U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and other elected leaders broke ground Tuesday on a major construction project that will see a new rail bridge built between D.C. and Arlington, Virginia.
The project will see repairs made to the Long Bridge, which is more than 100 years old.
Only having two lanes of track and shared by freight and passenger trains, it’s become a major bottleneck for rail service on the East Coast. Additionally, a new two-track span will be built next to the current bridge, doubling rail capacity over the Potomac River.
According to the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority, nearly 6 million people ride over the bridge every year. At a news conference held before the groundbreaking ceremony, Buttigieg said these improvements will allow for more Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express service in the future.
“Rarely in the United States will you find a single piece of infrastructure on which so many people depend every single day,” Buttigieg said. “A more modern structure and updated capacity are going to be vital to sustain that level of traffic, and we’re going to have a lot more coming.”
The $2 billion project is being partly funded by $729 million awarded from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed by Congress in 2021.
“I look forward to the day when riding along the new Long Bridge will ensure that people are having an easy commute to work, and we will be able to see what a smart investment in action looks like,” Rep. Abigail Spanberger said.
A new pedestrian bridge, which will connect East Potomac Park to both the Mount Vernon Trail and the Long Bridge Aquatics and Fitness Center, will also be built next to the new rail bridge.
Construction for the whole project is set to be completed by 2030.
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