The Georgetown district of Washington, D.C. is a vibrant community with residential, retail, dining, entertainment. and educational facilities. It’s connected to Rosslyn, Va. on the opposite side of the Potomac River by the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which can experience significant congestion and delays.

Rosslyn has a community all its own and is home to a popular WMATA metrorail station. Connecting Georgetown and Rosslyn through an extension of this metro line is being considered, but it’s uncertain and not imminent.

Several interested parties, including Business Improvement Districts, Departments of Transportation, private-sector parties, and others, commissioned a study to evaluate the feasibility of using an aerial gondola to connect the two cities.

SCJ provided ropeway expertise for the study through the prime consultant, ZGF Architects. The study examined potential alignments, station locations, ridership projections, and both capital and operating costs. The team recommended a small number of potential aerial solutions and defined the concerns and opportunities for each.