District and federal transportation officials opened the new, nearly $9 million Southern Avenue “gateway bridge” Wednesday to its 17,100 daily drivers.
The 420-foot bridge is located just south of Naylor Road over Suitland Parkway, near Congress Heights in Southeast. The project took about two years to complete.
It is one of the first completed road construction projects that improves the look and feel of entering the District, said Michelle Porciau, acting director of the District Department of Transportation.
Instead of repaving a road, DDOT looked to make the project more “contact sensitive,” improving bus and pedestrian accessibility and economic development in the surrounding neighborhoods in addition to improving the structure itself, she said.
The new four-lane bridge with two sidewalks and tear-drop lighting replaced the drab green steel structure, which was more than 30 years old, with standard cobra-head lighting, DDOT project manager Samuel Olatunji said.
The Southern Avenue corridor will be redone to resemble the bridge’s new look, Porciau said.
The old bridge, covered in lead-based paint, was replaced because it was more cost-effective than containing the lead while working on the structure, said Mark Brooks,with FHWA.
“And [new construction] elongated the life span of the bridge,” he said.
The bridge is built to withstand 100 years of use, with measures including stronger concrete that is less susceptible to water and salt damage, requiring less costly maintenance, he said.
The National Park Service will put the finishing touches on the Southern Avenue bridge project by planting several new trees.
Other major gateway projects DDOT is working on include the $7 million Theodore Roosevelt Bridge rehabilitation and a $7 million rebuild of Eastern Avenue at Kenilworth Avenue.
DDOT also is planning to rehabilitate the 14th Street Bridge, Chain Bridge and Francis Scott Key Bridge, said Erik Linden, a DDOT spokesman.
