DC: some changes to the design of the 11th St Bridge project

[HighwayMaster]

Here's a closer shot of the new I-695 BGS, from Wikipedia:



Too bad it's not in Clearview (sorry if I P.O.'d you, Jake, I don't mean to)

[froggie]

Since this (and my original) photo was taken, the M St SE sign has been covered and temporary signage is used for the M St SE exit.  Reason for this is because not all 4 lanes on the bridge are open.  The rightmost lane, which will be the future Exit Only lane to M St SE, is closed to traffic.

[lamsalfl]

http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&biw=1280&bih=852&tbm=isch&tbnid=bXbJEmqox4YISM:&imgrefurl=http://ddotdish.com/2011/12/20/hidden-in-plain-sight-interstate-695/&docid=ddOqL82snL-P7M&imgurl=http://ddotdc.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/img_4189.jpg&w=4752&h=3168&ei=kdtTT7TNGsOOsQK9tuHvBQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=78&sig=103810437609310375283&page=1&tbnh=153&tbnw=223&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:0&tx=74&ty=64
Post Merge: December 31, 1969, 06:59:59 PM
pic of I-695 sign above

Please do not double post. You were perfectly capable of explaining what the link was in the same post as the link. Also, linking to http://ddotdc.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/img_4189.jpg would have sufficed without the unnecessarily long Google Images link. -DTP

[froggie]

Also, since it was signed as part of the 11th Street Bridge project, we have a thread covering that.

[rickmastfan67]

I've merged the two topics together now.

[1995hoo]

We drove over the east/southbound 11th Street Bridge last night on the way home from the Caps game because the Ninth Street Tunnel's right lane was badly backed up. I noted that the pull-through signs on eastbound I-695 approaching the split for the bridge have a large I-295 SOUTH listing at the top and still do not mention I-695; underneath they have a greenout panel, which I assume covers up a DC-295 NORTH sign. The I-295 SOUTH thing doesn't surprise me at all, but if they wanted to be consistent in their signage (I know, we're talking about DC here....) it would have said I-695 on top with "TO I-295 SOUTH" and greened-out "TO DC-295 NORTH" beneath that. I suppose having that many shields on the sign might have been deemed unnecessarily confusing. In the interest of accuracy, though, there ought to be a "TO" preceding the I-295 shield.

BTW, as we went around the ramp from the bridge onto southbound I-295 I thought I noticed a "Right Lane Must Exit" sign up on the DC- to I-295 flyover bridge. I assume it was an advance sign for Howard Road (at 10:00 on a Sunday night I wasn't going to loop back around to try to find out). I smiled when I saw it because I know the "Must Exit" terminology (which once prevailed in Delaware) gives many folks here heartburn.


Edited to add: After I posted, I re-reviewed the thread and noted the question about the signage in the Ninth Street Tunnel. No changes there as of last night–it still says I-395 to I-295. As a practical matter I think "TO I-295" is probably more informative to the average driver than "TO I-695" would be. I suppose when the bridge work is done they ought to alter the sign to list DC-295 as well, but when you think about it, it ought to be on there already (the main change the new bridge and ramps will make is that the connection will be more direct than it is now).

[froggie]

The Local 11th Street Bridge (which was part of the DC Meet tour last weekend) opened on Thursday.  The bridge is not fully completed yet, but enough has been finished to allow for a partial opening, which is needed in order to build other parts of the project.

The bridge ties directly into Martin Luther King Blvd on the Anacostia side, and currently connects to O St SE on the Navy Yard side.  This is a temporary setup, as the approach to the old outbound bridge needs to be demolished before the permanent connection to 11th St SE can be built.  Southbound traffic uses 11th St SE to O St SE to the bridge.  Northbound traffic turns right onto O St SE, which is now 1-way eastbound for about 200 feet under the new freeway bridges, then turns left onto 12th St SE to connect to M St SE.

The bridge opening coincided with the permanent closure of both the old outbound bridge (which had recently been the temporary local access into Anacostia) and the inbound ramp from 13th St SE in Anacostia.  The latter is expected to cause some confusion and congestion as drivers from Anacostia wanting to access the SE/SW Freeway must now either head down MLK Blvd to Howard Rd to 295 (already congested and requiring merging 2 lanes to the left within 1/3 mile), or must follow the local bridge and weave around the Navy Yard and Barracks Row area to access the westbound freeway from 3rd and Virginia SE.

The bridge is currently configured for 2 northbound lanes, 1 southbound lane, and a bike/ped path.

Also of note, assuming no major delays, DDOT plans to open two new freeway ramps by the 4th of July.  One is the "missing connection" from southbound DC 295 to the inbound bridge (I-695).  The other will be a new ramp from 11th St SE to the inbound SE Freeway (i.e. WB I-695).  This latter ramp partially restores the local connections to the freeway system and will also be where the Southeast Freeway stub extending to Pennsylvania Ave/Barney Circle will intersect 11th St SE, though I don't know if that change will also be part of the ramp opening.

[cpzilliacus]

Dr. Gridlock from the Washington Post: D.C.'s 11th Street Bridge: Local span opens, freeway ramps finishing up

In the early winter of 2010, as construction was getting underway on the District's new 11th Street Bridge, the effort reminded me of the work plan for the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge: Put up a new span, take down an old span. Divert traffic and repeat.

That was back when the 11th Street project amounted to a few workers floating around on barges in the middle of the Anacostia River so they could pull out old wooden pilings. Then things got serious.

[NE2]

Does the local bridge have streetcar tracks?

[froggie]

No.  DDOT wanted to put them in, but FTA wouldn't allow it.  Here's an article from a DC-area land-use/transportation blog on the subject.  Ideas have been floated to route the streetcar across the old outbound bridge, but no serious study of that has been done yet.

[cpzilliacus]

No.  DDOT wanted to put them in, but FTA wouldn't allow it.  Here's an article from a DC-area land-use/transportation blog on the subject.  Ideas have been floated to route the streetcar across the old outbound bridge, but no serious study of that has been done yet.

I know that the bridge deck of the (new) Woodrow Wilson Bridge (the currently unused left lanes of each outer roadway) was engineered to be strong enough to possibly support a rail transit project in the future. 

Are any of the spans at the 11th Street Bridge strong enough to carry rail transit vehicles?  I don't know the answer to that.

[froggie]

The Local bridge, yes.  DDOT is building it to accommodate streetcars as part of its long-term streetcar plan.  They just couldn't put the rails in at construction like they were able to with the H St NE and Benning Rd reconstructions.

[Beltway]

No.  DDOT wanted to put them in, but FTA wouldn't allow it.  Here's an article from a DC-area land-use/transportation blog on the subject.  Ideas have been floated to route the streetcar across the old outbound bridge, but no serious study of that has been done yet.

I know that the bridge deck of the (new) Woodrow Wilson Bridge (the currently unused left lanes of each outer roadway) was engineered to be strong enough to possibly support a rail transit project in the future. 

Are any of the spans at the 11th Street Bridge strong enough to carry rail transit vehicles?  I don't know the answer to that.

Would the load per axle be any more than that of an 80,000 pound truck?  That is about the same weight as a WMATA Metrorail car without passengers.  (varies depending on the car series)

[froggie]

Hearing that the new ramp from SB DC 295 to the inbound bridge (i.e. WB I-695) will open on Monday.  DDOT confirmed the opening by e-mail.

[cpzilliacus]

Hearing that the new ramp from SB DC 295 to the inbound bridge (i.e. WB I-695) will open on Monday.  DDOT confirmed the opening by e-mail.

It is indeed open.  Drove it today.  Two lane ramp from southbound D.C. 295 to northbound I-695.  Big improvement over the former "routes," but it's going to fill up fast in peak commute periods. 

Traffic using this ramp and headed for M Street, S.E. need do nothing, but traffic headed for I-395 must move left to continue west toward I-395 (northbound Third Street Tunnel; southbound S.W. Freeway and Shirley Highway).

WTOP report from last week: Vince Gray opens new southbound DC-295 ramp

[Takumi]

Is the ramp going the opposite way (eastbound I-695 to northbound DC 295) scheduled to open anytime soon?

[1995hoo]

Is the ramp going the opposite way (eastbound I-695 to northbound DC 295) scheduled to open anytime soon?

Late September or early October per the report I heard.

Edited to add: The third photo in the gallery linked in that WTOP story is of the "suggested speed on the arrow sign" style you asked about in another recent thread.

[Alex]

Would like to see some photos of the new ramp (advance signage, etc.). I did not get into DC on my Delaware trip in June but will likely do so in December.

[1995hoo]

Would like to see some photos of the new ramp (advance signage, etc.). I did not get into DC on my Delaware trip in June but will likely do so in December.

I would have liked to have taken a detour to check it out on the way to the game today, but it was bobblehead day so getting to the ballpark early took priority. Maybe I can get over there Thursday or Friday of this week. If I do, I'll try to stick my phone on the sun visor to film it so I can get some screenshots.

[Beltway]

D.C. Project Gets $90-Million Add-On
http://enr.construction.com/infrastructure/transportation/2012/0815-dc-project-gets-90million-addon.asp

"Two and a half years after beginning work on the $300-million first phase to replace two 50-year-old freeway bridges across the Anacostia River, the District of Columbia Dept. of Transportation (DDOT) has authorized a $90.7-million add-on to the project. The extra work will  complete  functional and operational requirements on the north side of the river, creating direct connections between the Southeast-Southwest Freeway and Interstate/DC Route 295."

See the URL for the rest of the article, and plan views of the project.

[1995hoo]

Would like to see some photos of the new ramp (advance signage, etc.). I did not get into DC on my Delaware trip in June but will likely do so in December.

I had some free time this afternoon and drove over to DC to use the new ramp. The video failed on my first pass, however, so I wound up going around through the streets and making another trip through. Click on the first image below to play the video.

I should have driven the RX-7 because it's a beautiful day (top-down weather) and the belt clip for my phone stays on the sun visor better when I hang it upside-down (due to the dark blue band on the windshield). But I didn't decide to go to the bridge until after I'd made two other stops, so I was driving my sedan and the belt clip always falls off the visor in there. So the video is somewhat bouncy at times, especially when I was shifting with my right hand. But if you see something that interests you, you can always pause it. Alex, if you want to capture any screenshots for the main site, that's fine. (You might need to rebalance the colors. Since it was around 3:00 PM I was looking towards the afternoon sun and it puts the signs in shadow. Or send me a PM and I can send full-size images.) The first BGS you see for the new ramp says the same as the others, 695 to 395/Capitol Hill. The adjacent sign says 295 South TO 95/495 and then has some plastic covering something up, perhaps an "Exit Only" banner(?). The I-695 BGS at that point looks like it may receive another "Exit Only" arrow in the future if in fact the median construction adds another lane–I don't know what the lane configuration is intended to be when it's all done.

The ramp has one of those warning signs Takumi mentioned in another thread (I think I may have noted that previously in this thread). The orange sign after that says "Right Lane Must Exit at M Street."

Because of the dump truck you'll see at the end, I had to turn the camera off and use two hands to drive. So I don't have any video of the new ramp that's being constructed on the north side of the bridge. It's in between the two very old, narrow, bumpy ramps now in use and it will put bridge traffic onto the Southeast Freeway in a different location. Looks like it's in a fairly advanced stage of construction, but again, I didn't get a great look because of that dump truck.

Point of origin in this video is the bottom of the ramp from the Sousa Bridge. After my first pass resulted in no video, I went around to Barney Circle and over the bridge and got back onto DC-295 southbound.





Also, a picture from my drive over to the bridge (I took I-295/DC-295 to the Pennsylvania Avenue exit and did a cloverleaf U-turn). I knew there were "BOSs" (Big Orange Signs) in this area but the ones I had seen used downward-pointing arrows. This is the first sign I've seen in the District of Columbia that uses this style of arrow-per-lane indicator.

[1995hoo]

The Washington Post's Dr. Gridlock has a column about the I-695 number today. He's responding to a letter from a reader complaining about the I-695 shields being incorrect. I was a bit amused by the rather pompous tone of the reader's letter. If you're going to write in an arrogant tone, make sure you have the facts straight first:

Dear Dr. Gridlock:

I am in town visiting family and am very familiar with the area. There is a sign [nearing the 11th Street bridge] labeled "I-695 to I-395."  The last time I checked, Interstate 695 is the Baltimore Beltway, which most certainly does not connect to Interstate 395. I know the sign should say Interstate 295, but a tourist or out-of-towner might not.

Donella Oleston, Seattle

I find Dr. Gridlock's reply to be a little silly, though, in suggesting that people might be confused by the duplicative 3di numbers in different states. I mean, we've had I-395 in Virginia/DC and Baltimore for years with no problem. Same for I-195 in Richmond and near BWI Airport. Same with I-295 in DC/Maryland, Delaware/New Jersey, New York...... etc.

The point Dr. Gridlock misses with respect to this I-695 is that the vast majority of the people who will encounter the sign are local drivers who know where they're going regardless of what the sign says. The long-distance drivers who either seldom drive in this area or who drive through DC and Baltimore once or twice a year at Thanksgiving time and maybe on a summer vacation are unlikely ever to encounter DC's I-695 because they'll be swinging around DC on the Beltway (either because their sat-navs take them that way or because it's the only way they know).

[akotchi]

So, perhaps this reader should stay away from central New Jersey, then . . . there is an I-295 there, but also an I-95 that disappears and reappears somewhere different!

Seriously, though, part of it might be that the I-695 designation might have shown up on signs without much fanfare (that I know of).  One commenter said it shows up on Google as well, but not sure about printed maps or GPS, so it may be a surprise to most people who need directions in this area of town.  It is also not as well posted as the other interstates in the city.  I think that to the reader, who is "very familiar with the area," it is just something else to complain about.  I got a kick out of the tone of her remarks.

I do think that it is ridiculous to suggest confusion between same route numbers in two different metro areas, even if they are 40 miles apart.  Is this now the closest posted "duplication" of 3di's?

[NE2]

I do think that it is ridiculous to suggest confusion between same route numbers in two different metro areas, even if they are 40 miles apart.  Is this now the closest posted "duplication" of 3di's?

I-291, Hartford and Springfield.

[Alps]

Baltimore could renumber its 695 easily enough since it has two other 2dis - 70 and 83. DC has only 95. Also, Baltimore uses five 3dis (195, 395, 695, 795, 895), while DC uses five (295, 395, 495, 595, 695), so there has to be SOME duplication unless 695 is renumbered. Baltimore's 395 could easily become 995, since it's so short. So, once again, 695 is the odd man out. The only other option is to blame DC for signing it, but who'd want to do that?