The South Capitol Street Bridge Study is complete. The following were completed as part of the study:
· Identification, documentation and justification for protective buying as appropriate.
· Study on river traffic, navigation, and bridge openings.
· Contaminated soil and hazardous material site investigation.
· Development of concept architectural, engineering, and alignment alternatives for four bridge types.
The bridge that exists now is definitely shoddy and while it has space on both sides for cyclists (pretty impressive for a bridge finished in 1941) it's not a very pleasant ride. The study site has four designs for the new bridge on it each with animations you can look at. Alternative one, the cable stayed swing bridge, even has an animation from a cyclists point of view. That's wicked cool. Predictably, it ends with a shot of the new baseball stadium. One can only hope that biking to the stadium will be easy and safe and that on the Anacostia side, riders will be provided with a safe connection to the Anacostia Trail, Suitland Parkway Trail and a trail built along the Shepard Industrial Spur. And, as long as I'm making a list, it would be great if they recognize that the stadium is a perfect place for a bike station and pedicabs.
In other bridge news, I've seen a pre-fabricated pedestrian bridge along side the NE Branch Trail near the Calvert Recreation Center (here). It looks like a construction crew left it there for work to be done later (because right now it doesn't bridge anything and is not fulfilling its purpose in life) but I have no idea if it it to replace the bridge over the small stream south of Paint Branch Parkway or if it is to be placed somewhere else entirely different. If you know, leave a message in the comments.
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