K Street is a major thoroughfare in the United States capital of Washington, D.C., known as a center for numerous lobbyists and advocacy groups. In political discourse, "K Street" has become a metonym for Washington's lobbying industry since many lobbying firms were traditionally located on the section in Northwest Washington which passes from Georgetown through a portion of Downtown D.C. Since the late 1980s, however, many of the largest lobbying firms have moved out; , only one of the top-20 lobbying firms has a K Street address. Location In the Washington D.C. street grid there are three (3) unconnected east-to-west street segments designated as K Street NW / NE, and also a southern K Street. The middle segment of K Street NW / NE, which carries a segment of U.S. Route 29, begins in the city's Northwest quadrant as K Street NW, just west of the abutment of the old Aqueduct Bridge on the Georgetown waterfront. The street travels east underneath the Whitehurst Freeway, crosses Rock Creek on the K Street Bridge, and continues through downtown D.C. After its intersection with North Capitol Street, the street's designation changes to K Street NE as it enters the Northeast quadrant. The street ends at Florida Avenue in the Near Northeast neighborhood, just south of Gallaudet University. K Street NE briefly reappears further east in the Carver neighborhood, extending from Blandensburg Road for six blocks to Maryland Avenue NE. The westernmost (Georgetown) segment of K street NW was known as Water Street prior to the Georgetown street renaming of 1895. West of 33rd Street NW, the United States Postal Service still recognizes both "K Street" and "Water Street" in addresses. The westernmost end of K Street occupies the former right of way of the Georgetown Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. When that line was abandoned, K Street was extended west to the Washington Canoe Club. The rest of the Georgetown right of way is now occupied by the Capital Crescent Trail, which begins at the terminus of K Street. The southern K Street runs between the Potomac and Anacostia rivers, crossing the Southwest and Southeast quadrants (as K Street SW and K Street SE, respectively). Traffic configuration Current K Street provides a major east-west thoroughfare for traffic through Washington, primarily from Mount Vernon Square to the Whitehurst Freeway. The street continues through Georgetown under the Whitehurst Freeway; however most westbound traffic