Connecticut Avenue Line


The Connecticut Avenue Line, designated Routes L1 and L2, is a daily bus route in Northwest Washington, D.C., United States. The L1 provides peak-direction rush hour service during weekdays, while the L2 operates seven days a week.
The current routing also incorporates Route L4, which operated with the L1 and L2 until 2012.

Route description

The L1 begins at the Potomac Park apartments at 18th and C Streets. It jogs to Constitution Avenue via 18th and 20th Streets, and turns right on 23rd Street. The route proceeds through Foggy Bottom and the campus of the George Washington University until Washington Circle, where it switches to New Hampshire Avenue for just a few blocks. The route turns north onto 20th Street to avoid Dupont Circle, and eventually reaches Connecticut Avenue by way of Massachusetts Avenue and Florida Avenue. The L2 starts at Farragut Square, which is also the southern terminus of Connecticut Avenue, and proceeds north along the avenue. It passes underneath Dupont Circle via the Connecticut Avenue underpass, and is joined by the L1 at an intersection with Florida Avenue and S Street.
Now together, the two routes continue north along the avenue. The L1 crosses Rock Creek Park via the Taft Bridge, while the L2 takes a brief detour into Adams Morgan via Columbia Road, Calvert Street, and the Duke Ellington Bridge. Following Connecticut Avenue northbound, the routes serve multiple stations of the Red Line––namely, Woodley Park, Cleveland Park, and Van Ness, until the Red Line diverts from Connecticut Avenue. The routes also pass through the Woodley Park and Cleveland Park neighborhoods, of which the former also includes the National Zoological Park. In the Forest Hills neighborhood, the routes also provide access to the Van Ness Campus of the University of the District of Columbia, the district's only public university.
Both routes terminate at Chevy Chase Circle, just south of Western Avenue and the Maryland state line. Here, the two routes provide transfers to the L8, also known as the Connecticut Avenue–Maryland Line. Essentially the L1 and L2's continuation into Maryland, the L8 begins at the nearby Friendship Heights station and serves Connecticut Avenue in Chevy Chase, Kensington, and Aspen Hill.

L1 stops


L2 stops


History

Until June 17, 2012, the Connecticut Avenue Line was also served by the L4. The route operated from Dupont Circle to Chevy Chase Circle via Connecticut Avenue, of which the whole route overlapped with the L1 and L2.

2012 Changes

On June 17, 2012, route L4 was discontinued and replaced by routes L1 and L2 as the route was a duplicate to both the routes.

2016 Changes

On December 18, 2016, route L2 late night trips on Fridays and Saturdays were extended to both Friendship Heights station and Bethesda station due to earlier closure of Metrorail.