(Washington, DC) The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) announced plans are in place to open the new outbound 11th Street Freeway Bridge at approximately 10 pm this Saturday, January 7. A series of full closures will be required starting at 6 am tomorrow to switch traffic from the existing outbound bridge to the new outbound bridge.

Closures

• The eastbound Southeast/Southwest Freeway (I-695) ramp to the existing 11th Street outbound bridge and the southbound ramp to I-295 will be closed from 6 am to approximately 10 pm.
• The 11th Street, SE entrance ramp to the existing outbound bridge will be closed from 6 am to approximately 1 pm.
• A single lane will also be closed on southbound I-295 from 6 am to approximately 1 pm.

At about 1 pm, access to the existing outbound bridge and ramp to Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue will be reopened to local traffic only (via the ramp at N Street adjacent to the Navy Yard).

During the roadway and ramp closures, signed detours will be posted.

Detours

• During the closure of the eastbound SE/SW Freeway (I-695) ramp to the existing 11th Street outbound, motorists will be detoured to Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, to access southbound I-295. Drivers can also use the Frederick Douglass Bridge as an alternate route to southbound I-295.
• Local traffic in the Navy Yard area will be detoured onto the SE/SW Freeway ramp at 9th Street, SE, then to Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, to access southbound I-295.
• Motorists traveling eastbound on the SE/SW Freeway (I-695) seeking access to Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, will be detoured via Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, to southbound I-295, then onto Howard Road, SE to Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue.
• During the closure of the 11th Street, SE entrance ramp to the outbound bridge, local traffic will be detoured onto the Se/SW Freeway ramp at 9th Street, SE, to Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, onto southbound I-295, then to Howard Road, SE to access Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue.

In the event of inclement weather or other unforeseen conditions, this work will be rescheduled and an updated advisory will be distributed.

In addition, please note with the opening of the new outbound bridge, there will be a new traffic pattern for local traffic crossing the river into Anacostia. The existing outbound 11th Street Bridge will continue to be used for local traffic headed into Anacostia, until the new local bridge is completed later this year. Eastbound traffic from the SE/SW Freeway will be directed to take one of two detour routes:

• Stay on the Freeway across the 11th Street Bridge and take the Howard Road exit off southbound I-295
• Take the 6th Street exit off the SE/SW Freeway. Go straight on Virginia Avenue, right on 8th Street to M Street, left on M and then right on 11th Street to access the outbound bridge.

Project Overview

The $300 million 11th Street Bridge Project is one of the major infrastructure improvements included in the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative – a multi-agency effort currently underway to restore and revitalize the Anacostia River and its waterfronts.

DDOT began construction on the 11th Street Bridge Project in December 2009 to replace the two existing bridges with three new bridges and improve the related interchanges. The current bridges are functionally obsolete and structurally deficient.

The new inbound Freeway 11th Street Bridge opened to traffic on December 18, 2011.