of G and M train trips; smaller increases in E, F, and J/Z train trips; minor modifications to A and R train trips; and a sharp decrease in L train trips. All of these routes except for the A and R routes would also see modified service frequencies on weekends, and the M would run to 96th Street/Second Avenue during both late nights and weekends. It was also announced that the shutdown would start on April 27, 2019. In the months before the long-term closure began, service would be suspended on some weekends and nights.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Modified mitigation plans, Temporary L shutdown bus routes
The following routes were planned to operate during the shutdown:


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Modified mitigation plans, Criticism of mitigation plans
In April and May 2018, writers for the now-defunct Village Voice had published a comprehensive analysis of the possible effects of the L train shutdown on other subway routes. The J/Z and M train would be affected the most because these would be the only direct subway routes from Williamsburg and Bushwick to Manhattan during the shutdown. The G train would also carry displaced L train riders from Williamsburg and Bushwick to other subway routes in Downtown Brooklyn and Queens, resulting in capacity decreases on F and <F> train riders on the IND Culver Line in southern Brooklyn.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Modified mitigation plans, Criticism of mitigation plans
The A and C trains would carry L train riders transferring at Broadway Junction, which was not originally designed as a transfer station, as well as G riders transferring at Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets, some of whom had already transferred from the L. G train riders could also transfer to the E and M trains or the 7 and <7> trains at Court Square–23rd Street. As the 7 and <7> trains would reach capacity during rush hours, some riders already on that route would probably transfer to the N and W trains at Queensboro Plaza, one stop east of Court Square.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Modified mitigation plans, Criticism of mitigation plans
The E and M trains would also reach capacity during rush hours, bringing cascading effects to E, F, <F>, M, and R riders further east in Queens. One Voice writer concluded that "If you do not take the J, M, Z, A, C, 7, F, G, E, M, or R lines, then I have some good news: You're probably, probably not screwed during the L train shutdown. Except — you had to know there would be exceptions — for those of you who take the 3 and the N/W." In total, fourteen services would be affected by the shutdown.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Modified mitigation plans, Criticism of mitigation plans
In October 2018, the mitigation plans were described by a Curbed NY writer as inadequate, because of the lack of nearby subway routes that go directly to Manhattan; the lack of passenger capacity at key transfer stations; and the fact that nearly a quarter-million riders use the L train every day. The Curbed writer stated that one service disruption on the J, M, and Z trains would have a ripple effect on displaced Canarsie Tube riders.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Change in shutdown plans
In December 2018, four months before the planned closure of the 14th Street Tunnel, New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced that he would personally visit the tunnel with several transportation experts that month. Cuomo said that he wanted to determine if the closure time could be reduced even further. By this point, the mitigation plans were being finalized. Work on painting road markings, including a busway on 14th Street, was underway.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Change in shutdown plans
On January 3, 2019, following the tunnel tour, Cuomo announced at a news conference that the tunnels would not completely shut down, contingent on the MTA board approving an alternate plan. Instead, work would occur on weekends and nights, and construction could be finished in 15 to 20 months. This would be accomplished by hanging wires onto the sides of the tunnels and repairing the benchwalls alongside each track, similar to what was used in the subway systems of Hong Kong, London, and Riyadh, rather than completely replacing the benchwalls as was originally planned.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Change in shutdown plans
A similar plan had been considered in 2014, but rejected due to the extent of silica exposure that this option entailed, and another report in 2015 had concluded that a weekend-only shutdown might be unsafe. The announcement occurred after Cuomo consulted with experts from Columbia University and Cornell University, and he reportedly also contacted Tesla, Inc.. The MTA board was not given advance notice of the announcement, and Cuomo only told the MTA to convene an emergency meeting after the announcement had been made.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Change in shutdown plans
The announcement was criticized by transit advocates who said that a full closure would allow construction to be completed at once, similar to in the Montague Street Tunnel, as opposed to a piecemeal closure, which could take years. Cuomo was also criticized for taking so long to come up with the partial shutdown plan. Many Brooklyn residents and business owners along the route had already moved as a result of the proposed closure, and some North Brooklyn landlords reportedly regretted having signed leases for lower prices. However, the announcement was praised by the shutdown's opponents, which had previously filed a lawsuit over the proposed shutdown. Landlords and brokers also viewed the change in plans favorably.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Change in shutdown plans
Following the conference, New York City Transit Authority head Andy Byford stated that the Williamsburg Bridge's HOV lanes and the shuttle ferry were no longer needed. The contract with Judlau would also have to be renegotiated and put before the board for a vote, as the contractor had already started the process of procuring materials for a full shutdown. However, the MTA's website indicated that many of the mitigation measures, including station improvements, accessibility renovations, and L train frequency enhancements, would continue.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Change in shutdown plans
After the conference, Cuomo also stated that he wanted to "blow up" the MTA and restructure its entire operating hierarchy because the agency was inefficient. A special board meeting about the shutdown was held on January 15, 2019. At the board meeting, the modified plan was approved, despite objections from some members.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Change in shutdown plans
The following month, the MTA decided that several of the previously announced mitigation measures would not be needed. For instance, the Williamsburg Bridge HOV restrictions and the 14th Street busway would not be implemented. In addition, the G would not receive full-length trains, though it would still see an increase in train frequencies during nights and weekends. However, the station improvements would still proceed, and the partial shutdown would begin on April 27, 2019, as previously confirmed. Due to crowding concerns the MTA considered making the First and Third Avenues stations exit-only during weekends.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Change in shutdown plans
Under the new plan, the free out-of-system transfers would be kept, except for between 21st Street and Hunters Point Avenue in Queens, and would only be instituted during weekends and late nights. Instead of running five shuttle bus routes in Manhattan and Brooklyn at all times, two "Williamsburg Link" shuttle buses, B92 clockwise and B91 counterclockwise, would run during weekends and late nights only. M14A bus service in Manhattan would be increased during weekends.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Change in shutdown plans
In the months prior to the proposed closure, the MTA suspended L service between Broadway Junction and Eighth Avenue during the weekends in preparation for the partial shutdown. Instead, it operated three shuttle bus routes and expanded M train and M14A bus service. In April 2019, it was announced that the 14th Street busway would be added back to the mitigation plan, though the busway would take effect in June. The busway would have the same vehicle restrictions as originally planned.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Planning, Change in shutdown plans
The M14A/M14D routes would be converted to Select Bus Service, a modification of the temporary Select Bus Service route that had been planned for the full shutdown. The M14A/D were converted to Select Bus Service routes on July 1, 2019. However, the busway did not take effect until October 3, 2019.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Construction
The first construction work related to the 14th Street Tunnel shutdown began in 2017. Workers excavated shafts at the First Avenue and Bedford Avenue stations so equipment could be lowered into the tubes. After the repairs are completed, these shafts are to be converted into additional entrances for those stations. The construction of shafts at the First Avenue station began in July 2017 at the intersection of 14th Street and Avenue A. Shafts were also built at Driggs Avenue and North 5th Street in Brooklyn, at the Bedford Avenue station.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Construction
The Bedford Avenue station's mezzanine would be expanded to make way for the new entrances. As of July 2018, the projects at First Avenue and at Bedford Avenue were about one-fifth complete. Starting in August 2018, the MTA would close the tunnels for 15 weekends in preparation for the full-time closure the following year.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Construction
In the original plan, there were to be three groups of 150 contractors, with each group working 8-hour shifts. The demolition and replacement of the tunnels' wire duct banks, or benchwalls, were to take up much the project's duration. A dust collection machine, which was custom-ordered for the 14th Street Tunnel project, was to include ventilation and dust filtration systems that allow dust to be contained within the tunnels. The dust was to be taken out of the tunnels via flatbed cars that travel to the shafts at Avenue A in Manhattan and Driggs Avenue in Brooklyn. The demolition was to be completed within three months, after which work on the new station entrances and replacement duct banks would commence. The tracks within the tunnels were also be replaced. These repairs would be able to last up to eighty years.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Construction
Following the January 2019 announcement that the shutdown would instead be a partial closure, Cuomo and the MTA board unveiled some new details about the project. Rather than completely replacing the benchwall, workers would install new cable ducts on the sides of the existing tunnel walls, and the existing ducts would be abandoned. The technique of racking the cables on the wall differed from previous proposals, in that a rack, rather than the cables themselves, would be bolted onto the wall. The benchwalls would be repaired with epoxy and fiberglass as necessary, then converted into emergency egress walkways.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Construction
By using this approach, less silica would need to be extracted from the tunnels because the benchwalls would not be entirely demolished. Fiber-optic and lidar sensors would be installed to allow MTA workers to more easily track imminent failures in the benchwalls. Station and track improvements would continue under the revised proposal. The repairs could last for up to forty years, and work might be elongated due to the need to maintain weekday service.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Construction
The new plan meant that only 1% of the benchwall would have to be removed, namely the concrete surrounding 96 manholes. By the original closure date for the Canarsie tubes in April 2019, nearly half of that work had been completed. According to the New York Daily News, the extent of the work being done could result in a shortened service suspension. However, the change in plans led to delays in the rehabilitation of the Canarsie Line's five stations within Manhattan.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Construction
As of August 2019 the improvements were not set to start until 2020, whereas under the previous plan, the stations would have been renovated while the tunnel was closed. This could potentially increase the cost budgeted for these renovations, from $43.8 to $77.8 million. By September 2019, Cuomo announced that the shutdown work was progressing ahead of schedule and was set to be completed in April 2020. At that point, the Manhattan-bound tube's repairs had been finished, and work was starting on the Brooklyn-bound tube.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Construction
On April 26, 2020, Cuomo announced the completion of the project, months ahead of schedule. The expedited completion date was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, which sharply reduced ridership in the final weeks of the project. Work on the Bedford and First Avenues stations was also progressing. However, regular service was not restored after the project's completion;  the lack of ridership during the pandemic had reduced the frequency of trains as well, under the MTA's essential service plan.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Effects
After the shutdown was announced in 2016, some Williamsburg residents let their leases expire in 2018. As a result, housing prices began to decrease. The rate of housing vacancies in August 2018 was 25% more than the rate twelve months prior. After the plans were changed to a partial shutdown, a report published in early 2020 showed that median housing rents in Williamsburg increased significantly compared to late 2018.


14th Street Tunnel shutdown, Effects
An independently made documentary, being produced by Ian Mayer and Emmett Adler and titled End of the Line, is being made about the effects of the 14th Street Tunnel shutdown. A board game, released in January 2019, also satirizes the shutdown.


14th Street bridges
The 14th Street bridges refers to the three bridges near each other that cross the Potomac River, connecting Arlington, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Sometimes the two nearby rail bridges are included as part of the 14th Street bridge complex. A major gateway for automotive, bicycle and rail traffic, the bridge complex is named for 14th Street (U.S. Route 1), which feeds automotive traffic into it on the D.C. end.


14th Street bridges
The complex contains three four-lane automobile bridges—one northbound, one southbound, and one bi-directional — that carry Interstate 395 (I-395) and U.S. Route 1 (US 1) traffic, as well as a bicycle and pedestrian lane on the southbound bridge. In addition, the complex contains two rail bridges, one of which carries the Yellow Line of the Washington Metro; the other of which, the only mainline rail crossing of the Potomac River to Virginia, carries a CSX Transportation rail line. The five bridges, from west to east are the George Mason Memorial Bridge, the Rochambeau Bridge, the Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge, the Charles R. Fenwick Bridge and the Long Bridge.


14th Street bridges
At the north end of the bridges, in East Potomac Park, the three roadways connect to a pair of two-way bridges over the Washington Channel into downtown Washington, one connecting to traffic (including northbound US 1) north onto 14th Street, and the other connecting to I-395 traffic on the Southwest Freeway. The Metro line connects to a tunnel in the East Potomac Park, and the main line railroad from the Long Bridge passes over I-395 and runs over the Washington Channel just downstream of the 14th Street approach before turning northeast along the line of Maryland Avenue.


14th Street bridges
On January 13, 1982, 78 people were killed when Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the northbound I-395 span of the 14th Street bridge during rush hour. The repaired span was renamed in honor of Arland D. Williams Jr., a passenger on the plane who survived the initial crash, but drowned after repeatedly passing a helicopter rescue line to other survivors.


14th Street bridges, Bridges
Each of the complex's five bridge spans has its own name. From east to west, the bridges are:


14th Street bridges, Bridges
Southbound Virginia Railway Express train on plate girder portion of Long Bridge (2013)


14th Street bridges, History, Long Bridge
The name "Long Bridge" was given to a series of bridges across the Potomac dating back to 1809. At times, some of the bridges were referred to as the Bridge at 14th Street, but more often by other names.


14th Street bridges, History, Long Bridge
The first bridge opened as the Washington Bridge on May 20, 1809 and originally carried vehicle, pedestrian and horse traffic. By the 1830s it began to be called the "long Bridge across the Potomac" to distinguish it from the bridge near Little Falls, but over time, the colloquial name was shortened to just the "Long Bridge". Rails had been built to the bridge from the Washington side in 1855 and from the Virginia side in 1857, but there weren't placed on the bridge until the Civil War.


14th Street bridges, History, Long Bridge
In 1864, a new bridge was built adjacent to the original bridge. When the U.S. Military railroad Charles Minot fell through one of the spans of the old bridge on February 18, 1865, the rails were moved to the new bridge and the old bridge became used for non-rail traffic only, as had been recommended in the prior year. To some the old bridge became the "turnpike bridge" and the new one the "railroad bridge." For others the two bridges were referred to separately as the Long Bridge and the railroad bridge or as two parts of one "Long Bridge".


14th Street bridges, History, Long Bridge
An October 1, 1870 flood damaged the bridges beyond repair so a replacement bridge was built over the next two years and the old Washington Bridge was removed.


14th Street bridges, History, Long Bridge
The new bridge opened on May 15, 1872. The day the new bridge opened, the old railroad bridge, which had been partially repaired, was closed. On July 2, the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway opened, providing the first direct all-rail connection between the north and Richmond, Virginia.


14th Street bridges, History, Long Bridge
Despite the new design, the 1872 bridge continued to be damaged by freshets, it blocked river traffic and was not wide enough for two tracks; so two new bridges were built. A new railroad bridge was constructed in 1904 and a new Highway Bridge opened in December 1906. The 1872 bridge was closed on December 18, 1906 and demolished in 1907.


14th Street bridges, History, Long Bridge
The current railroad bridge opened on August 28, 1904, about 150 feet (45 m) upriver from the old bridge. In the early years, the bridge was often referred to as the "Railroad Bridge" to distinguish it from "Highway Bridge". It was also sometimes known as the "14th Street Railroad Bridge". It wasn't until the 1980s, during planning of the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) system, that the railroad bridge again began to be called by the old "Long Bridge" name. VRE began using the bridge in 1992.


14th Street bridges, History, Long Bridge
The bridge was substantially reconstructed starting in mid-1942, with 11 new supplemental piers between the original truss spans and steel plate girders replacing the iron and steel truss spans. Work completed on November 9, 1943.


14th Street bridges, History, Long Bridge
When the Mason Bridge was completed in 1962, it put an end to almost all use of the Long Bridge's draw span. The last time it was opened was March 1969 to allow barges used in the removal of the old Highway Bridge to pass through. The tender's control house, or shanty, on top of the draw remained - often used as a billboard for Georgetown crew races until it was removed in late 1982 or early 1983.


14th Street bridges, History, Long Bridge
The bridge was rehabilitated in 2016 and CSX determined that it was sufficient to meet their freight needs, but in 2019 DDOT and FRA reported that a second bridge was needed to serve increased passenger rail needs. A third bridge was also proposed to create a new bicycle/pedestrian crossing. In 2019, Virginia announced that they would pay to build a new rail bridge over the Potomac River north of the Long Bridge.


14th Street bridges, History, Highway Bridge
A new swing-span through-truss bridge called the Highway Bridge or sometimes the 14th Street Bridge, 500 feet (150 m) upriver from the Long Bridge, opened December 15, 1906, to serve streetcars and other non-railroad traffic.


14th Street bridges, History, Highway Bridge
The yellow trolleys of the Mount Vernon Railway used the bridge until 1931 when the line was replaced by buses that eventually became part of the Alexandria, Barcroft and Washington (AB&W) Transit Company.


14th Street bridges, History, Highway Bridge
After the George Mason Bridge was opened in 1962, the Highway Bridge was closed, but there was considerable discussion of reusing the Highway Bridge, perhaps for rush hour only automobile traffic. Nonetheless, the Highway Bridge was finally removed from the site in 1967–1968, and was taken to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, for bombing practice.


14th Street bridges, History, Highway Bridge
In order to remove the Highway Bridge piers, the Williams and Long Bridges were opened for the last time on March 3, 1969. They were opened to remove barge and crane equipment that had been floated upriver in 1967 to remove the old Highway Bridge piers and install new center bridge piers. A few years prior to 1967, the railroad bridge had been welded shut, and in order to open it for the crane, that had to be reversed.


14th Street bridges, History, Pontoon Bridge
On July 1, 1942, after two months of work, the War Department opened a pontoon bridge located between the Railroad and Highway bridges. It connected Ohio Drive, then Riverside Drive, to US Highway 1. The bridge was constructed of 30 plank covered pontoons with an asphalt coating for the 12 foot-wide floor. A fixed steel span on the Virginia side provided an opening 30 feet wide and 21 feet high for boats to pass under. Two more fixed spans carried it over the George Washington Parkway. The bridge was built for emergency movement of troops and though it was to allow for civilian use, it never did. Once World War II was over, the bridge was removed in the summer of 1945.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges
Despite the different names of the Rochambeau, Mason and Williams bridge, and the fact that there were all built separately, the three are often called "The 14th Street Bridge" together.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge
Planning for a replacement of the Highway Bridge started in the 1940s to deal with expanded traffic in the automobile age. Work on a new single-span, northbound-only 14th Street Bridge began on August 21, 1947 and the new bridge opened on May 9, 1950 with the ribbon cut by Miss D.C., Mary Jane Hayes. The Highway Bridge then became southbound-only, but a 2nd bridge was planned to replace it. The new bridge span incorporated draw spans with a control houses that was designed to complement those on the Arlington Memorial Bridge upstream and on the railroad bridge's swing span downstream.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge
In 1956, while planning the Jones Point Bridge Congress began to debate what to name it. While one of the first suggestions was to name it after Woodrow Wilson, which eventually it was, Rep. Joel Broyhill (R-VA) suggested naming it for George Mason, or failing that naming the new Highway Bridge for him. This prompted a letter to the editor of the Washington Post suggested it be named for revolutionary war hero Lafayette, since it was near where he led soldiers across the river on the way to Yorktown.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge
A few days later, Charles Parmer a Rochambeau enthusiast and head of Virginia's short-lived Rochambeau Commission, suggested the bridge instead be named for Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau. Another letter followed that suggested attaching the name Rochambeau instead to the 14th Street Bridge and that letter caught the attention of Congress member Harry F. Byrd of Virginia who submitted it to the Congressional Record. Broyhill submitted a bill naming the bridge for Mason and Byrd submitted one naming it for Rochambeau, and by the middle of summer a compromise had been worked out naming one span for each. Broyhill resubmitted the compromise bill in 1957 and it passed. The new bridge was dedicated in honor of Rochambeau on October 19, 1958 at 2pm, at time and date meant to correspond with the time and date that Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in 1781.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge
The last time Williams Bridge was opened was on March 3, 1969 to remove barge and crane equipment that had been floated upriver in 1967 to remove the old Highway Bridge piers and install new center bridge piers.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge
The Williams bridge underwent extensive repair in 1975-1976 which resulted in a closure of more than a year. Workers gave the bridge a new deck, removed the bascule draw span and replaced the sidewalks with shoulders. The control house remained.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge
On January 13, 1982, the Williams Bridge was damaged by the crash of Air Florida Flight 90. The Boeing 737-222, which had accumulated ice while idling on the runway at National Airport, stalled soon after takeoff, fell on the bridge, and slammed into the iced-over Potomac River. The crash killed 74 passengers and crew, plus four people in cars on the bridge.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge
The repaired span was renamed the Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge on March 13, 1985 – following a December 4, 1984 vote – after one of the passengers, who passed a lifeline to five survivors before permitting himself to be rescued. He succumbed to hypothermia and drowned while rescuers worked to rescue the last of the survivors. The name Rochambeau Bridge was then shifted to the Center Highway Bridge.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge
After a series of inspections from 2005 to 2009, the District of Columbia's District Department of Transportation (DDOT) began a $27 million rehabilitation of the northbound main span in 2010. Construction, scheduled to last only a few months, was finally completed in 2011.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge
A 2014 inspection found more problems. Citing the expense and the need to replace or repair several deficient bridges elsewhere in the District, DDOT pushed the date for fixing these problems to 2020.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, George Mason Memorial Bridge
The new George Mason Memorial Bridge opened upstream on January 26, 1962, replacing the old Highway Bridge (then southbound only). The Mason Bridge, unlike the bridges upstream and downstream, could not open for river traffic, thus Potomac River traffic by sea-going vessels traveling above the Long Bridge ceased in 1961.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, George Mason Memorial Bridge
During the late 1960s, new ramps were constructed between the westbound Shirley Highway and the southbound George Washington Parkway and these eliminated the path between the bridge and the Pentagon. In 1969, the path was connected to the Arlington Memorial Bridge via the Lady Bird Trail and on April 15, 1972 it was connected to Alexandria via the Mount Vernon Trail, of which the Lady Bird Trail became part.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, George Mason Memorial Bridge
In 1984, the Mason Bridge was closed for several months for a $5.9 million overhaul. The bridge was resurfaced and widened to provide shoulders. The sidewalk was widened and new safety railings were installed between the walkway and the roadway.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, George Mason Memorial Bridge
On July 25, 1989, the George Mason Bridge gained national notoriety as the scene of the 1989 DC Prostitute Expulsion.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, George Mason Memorial Bridge
In late 2018, the National Park Service rebuilt and improved the trail ramp between the George Mason Bridge path and East Basin Drive.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, Rochambeau Bridge
On April 5, 1971, a third bridge opened immediately downstream of the Mason Bridge, carrying two express lanes in each direction. Work began in March 1967, but wasn't entirely completed until 1972. The express lanes lead directly to the high-occupancy vehicle lanes on Virginia's section of I-395, though these lanes are only HOV during rush hour.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, Rochambeau Bridge
At the time it opened it was only open for bus traffic, making it the longest exclusive busway in the Country, but over the years the express lane rules have gradually been reduced. In late 1973, carpoolers were allowed to use the bus lanes during rush hour if the car had at least four passengers. In 1975, cars with four passengers were allowed to use the express lanes at all hours.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, Rochambeau Bridge
In 1983, Congress passed a law to open the express lanes to all vehicles except during rush hour, when they were restricted to buses, car pools and emergency vehicles and that went into effect in 1985. In 1987, due to increased congestion, the Virginia Department of Transportation extended the HOV end time from 6pm to 6:30pm, but later that year it was rolled back after Rep. Stan Parris passed a federal law that would deny Virginia $2.4 million if the rush hour extension remained.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, Rochambeau Bridge
In the same year, the VDOT opened the northbound HOV lanes on the bridge to all users to alleviate congestion caused by reconstruction of the SE-SW Freeway. In early 1989, Virginia, in a deal with Rep. Parris, lowered the HOV restrictions from four people per vehicle to three in order to regain control over the management of the HOV lanes. In late 2019, the HOV lanes on 395 changed to High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes, and as a result the northbound lane on the Rochambeau Bridge became a HOT lane as well.


14th Street bridges, History, Modern 14th Street Bridges, Rochambeau Bridge
When it opened, the bridge was known as the Center Highway Bridge. On March 13, 1985, following the 1982 Air Florida Flight 90 crash, the downstream bridge was renamed the Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge to honor one of the passengers who died saving the lives of other survivors during the crash. The name Rochambeau was simultaneously transferred to the Center Highway Bridge. However, the bronze marker naming the bridge was not shifted with the name.