Heather Curtis
WMAL.com.
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – In 2018 construction will start on a new Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, which will be built next to the current one.
“This is a huge milestone for the District. This new bridge is state of the art,” said DDOT Director Leif Dormsjo on his second to last day on the job.
The new bridge, connecting Anacostia and Navy Yard, is being built as part of the $400 million dollar South Capitol Street Corridor Project, which will also include re-building the Suitland Parkway/I-295 Interchange.
“It is the largest construction project in the history of the District,” said D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.
The bridge will have six lanes and will also include bike and pedestrian access. On the east side of the bridge there will be an oval that functions as a meadow. The oval on the west side will have a park space and places for people to enjoy the outdoors.
The District is expected to reap the benefits of the bridge long before it opens in 2021.
Fifty-one percent of the people hired to work on this project will be Washingtonians. Dormsjo said this is the first time that a federal project required a certain percentage of new hires to be local.
Twenty-two percent of the construction work will be contracted out to local businesses run by women and minorities.
“The 11th Street Bridge was 6 percent, so that’s a profound increase,” Dorsmjo said.
The timing for construction to start is fitting given that 2018 is the bicentennial of the birth of abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass.
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton has a bill, which she expects to come to the floor shortly, to honor the historic figure.
“Major Bowser, I think you have found the most appropriate way to honor Frederick Douglas, build this bridge,” said Holmes Norton.
The current bridge will remain open while the new one is being built. That one’s scheduled to open in 2021, and that’s when the old bridge will be torn down.
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