The opening of the new Frederick Douglass Bridge is ahead of schedule and will open in September.
A spokesperson for D.C.’s Department of Transportation confirmed the bridge, which broke ground in 2018, will open the week of Sept. 6. News partner NBC Washington first reported the bridge’s updated schedule.
The project was initially set to be completed in the spring 2022, according to its website. In February 2020, project officials said the bridge was halfway done.
The new bridge replaces the previous 70-year-old bridge and is a part of the Suitland Parkway/Interstate 295 interchange reconstruction. Along with featuring six lanes, the new structure crossing the Anacostia River would feature improved bicycle and pedestrian areas.
The project cost $441 million. When unveiling its plans in 2017, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called the bridge the “largest construction project in the history of the District of Columbia.”
