MAYOR FENTY ANNOUNCES PROGRESS ON 11TH ST BRIDGE PROJECT

Today, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and District Department of Transportation (DDOT) Director Gabe Klein announced the significant work that is set to begin on the 9th Street Bridge (NE) and the 11th Street Bridges (SE) projects.“These projects are a huge undertaking that will provide safer and more efficient roads for local and commuter traffic,” said Mayor Fenty. “The results will spur economic development opportunities in Brentwood and along the Anacostia River, supporting and enhancing the vision of our neighborhoods being world class destinations.”“These new bridges are replacing out-dated, deficient infrastructure in high traffic areas that hundreds of thousands of people rely on every day,” said DDOT Director Klein. “Ultimately these new bridges will increase the traffic safety and relieve congestion.”

11th Street Bridge SE

ProjectMayor Fenty announced the contractor selected for the work on the 11th Street Bridges project is Skanska/Facchina. Skanska/Facchina have offices in the District and Maryland and are well-respected leaders in the construction industry.The $300 million initiative is the largest construction job in DDOT history. The project will allow better regional connections and provide drivers with easy accessibility to neighborhoods like Historic Anacostia, Capitol Hill, Navy Yard as well as Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue and Anacostia Park. The freeway bridges will connect the Anacostia Freeway and the Southeast Freeway, providing the missing movement from the north to the east and the east to the north.Currently, southbound motorists on the Anacostia Freeway cannot access the bridges; and motorists on the bridges are currently restricted from going north onto the Freeway. Two separate bridges for arterial local traffic and freeway traffic will reduce congestion and improve the mobility of traffic.

The 11th Street Bridge project will add a third bridge dedicated to local traffic, which will feature bicycle and pedestrian accommodations along with streetcar tracks for improved transit accommodations.The new bridges will replace deficient infrastructure and will increase the traffic safety providing alternative evacuation routes in and out of the nation’s capital.

The District is using an innovative procurement approach called Design-Build-to-Budget. This type of design and construction is performed by a construction contractor and designer (design-build team). The design-build represents 90 percent of the original scope as it was laid out in the preferred alternative which was estimated to cost up to $459 million.

Additional information on the 11th Street Bridges Project may be found at http://www.theanacostiawaterfront.com/11thstreet.jsp.