"Woodrow Wilson Bridge set for traffic shortly"
_Richmond Times-Dispatch_ - Friday, May 16, 2008

'Interstate 95's new Woodrow Wilson Bridge should be fully open for
traffic by the end of the month, VDOT says.'

'With Virginia Sen. John W. Warner turning the final bolt, officials
dedicated the $2.5 billion structure's second span across the Potomac
River in Northern Virginia yesterday.'

'"In many ways," said state Transportation Secretary Pierce Homer, "the
Woodrow Wilson Bridge project averts a transportation disaster."'

'But yesterday's ceremony spawned its own traffic jam.  As workers set
up tents and raised giant American flags on the new span, rubbernecking
commuters on the other span stopped to gawk, and backups stretched about
7 miles in Maryland.'

'The old six-lane bridge was one of the country's worst bottlenecks,
officials said.  Completed in 1961, that bridge was designed to
accommodate 75,000 vehicles a day but ended up carrying nearly three
times that number.'

'When fully opened, the 1.1-mile-long bridge will carry 12 lanes of
traffic between Virginia and Maryland.  By 2020, traffic is expected to
reach nearly 300,000 vehicles a day.'

'A mix of funds from the federal government, Virginia, Maryland and the
District of Columbia paid for the bridge.  The largest contribution --
$1.5 billion -- came from the federal government thanks to Warner, Homer
said.  Virginia put up $635 million for the double-span drawbridge.'

'Work began on the bridge in 2000, and the first six-lane span opened in
2006.  The whole project will wrap up in 2013 with the completion of the
Telegraph Road interchange in Alexandria.'

'The Woodrow Wilson Bridge project, which also included building two
major highway interchanges in Virginia and two in Maryland, recently won
the 2008 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award from the
American Society of Civil Engineers, the group's highest honor.'

'The award singled out the project's innovative and extensive
environmental program and its sensitivity to travelers and local
communities.'

[end article]

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Scott M. Kozel    Highway and Transportation History Websites
Virginia/Maryland/Washington, D.C. http://www.roadstothefuture.com
Capital Beltway Projects           http://www.capital-beltway.com
Philadelphia and Delaware Valley   http://www.pennways.com