Constitution avenue and the Monuments in Washington D.C. form the setting for the 4th July National Parade, marking US Independence Day in the nation's capital city. America's National Independence Day Parade takes place annually on July 4th at 11:45 am in Washington, D.C., on Constitution Avenue from 7th to 17th Street before a street audience of hundreds of thousands of spectators. Constitution Avenue is a major east-west street running just north of the United States Capitol in the city's Northwest and Northeast quadrants. The avenue carries heavy commuter traffic on weekdays and heavy tourist traffic on the weekends; it is also an important parade route.
In Washington's Cartesian-coordinate-based street system, Constitution Avenue was originally known as North B Street. If it had stayed in the city's lettered street system, it would today be known as B Street NW and NE. The street on the other side of the Anacostia River corresponding to Constitution Avenue is called Blaine Street NE. B Street NW was regraded, repaved, and substantially widened between 1926 and 1927 after Congress passed a $75 million construction bill for the District of Columbia. The new street was renamed Constitution Avenue in February 1931. Sections of Constitution Avenue are designated U.S. Route 1, U.S. Route 50, or both. Specifically, U.S. 50 runs along the road from its west end to Sixth Street NW (eastbound) and Ninth Street NW (westbound). U.S. 1 northbound uses the eastbound lanes of Constitution Avenue from 14th Street NW to Sixth Street NW; southbound U.S. 1 used to run west from Ninth Street NW to 15th Street NW but now continues straight through the Ninth Street Tunnel to I-395.
Constitution Avenue separates the National Mall from the Federal Triangle. The avenue is lined on its north side by the headquarters of several federal agencies, and on the south side by several Smithsonian museums, the National Gallery of Art, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Constitution Gardens, and the Lincoln Memorial. Other locations of interest include the Embassy of Canada, Organization of American States, National Academy of Sciences, and National Science Foundation. The relocated U.S. Capitol Gatehouses and Gateposts are at Constitution and 15th Street. In Northeast, the avenue passes through the Capitol Hill and Lincoln Park neighborhoods.
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