page_title: 11th Street Bridges
section_title: 2009 rebuilding
hierarchical_section_title: 11th Street Bridges / 2009 rebuilding
caption_attribution_description: English: Construction on the 11th Street Bridges across the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. I took these photos on the fly, while traveling on a bus crossing the bridges. The 11th Street Bridges are a pair of one-way bridges across the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. The District of Columbia assessed the bridges in 2002, and decided they had reached the end of their useful life. A $365 million project was proposed to replace the two bridges with three new ones. The new bridges will be of a safer design, include pedestrian access, be lower (to less obscure nearby views), include room for a trolley track on one of the bridges, and provide for access from three local freeways (to reduce congestion). The third bridge will carry local traffic from Anacostia directly into the rest of the city, without mingling it with the freeway traffic. Demolition of the bridges began in July 2009. The inbound I-295 span opened on December 19, 2011. Construction is scheduled to end in 2013.
context_page_description: The 11th Street Bridges are a complex of three bridges across the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., United States. The bridges convey Interstate 695 across the Anacostia to its southern terminus at Interstate 295 and DC 295. The bridges also connect the neighborhood of Anacostia with the rest of the city of Washington.
  The first bridge at the site, constructed about 1800, played a role in the War of 1812. It burned in 1846, but was repaired. A second bridge was constructed in 1873, and replaced in 1907. A modern, four-lane bridge replaced the older bridge in 1965, and a second four-lane bridge added in 1969. In 2009, construction began on three spans to replace the 1965 and 1969 bridges. The northbound bridge opened to traffic in December 2011 while the southbound bridge open to traffic in January 2012. The new bridges include new ramps and new interchanges with I-295. The local bridge opened to traffic in May 2012. Portions of all three bridges and their approaches remain under construction as of April 2013. Phase 1 of the project was completed ahead of schedule and within budget in July 2013. The local bridge was fully complete by September 2013.
context_section_description: The District of Columbia assessed the bridges in 2002. The Welsh Memorial Bridge was rated "satisfactory" (superstructure rating of 6; substructure rating of 6) while the 11th Street Bridge was rated "fair to poor" (superstructure rating of 5; substructure rating of 4). Both superstructures were near maximum life expectancy. In 2004, the two bridges carried 86,000 vehicles per day, the second-largest volume of the four "middle Anacostia River" bridge crossings. Without improvements to traffic patterns across the Anacostia River, the District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT) estimated in 2005 that traffic over the 11th Street Bridges would significantly expand to 105,100 vehicles per day by 2030, an increase of 22.2 percent over 2004 and more than 40.3 percent higher than the next-busiest bridge (Sousa Bridge). DDOT undertook a major study of the bridges in 2004 which concluded that both bridges should be replaced.
  DDOT and the FHWA issued notices to proceed with further assessments in September 2005, a draft environmental impact assessment was published in July 2006, a final environmental assessment was published in September 2007, and a decision to proceed promulgated in July 2008. Public hearings were held in September 2005, December 2005, and July 2006. Because of design changes, the environmental impact study was re-evaluated in July 2009 and found to still be sufficient. 
  The goals of the project were:
  to reduce traffic congestion on both the 11th Street Bridges and on local streets;
  to increase the safety of all types of traffic on local streets;
  to replace the current bridges;
  to provide an improved emergency evacuation route for the nation's capital; and
  to provide routes for security personnel in and out of the nation's capital.
  The project also included a pedestrian walkway to provide foot traffic access across the bridges as well.
  The entire replacement project was expected to cost $365 million. Demolition of a portion of the bridges began in July 2009 (a portion of M Street SE and I-295 access ramp at 12th Street SE were closed for two weekends to permit demolition of bridge ramps), and construction was scheduled to end in 2013.
  On-ramps from Anacostia to the northbound span of the 11th Street Bridges were closed on December 20, 2009, for five and a half hours after heavy snow blocked the approaches during the North American blizzard of 2009, with the snow removal disrupting automobile traffic and forcing the temporary closure of several Metrobus routes which use the bridge.
  Lane closures on the bridges, as well lane closures and other traffic restrictions on nearby local roads and on- and off-ramps, began October 26, 2010, as the construction moved from the middle of the Anacostia River toward the shore. City engineers estimated that the project was 25 percent complete by late October 2010. The project was on track for completion in 2013. On November 5, 2010, construction crews began driving piles east of the bridge on its northern side to begin construction of the ramp connecting the new bridge to east-bound Southeast Freeway.
  DDOT officials said in January 2011 that they expected a new connection with southbound I-295 to open during the spring, for construction on the two freeway spans to be complete by fall, and for the local span to open in 2013. Lane closures on the 11th Street Bridges, small segments of Southeast-Southwest Freeway, I-295, and local streets began on March 23, 2011, and continued through June.
  The bridges' construction sparked some controversy.  On March 22, a citizens group named "D.C. Jobs or Else" organized a protest of about 50 individuals on the 11th Street Bridges. Joined by D.C. Council member Marion Barry, the protesters said too few individuals from the Anacostia area (which suffers from a 30 percent unemployment rate) had been considered for employment or hired by Skanska/Facchina, the joint-venture construction company building the bridges. Skanska/Facchina vice president Brook Brookshire denied the accusations, noting that 51 percent of the new hires were D.C. 
caption: 11th Street Bridges under construction in 2011
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