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

Started by froggie, May 30, 2009, 08:09:41 AM

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froggie

Over the weekend, NPS flew over the bridge project and took some photos.  They gave DDOT permission to post the photos on Flickr.  You can see how close to completion the freeway bridges are in these photos, and the last photo of the set gives some perspective on the I-695 sign photo I took.


Beltway

Quote from: froggie on December 05, 2011, 10:43:10 PM
Over the weekend, NPS flew over the bridge project and took some photos.  They gave DDOT permission to post the photos on Flickr.  You can see how close to completion the freeway bridges are in these photos, and the last photo of the set gives some perspective on the I-695 sign photo I took.


The piers and abutments have no aesthetic design to them ... unlike the older bridges and elevated ramps, which are stone-clad, much like older freeway bridges all over D.C.
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froggie

It's still early in the construction process too.  Give it time.

Beltway

Quote from: froggie on December 06, 2011, 07:13:18 AM
It's still early in the construction process too.  Give it time.

The piers and caps are the basic "post and lintel" design, not something that will be clad with stone or other aesthetic treatment.
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    (Robert Coté, 2002)

froggie

DDOT plans on shifting traffic to the new inbound 11th Street Bridge this weekend, with the goal of it being open by the Monday morning rush hour.  Traffic shift for the outbound bridge is tentatively proposed for sometime next week.

froggie

Here's a DDOT Twitter photo of the ribbon-cutting from this morning, with a closer shot of the I-695 overhead sign I photographed a couple weeks ago.

1995hoo

WTOP has this photo of northbound I-295 near the South Capitol Street exit. This looks to be at around the point where there used to be that weird sign that said "Navy—Yard" (with the inappropriate dash between those words). I notice the sign uses the bubble-shaped Interstate shields that seem to be becoming more common on new signs in Northern Virginia as well.

One wonders whether, using highway engineers' logic, the ramp to I-695 ought to be denominated an "Exit" as well, since you're leaving I-295 to access I-695. (Sort of like VDOT's widely-detested designation of the Beltway thru lanes as "Exit 170A" in Springfield.)

"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

Takumi

Interesting, to say the least. Any eastbound postings yet?
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1995hoo

Quote from: Takumi on December 20, 2011, 10:35:31 AM
Interesting, to say the least. Any eastbound postings yet?

Don't know because I haven't driven on the road recently. If the traffic is heavy tonight leaving the Caps game I might go home that way instead of via the 14th Street Bridge, but otherwise it will be several weeks at the earliest before I'm on that road.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

agentsteel53

first one to spot a state-named variant is the opposite of a rotten egg!
live from sunny San Diego.

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1995hoo

Had to run an unexpected errand earlier this afternoon and took a detour to see the new bridge. There are no I-695 signs on the eastbound Southwest—Southeast Freeway; all those signs remain as they were. In that direction you still go over the old bridge, as well, and I didn't get to look over to see what sort of signs appear on the new one. I went over the old bridge and then made a cloverleaf U-turn at the South Capitol Street exit to take the new bridge. There is an orange advance sign perhaps half a mile before the one shown above (on the gantry for the northbound loop ramp towards the Douglass Bridge and the ballpark) that says "TO I-395 SOUTH/LEFT LANES" and gives a distance, I don't remember what the distance was. Then the sign shown above. At the split, the two left lanes go to the new bridge and the two right lanes become DC-295, and the overhead signs there are more conventional green, with the pull-through sign for the bridge reading "I-695 TO I-395/Capitol Hill," basically an identical sign to the one on the bridge that froggie's linked in prior posts.

The I-695 signs disappear as soon as you pass the one on the bridge. North of the river that route isn't mentioned anywhere. However, it looks like they're building a new ramp to connect the bridge to the Southeast—Southwest Freeway in place of the potholed old narrow one now in place, so perhaps there will be more signs when that's done.

I have to say that as unorthodox as the orange sign shown up above is, I thought it was quite effective, and I saw no last-minute kamikaze lane-changing by people who suddenly realized they needed to be on the other side. In fairness, though, it was early afternoon (not rush hour) and the traffic isn't nearly as bad around Christmas. A better test will come in January when everyone's back at work. Having the left lanes go to the bridge is a big improvement over the old arrangement simply because it eliminates the weave area between South Capitol Street and the bridge.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

oscar

Quote from: 1995hoo on December 20, 2011, 09:25:27 AM
One wonders whether, using highway engineers' logic, the ramp to I-695 ought to be denominated an "Exit" as well, since you're leaving I-295 to access I-695. (Sort of like VDOT's widely-detested designation of the Beltway thru lanes as "Exit 170A" in Springfield.)

If DDOT were so inclined, they would've marked the through lanes from I-395 northbound to (unsigned) I-695 eastbound with an exit number.  They didn't.  But they did mark the ramp from SB I-395 to EB I-695 as exit 7.  
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NE2

Quote from: agentsteel53 on December 20, 2011, 11:29:06 AM
first one to spot a state-named variant is the opposite of a rotten egg!
A recently-ejaculated sperm?
pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

froggie

I wrote this article for a local blog this morning about some of the confusion the I-695 marking has created among drivers and locals.

NE2

Someone recently added eastbound exit numbers to OSM: 1A for South Capitol and 1C for Pennsylvania. Have these been signed?
http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=38.8825&lon=-77.00613&zoom=16&layers=M
pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

oscar

Quote from: NE2 on December 22, 2011, 07:58:16 PM
Someone recently added eastbound exit numbers to OSM: 1A for South Capitol and 1C for Pennsylvania. Have these been signed?
http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=38.8825&lon=-77.00613&zoom=16&layers=M

I took "exit 1A" two days ago, and don't recall seeing any signed exit number.  Dunno about "exit 1C".
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froggie

No those have not been signed.  And I was on it last night.

Beltway

Quote from: froggie on November 26, 2011, 09:28:45 PM
We know now.  Those of us who did the "DC add-on" to the ICC meet today saw visual proof that DDOT will indeed sign the 11th Street bridge as I-695...there's a pull-through sign already installed on the new inbound bridge stating "I-695 TO I-395, Capitol Hill".  It was dark by the time we got there, but I plan on getting a pic tomorrow while running errands.


I finally downloaded and viewed the photos I took of the project on November 25th, and lo and behold one of them is the northbound bridge with the "695 to 395" overhead sign!

I didn't notice that when I drove through there ...
http://www.roadstothefuture.com
http://www.capital-beltway.com

Baloney is a reserved word on the Internet
    (Robert Coté, 2002)

Henry

So I-395 and I-695 signs now exist in both Baltimore and DC? Interesting!
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Beltway

Quote from: Beltway on December 22, 2011, 10:40:24 PM
Quote from: froggie on November 26, 2011, 09:28:45 PM
We know now.  Those of us who did the "DC add-on" to the ICC meet today saw visual proof that DDOT will indeed sign the 11th Street bridge as I-695...there's a pull-through sign already installed on the new inbound bridge stating "I-695 TO I-395, Capitol Hill".  It was dark by the time we got there, but I plan on getting a pic tomorrow while running errands.


I finally downloaded and viewed the photos I took of the project on November 25th, and lo and behold one of them is the northbound bridge with the "695 to 395" overhead sign!

I didn't notice that when I drove through there ...

Drove through there today ... what's with the orange overhead signs on I-295 NB approaching the 11th Street Bridge?  Orange is used for construction signs, but those appear to be a permanent movement.

I see that the East Leg is still continuous with the Southeast Freeway, and with plenty of traffic ... the new northerly ramps between the 11th Street Bridge and DC-295 should remove most of that traffic, thus facilitating the conversion of the East Leg to a boulevard.
http://www.roadstothefuture.com
http://www.capital-beltway.com

Baloney is a reserved word on the Internet
    (Robert Coté, 2002)

vdeane

They might not yet have the permanent sign yet, though.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

froggie

Oddly, the actual split has permanent overhead signs.  It's just the advance signage that is orange.  Not sure yet why.

kendancy66

#47
Is DDOT going to update the signage on 9th Street SW at I-395 to show I-695 also?  I remember it saying I-395 for South and I-395 North and TO I-295 for North there.  I would change it to have TO I-695, TO I-295 and TO DC-295


froggie

Couldn't say.

Meanwhile, DDOT reported on Twitter that the new outbound bridge will open Saturday night.

1995hoo

Dr. Gridlock is making this Sunday's Commuter Page about the bridge and he says he plans to mention the route number. Maybe he'll learn the answer to the signage question.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.



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