D.C. Offers Incentive to Expedite Repairs

Contractor Will Receive $1 Million if Work on Key Route Is Finished in a Month

District officials are offering up to $1 million in contractor incentives if work on the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge on South Capitol Street can be completed in less than two months and ease what is expected to be a traffic nightmare.

The key commuter route over the Anacostia River is scheduled to be closed to traffic from midnight July 6 through August for rehabilitation.

The decaying bridge needs structural repairs, and there are no funds available for a planned new river crossing. Officials restrict truck traffic to the inner lanes to reduce stress on the span. The $27 million project will extend the life of the span until another bridge is built.

The project also will eliminate a 200-foot section of the bridge on the District side and lower the rest by about 10 feet so the bridge touches down at Potomac Avenue SW. The long-planned project also will turn South Capitol Street into a tree-lined boulevard, making the highway more appealing. The project is scheduled to be finished by April, in time for the opening of the Washington Nationals ballpark.

Project officials are offering the early-completion incentive to try to reopen the bridge as soon as possible. Corman Construction Inc. will receive money for every day that the project is completed ahead of schedule, up to $1 million if it completes the job in one month instead of two.

The Douglass Bridge is used by 77,000 commuters a day, mostly motorists from Prince George's County and Southern Maryland, as well as Virginians who cross the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and take Interstate 295 into the District.

The District Department of Transportation decided to close the nearly 60-year-old bridge to traffic for as long as two months to minimize disruption, said Emeka C. Moneme, the agency's director. He said it's a question of short-term, intense pain or drawn-out, moderate pain. But everyone agrees there will be some pain.

"It's going to be painful," said Kathleen Penney, DDOT's deputy chief engineer and director of the bridge project. "It's not an accident that we planned it for July and August to take advantage of the summer slowdown and when traffic is down 15 percent to 20 percent."

Not only will there be fewer vehicles headed to the Douglass Bridge at the end of the summer, but there will be extra capacity on other bridges and buses and trains because of reduced demand during the summer.

Most traffic will be redirected to the 11th Street Bridge and other crossings. DDOT also will pave an additional lane on I-295 between Suitland Parkway and the 11th Street Bridge to help inbound traffic flow.

Traffic officials also pledged to bolster the number of motorist assistance vehicles to help clear incidents more quickly. Electronic signs will help manage detours and traffic.

Officials are hoping to encourage as much transit use as possible, especially on Metro's Green Line, which recently was equipped with additional rail cars. And transit officials said parking is available at the Anacostia Metro station. Maryland commuters also can use the Blue Line from Largo or the Orange Line from New Carrolton.

More than 600 motorists have applied for "Bridge Bucks," a program that will provide $50 toward transit tickets to commuters who agree to take Metro or buses instead of driving.

Lowering the bridge will entail removing the raised viaduct that carries bridge traffic over Potomac Avenue. The remaining portion of the bridge will then be placed on jacks and slowly lowered about 10 feet. A ramp will be built to connect the bridge to ground level at Potomac Avenue.

Lowering of the bridge is scheduled for July 20.