RK&K staff gathered with community members, officials, and representatives over Labor Day weekend to celebrate the official opening of the new Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge in Washington, DC, the biggest infrastructure project in the District Department of Transportation’s history.
RK&K worked on the $480 million project since 2017, providing program management services including geotechnical engineering, traffic management/maintenance of traffic, cost estimating, and administrative support. The project replaced the nearly 70-year-old Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge over the Anacostia River, reconstructed the I-295/Suitland Parkway interchange, and recreated the South Capitol Street Corridor in southeast DC.
“The new Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge is a fitting tribute to an iconic Washingtonian, a forefather of Black excellence who we continue to emulate and who helped build Washington, DC into the city we are today,” said DC Mayor Muriel Bowser during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “This project was never just about getting people from Point A to Point B, it was about building a more connected DC — connecting Ward 8 and Ward 6, connecting residents to jobs and prosperity, and connecting our entire community to the future of multi-modal transportation.”
“This project was never just about getting people from Point A to Point B, it was about building a more connected DC.” – DC Mayor Muriel Bowser
The new Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge has six traffic lanes and improved accommodations for pedestrians and bicycles. The bridge’s design allows smoother flow of traffic on both sides of the river, better connecting and enhancing transportation infrastructure to support continued growth and improvement in the area.
