Contact (Media Only): Erik Linden (202) 671-2004 and Karyn LeBlanc (202) 671-3490
(Washington, DC) As part of ongoing improvements to the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge (sometimes referred to as the South Capitol Street Bridge), the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will continue bridge repairs this weekend.
Following the morning rush hour at 10 am this Friday, April 20, DDOT will temporarily close the inbound lanes on the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge. All lanes will be reopened in time for the Monday morning rush hour.
Inbound bridge drivers will be directed to follow signed detours on Interstate 295 North to the 11th Street Bridge—providing direct access into the District.
These closures are part of a series of several weekend bridge closures of all lanes in one direction. The off-peak closures and repairs are needed to prepare for a major rehabilitation that will take place on the Frederick Douglass Bridge in July and August—at which time all lanes on the bridge will be closed in both directions.
Looking ahead: Following this weekend’s closure of inbound lanes, drivers are advised that all outbound (southbound) lanes on the bridge will close on approximately three separate weekends during May and early June.
The first of the three outbound lane closures is scheduled to occur the weekend of May 4–7 (beginning Friday, May 4 at 10 pm until as late as Monday, May 7 before the afternoon rush hour).
The one-direction-only weekend closures on the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge are necessary to allow workers to safely replace bridge expansion joints with new joints (joints allow a bridge to flex when temperature changes occur). Joint replacement work requires extended periods of uninterrupted work hours, as it involves removing existing joints from the concrete bridge deck, making necessary repairs, installing new joints and placing concrete to reconnect the existing bridge deck to the new joints. Under-the-bridge steel repair work and painting also will occur.
During the July-August closure, the northernmost portion of the bridge will be lowered to become an at-grade roadway with a new intersection at South Capitol Street and Potomac Avenue. Nearly three blocks of elevated roadway—which currently act as a barrier to access across South Capitol Street—will be removed and replaced with at-grade intersections that will help knit the neighborhood together.
Additional improvements will occur such as paving and painting the entire bridge.