Commuters crossing the Anacostia River will have to adjust to new traffic patterns this week after a new span of the revamped 11th Street Bridge opened Saturday night. The new outbound bridge will connect the Southeast/Southwest Freeway to southbound Interstate 295.
It’s the second major link in the $300 million dollar project, D.C.’s largest construction venture, on which work began in 2009. The District Department of Transportation is replacing the two aging outbound and inbound bridges with three new bridges — one outbound, one inbound and one local — in addition to adding a set of ramps that will make connecting to the highways much easier.
The opening of the new span and ongoing construction means more complications for Anacostia drivers. Commuters headed for local Anacostia roads will have to exit the Southeast/Southwest Freeway at Sixth Street and follow detour signs to cross the river while they wait for the new local span to be built.
“The real advantages of the project still lie ahead, when we finish the local bridge and when we complete the new ramps,” DDOT spokesman John Lisle said.
The local bridge, to be completed this summer, will connect local Anacostia streets with the Navy Yard. Separating the local and freeway traffic will make rush hours much smoother, Lisle said.
The local bridge will have a lower speed limit and will feature a bike and pedestrian path, as well as rails for possible future streetcars.
The 11th Street Bridge is the first river crossing to be replaced in the District in more than 40 years. Built in the 1960s, it was among 15 District bridges rated “structurally deficient” in 2007 — the same designation given to a bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis that same year.
“It needed to be replaced,” Lisle said.
