With traffic creeping across its older, rustier sibling just a few hundred feet below, the new span of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge was officially dedicated Thursday morning by a gaggle of the region’s top politicians.
The ceremony begun by the two drawbridge halves slowly lowering to meet each other. Like the bridge it replaces, the new Woodrow Wilson has the capacity to open to allow larger shipping to reach Washington.
But for bridge worker Mike Howell, 28, of Alexandria, it was a fun, albeit short break from work.
“They shut us down at about 10:30 a.m.,” said Howell leaning against a concrete barrier on the Virginia side of the new span set to officially open to traffic on June 9. “We’ve got to get back to work [at] around 1:30 p.m. They wanted us to have a chance to see all this.”
Nearly 1,400 people attended the affair at the center of a new bridge, which will replace the original bridge opened in 1961, highlighted by a ceremonial joyride by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and District Mayor Anthony Williams across the new bridge in a 1923 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost that belonged to Woodrow Wilson.
While it seemed like a lot of pomp and circumstance for the half-completed project, Alexandria Mayor William Euille said the opening of even one span is a huge improvement.
“I think we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Euille said. “I think it also shows that when everyone works together, we can make things happen.”
U.S. Sen. JohnWarner, R-Va., who led efforts for $1.5 billion in federal funding for the $2.4 billion project, said the bridge is a “piece of public art.”
“People always complain that Congress builds bridges to nowhere,” Warner said. “This bridge is a bridge to everywhere and is worth every penny.”
The second bridge span is scheduled to open in the summer of 2008 and will have 12 lanes and shoulders.
Woodrow Wilson Bridge warnings
Woodrow Wilson Bridge officials released a series of new ads telling people to “Stay Away” from the area on the following dates:
» Outer Loop Traffic Transfer: At 8 p.m. Friday, June 9, until 5 a.m. Monday, June 12. The Outer Loop of the Beltway/I-95 North will be reduced to a single lane for up to 4 miles. Several ramps on both sides of the river will be closed and detoured.
» Inner Loop Traffic Transfer: At 8 p.m. Friday, July 14, until 5 a.m. Monday, July 17. The Inner Loop of the Beltway/I-95 South will be reduced to a single lane for up to 4 miles. Several ramps on both sides of the river will be closed and detoured.
