At 11th Street Bridge, crashes are common

Dave Dildine, wtop.com

WASHINGTON – A major commuting route from Maryland to D.C. is also one of the most accident-prone paths into the nation’s capital.

The District Department of Transportation’s $390 million reconstruction of the 11th Street Bridge continues and is moving into the second phase. But since opening, many of the new ramps to and from the bridge have played host to crashes.

So far this year, the WTOP Traffic Center has reported on at least 43 accidents on the bridge or on the ramps leading to the bridge. That’s about one crash every other day.

The majority of the wrecks occurred on the inbound side of the bridge where drivers merging off Interstate 295 weave together toward Capitol Hill.

That bottleneck should be alleviated when the ramp leading onto the Southeast Freeway is finalized by early next year.

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