For over a century, the Francis Scott Key Bridge has carried Rosslyn to Georgetown across the Potomac. It deserves to look the part — and today, in too many places, it doesn't.
It is where commuters, runners, cyclists, and visitors cross the Potomac each day — and one of the first impressions travelers receive of both Virginia and the nation's capital. A bridge this important should look as dignified as the history it carries.
Walk it and you will see graffiti scrawled across the concrete Jersey barriers, and patchy, mismatched paint where past attempts to cover that graffiti left the walls looking worse than before.
The result is a beautiful historic bridge — listed on the National Register of Historic Places — quietly let down by the neglected walls running just feet from the sidewalk.
The bridge's elegant railings and lampposts wear a handsome, consistent green — a color of real character. The barrier walls alongside them are simply a neglected afterthought.
The remedy is simple, and inexpensive relative to its impact: clean and properly coat those walls in a single, color-matched green that ties them to the railings the bridge already wears — so the whole crossing reads as one intentional, cared-for piece of public architecture.
We are committed to working in partnership with the District's transportation and historic-preservation authorities — to their specifications, with a coating and color they approve. Depending on what those stewards approve, the work will be carried out by community volunteers or by a professional crew. This is not a quick coat of paint; it is a lasting restoration.
Remove graffiti and the patchwork of mismatched paint, then properly prepare the concrete walls so the new coating endures.
Apply a single, durable, color-matched coating that meets the District's specifications and protects the bridge's historic status.
Carry the bridge's existing green from the railings to the walls, so the whole span reads as one cared-for landmark.
The same stretch of sidewalk, today and as it could be — the barrier wall finished in the very green the bridge's railings and lampposts already wear.
The "after" is a visualization of the proposed result — the wall coated in a single, color-matched green to the District's specifications. Final color subject to agency approval.
Are you a paint manufacturer or supplier interested in donating materials? We would be glad to hear from you →
For more than twenty years I have lived in Rosslyn and walked across the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
It is one of the most photographed crossings in the region — the front door between Virginia and the nation's capital. It deserves to look the part. Today, in too many places, it does not.
The remedy is simple: clean and properly coat the barrier walls in the same classic green the bridge already wears, so the whole crossing reads as one intentional, cared-for piece of public architecture. Friends of the Key Bridge exists to fund and champion that work — and to give our community a crossing worthy of the two great places it connects.
A longtime Rosslyn residentFounder · Friends of the Key Bridge
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Friends of the Key Bridge is a community preservation society. Your gift funds the coatings, preparation, and protections that restore one of our region's landmarks to the standard it deserves.
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