George Washington Memorial Parkway was an ambitious undertaking. Along with the technical difficulties involved in constructing roadways along the rugged banks of the Potomac, the project required close cooperation between federal, state, and local agencies. The National Park Service assumed overall responsibility, with the BPR again lending its road-building expertise. Funding problems plagued the parkway throughout its development, which continued in fits and starts for almost forty years.
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The northern portions of George Washington Memorial Parkway were mostly built in the 1950s-1960s. The longest section, between Spout Run and Langley, Virginia, was officially opened by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1959.