Washington DC: 11th Street
[The Need] Bridges are no different than any other form of infrastructure, eventually they break down and need to be either repaired or replaced. Inspection occurs at least every two years, yet bridges are often pushed to their absolute limits of usability. In Washington DC, the 11th Street Bridge Project aims to replace two bridges built in the 1960s with three new bridges. With these bridges having been in place for nearly 50 years, there were numerous issues. For one, the carrying capacity of the two bridges was not great enough to meet the needs of the area. That was pertinent as with the rise in technology and suburban flight, people were increasingly traveling into the city in the morning to work and out at night to go home. Secondly, the bridges were deteriorating and had reached their maximum life capacity. Without action, the city was facing not only greater travel times, but a …show more content…
Now pedestrians and cyclist would for the most part be separated from the mainstream traffic. This was expected to increase pedestrian traffic which is another crucial piece to the safety of the area. With more people around, there are more witnesses and a lower chance of crime occurring on the bridge. Overall, the implementation of the third bridge would make the area a more safe and better place.
All of the bridges come together to accomplish the goals of better routes for emergency vehicles and improvement of evacuation routes. In a crisis, whatever bridge has less traffic can be used by emergency vehicles. The new bridges also have more space so that vehicles can move over to make way for the emergency vehicles. Therefore, the travel time of a vehicle in need can be cut down significantly. On the topic of evacuation, the addition of lanes will cut down on the amount of traffic that is backed up on the bridge. Thus, allowing people to leave the city at a much quicker rate than before.
[The
[The Need] Bridges are no different than any other form of infrastructure, eventually they break down and need to be either repaired or replaced. Inspection occurs at least every two years, yet bridges are often pushed to their absolute limits of usability. In Washington DC, the 11th Street Bridge Project aims to replace two bridges built in the 1960s with three new bridges. With these bridges having been in place for nearly 50 years, there were numerous issues. For one, the carrying capacity of the two bridges was not great enough to meet the needs of the area. That was pertinent as with the rise in technology and suburban flight, people were increasingly traveling into the city in the morning to work and out at night to go home. Secondly, the bridges were deteriorating and had reached their maximum life capacity. Without action, the city was facing not only greater travel times, but a …show more content…
Now pedestrians and cyclist would for the most part be separated from the mainstream traffic. This was expected to increase pedestrian traffic which is another crucial piece to the safety of the area. With more people around, there are more witnesses and a lower chance of crime occurring on the bridge. Overall, the implementation of the third bridge would make the area a more safe and better place.
All of the bridges come together to accomplish the goals of better routes for emergency vehicles and improvement of evacuation routes. In a crisis, whatever bridge has less traffic can be used by emergency vehicles. The new bridges also have more space so that vehicles can move over to make way for the emergency vehicles. Therefore, the travel time of a vehicle in need can be cut down significantly. On the topic of evacuation, the addition of lanes will cut down on the amount of traffic that is backed up on the bridge. Thus, allowing people to leave the city at a much quicker rate than before.
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