Hoyer, Norton Announce $68 million Award for Frederick Douglass/South Capitol Street Bridge

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-5) and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC) today announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded $68 million to the District of Columbia for construction of a new Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge.  Hoyer and Norton worked to secure the funding, a cornerstone of the South Capitol Street revitalization project, through the National Corridor Infrastructure Improvement Program included in the 2005 Surface Transportation Authorization Act (SAFETEA-LU). 

"A new Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge is critical to improving safety and accessibility for Fifth District commuters and all those who visit our nation's capital via South Capitol Street," said Congressman Hoyer.  "It is also an important component of the South Capitol Street Gateway project and Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, which are working to help bolster the revitalization and economic recovery of the surrounding neighborhood. I am proud to have worked with Congresswoman Norton to secure the funds for this vital initiative."

Congresswoman Norton said, "This is the bridge we are having to build appropriation by appropriation.  In fact, I was at the South Capitol Street Bridge just yesterday for a press conference with the Iron Workers, the Painters and other unions to bring attention to the overdue repairs for the bridge and the prime opportunity to make those repairs now, when so many of our workers are unemployed.  We shored up this bridge with a prior appropriation.  The plan and design for a new South Capitol Street Bridge has long been ready, and the time has now come to build the bridge."   

Hoyer and Norton have worked for years to obtain incremental funding for the Frederick Douglass/South Capitol Street Bridge, successfully securing $123 million in the 2005 transportation reauthorization bill, and nearly $20 million since 2002 for the rehabilitation of South Capitol Street and the Frederick Douglass/South Capitol Street Bridge through the appropriations process. Specifically, the funding announced today will be utilized for right of way acquisition.

Hoyer and Norton have long worked together to make the case to Congress that federal funds are necessary for the Frederick Douglass/South Capitol Street Bridge both for South Capitol Street's historic significance as a major artery into the nation's capital and because the bridge is indispensible to the thousands of federal workers who come into the District for work every day.