Advocacy group lawsuit targets 11th Street Bridge project
By: Michael Neibauer
Examiner Staff Writer
February 27, 2009
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Capitol Hill Restoration Society has filed a lawsuit to stop the 11th Street Bridge Project, citing “significant, irreversible, adverse effects” on the environment. (Andrew Harnik/Examiner )
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A Capitol Hill historic preservation group has asked a federal judge to stop D.C. from building a new 11th Street Bridge across the Anacostia River, citing its “significant, irreversible, adverse effects” on the immediate area.
The Capitol Hill Restoration Society filed its lawsuit against the Federal Highway Administration and the D.C. Department of Transportation on Tuesday in U.S. District Court. The suit alleges the nearly $500 million project will devastate natural, scenic and ecological resources, destroy 1.5 acres of federal parkland, force the relocation of the Anacostia Boathouse and exacerbate air pollution.
The 11th Street Bridge project is designed to link Interstate 295 with the Southeast/Southwest Freeway, and vice versa, via a single eight-lane span upstream, while separating local traffic, cyclists and pedestrians via a single four-lane span downstream. The antiquated and overburdened 11th Street Bridge, constructed 40 years ago, also is to be replaced.
The lawsuit alleges that DDOT failed to investigate all reasonable alternatives and all potential effects of the project as it prepared the federally mandated Environmental Impact Statement.
The society wants all bridge activities stopped until the agency fully complies with the National Environmental Policy Act.
John Lisle, DDOT spokesman, declined comment on the pending litigation. But Kathleen Linehan Penney, D.C.’s chief engineer, wrote in a letter to the Hill Rag last month that the bridge replacement “is a crucial project that provides needed infrastructure to enhance the social and economic benefits of new development along the Anacostia Waterfront and the District.”
DDOT recently started the search for a contractor for the project.
The society reached out to the D.C. Council and DDOT to express its concerns, attended meetings and hired an independent transportation consultant to review the project’s plans, but “we were just not paid any attention to,” said Dick Wolf, the organization’s president. Wolf’s group has a long history of opposing new urban freeways.
The lawsuit is reason for concern if it delays any aspect of the 11th Street Bridge project, said Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham, chairman of the public works and transportation committee. The District may compete for grants for construction that become available through the federal stimulus package, he said.
