The $10.8 million Taylor Street Bridge renovation in Northeast is completed and marks the start of a revitalization effort in the neighborhood.
The bridge, which runs over Brookland Avenue and railroad tracks, was a five-span structure built in 1939 and sits on the edge of Catholic University. The new two-span bridge also includes globe lighting and pedestrian walkways.
“Today’s celebration is about more than just a bridge. It’s about investing in Ward 5,” said Michelle Pourciau, director of the District of Columbia Department of Transportation at Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The formerly ugly green bridge was rehabilitated into a white stone span that supports some 15,000 cars a day. A formerly open area under the old bridge was walled in to keep out a problematic homeless community, said a DDOT official.
“We have to walk through it to get to our athletic center. It was a part of the campus that no one paid much attention to,” said John Schlageter, with the university’s Office of Community Relations, who noted several new dorms are being built in the area. The new bridge “is a nice start to building a better community.”
