Work to Separate Through Traffic Set for Next Month
By Eric M. Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
After billions of dollars and years of inconvenience, motorists next month will finally get the extra lanes across the Potomac River that the giant Woodrow Wilson Bridge promised, officials said yesterday.
Although the twin-span bridge was built to carry 12 lanes, only six have been available, the same number as on the old bridge.
That will change next month when bridge officials plan to open four through lanes, two on each span, separating through traffic on Interstate 95 from local traffic. The switch-over will take place over the weekends of Dec. 5 and Dec. 12 -- weather permitting -- and will represent the last major inconvenience associated with the bridge portion of the project.
Beginning at 9 p.m. Dec. 5 and continuing through the weekend, the Capital Beltway's outer loop will be reduced periodically from three lanes to one to allow restriping and other work to be completed. The work will be coordinated on the Maryland and Virginia sides of the bridge, said Johanna Jones, spokeswoman for the bridge project.
"We are currently planning for a full weekend of lane closures because we have to plan for the worst,'' Jones said. "We need certain temperatures for striping work."
The same work will be done on the inner loop the next weekend.
"We are warning people to avoid the bridge" because of lengthy delays, Jones said.
To slow traffic as it approaches the bridge work, variable speed limit signs will be used through the work period. The system adjusts speeds to maximize the number of vehicles that can safely make it through a work zone.
The bridge project also includes rebuilding the Beltway interchanges with Maryland 210 and Interstate 295 in Maryland and with Route 1 and Telegraph Road in Virginia; rebuilding a landscaped bridge that carries Washington Street in Alexandria over the Beltway; and building a path for bicyclists and walkers from the north side of the bridge to Maryland and the National Harbor development.
When the switch-over is done, the 1.1 mile-long bridge will have two through lanes on each span that will separate truckers and vacationers who want to drive straight across the bridge from commuters and other motorists who get on and off. Currently, all traffic uses the six lanes that will be dedicated to local traffic.
When completed, the new bridge's capacity will be 295,000 vehicles a day, about four times that of the old one. The bridge, the midpoint of I-95 -- the busiest highway on the East Coast -- carries traffic over the Potomac River between Alexandria and Prince George's County.
Two other lanes are available for carpooling or transit, but no decision has been made on how they will be used. For now, they will be used as a shoulder for the through lanes.
The bike and pedestrian path, which is completed on the bridge, will not be open until next year because of ongoing work on the Maryland side, bridge officials said.
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