First weekday morning commute on new Frederick Douglass Bridge

The Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge opened to traffic on Monday. (WTOP/Neal Augenstein)
The Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge opened to traffic on Monday. (WTOP/Neal Augenstein)
The Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge opened to traffic on Monday. (WTOP/Neal Augenstein)
The Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge opened to traffic on Monday. (WTOP/Neal Augenstein)
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The Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge opened to traffic on Monday. (WTOP/Neal Augenstein)

The first weekday morning commute over the brand new Frederick Douglass Bridge requires paying attention to temporary signage and numerous construction barrels.

WTOP’s Neal Augenstein took a drive on it first thing Monday morning.

“It’s very nice to have three lanes of new roadway in either direction on the new bridge carrying South Capitol Street traffic across the Anacostia,” Augenstein said.

The new bridge has traffic circles at both ends of the bridge that keep vehicles moving.

The D.C. Department of Transportation said there will be more weeknight work for the next two weeks from Sept. 15 to Sept. 29, and traffic could be stopped up to 15 minutes at a time.

DDOT promises to avoid impacting game nights at Nationals Park and Audi Field.

But all traffic lanes as of Monday morning over the new Frederick Douglass bridge are open.

Valerie Bonk

Valerie Bonk started working at WTOP in 2016 and has lived in Howard County, Maryland, her entire life. She's thrilled to be a reporter for WTOP telling stories on air. She works as both a television and radio reporter in the Maryland and D.C. areas. 

Neal Augenstein

Neal Augenstein has been a general assignment reporter with WTOP since 1997. He says he looks forward to coming to work every day, even though that means waking up at 3:30 a.m.

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