Media Contact:  John Lisle at (202) 671-2004

(Washington, DC) The District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT) will temporarily close the eastbound ramp to the 12th Street Tunnel as part of the ongoing rehabilitation of the 11th Street Bridge in Southwest. The ramp will be closed from 7 am to 7 pm on Saturday, June 20, 2009, weather permitting.

Traffic coming across the Francis Case Memorial (14th Street) Bridge from Virginia will be required to take an alternate route. Motorists can go north on 14th Street to get downtown, or take the L’Enfant Plaza exit to D Street, SW. Detour signs will direct them to 7th Street.

The closing of the ramp is to allow for the safe installation of the expansion dams between the bridge deck.

The rehabilitation of the 11th Street Bridge, SW is an 18 month project that includes the replacement of the bridge deck, portions of the piers, abutment walls, retaining walls and roadway. Crews are also installing improved lighting, new traffic signals, and a new water main.

As the work continues, the ramp to the 12th Street Tunnel from westbound I-395 still remains closed and traffic is detoured to 15th Street. The project began in May, 2008 and is scheduled to be completed in November, 2009.