D.C.’s Long Bridge will begin renovation or replacement by 2020

For 113 years now, the two-track Long Bridge has connected Washington, D.C. with Virginia. Currently, Amtrak, VRE, and CSX freight trains use the bridge, but there are plans to eventually replace or renovate the bridge in order to accommodate the expected increase of trains.

Greater Greater Washington reported, “76 trains use the bridge every day currently, but up to 192 are expected to want to cross it by 2040.”

To prepare for this dramatic increase in the next few decades, the District Department of Transportation came up with 19 “conceptual alternatives” that would replace the Long Bridge. The options have since been narrowed down to seven options.

These options vary from a “no build” option that would retain the existing bridge to other options that would include three, four, or even five tracks on the bridges. Some would be accompanied by a bicycle and pedestrian path.

Planning for the Long Bridge will continue until 2018. Construction is expected to occur by 2020 at the earliest, according to Greater Greater Washington. No funds have yet been allocated for the project.

• The new Long Bridge could have bike and pedestrian paths [Greater Greater Washington]