* DDOT expects that the new bridges carrying inbound and outbound freeway traffic will open by the end of this year. There will still be plenty of work to do in terms of ramps and connections and other necessary work surrounding those bridges, but at least these new structures will be open fairly soon. (If you haven't been following closely, one of the big "adds" of this entire project is that when completed vehicles will be able to move between the freeway bridges and northbound/southbound DC295 in all directions, which isn't currently the case.)

* The new 11th Street Local bridge, carrying traffic between Anacostia and 11th Street SE by the Navy Yard, is expected to open by fall of next year. However, according to Greater Greater Washington and other outlets, this bridge apparently will not be having streetcar tracks built into it during this initial construction phase as originally designed, because of all manner of bureaucratic falderal I'm too lazy to bother trying to explain here. If this happens, portions of the deck of the bridge would have to be pulled up and redone with the streetcar tracks a few years from now. (On the other hand, the concrete hasn't been poured on this bridge yet, so maybe there's still a chance some folks could figure out a way to get it to happen now?)

* These graphics show the plans for the paths and landscaping under the bridges along the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail (just east of the entrance to the Navy Yard's portion of the riverwalk). They appear to include an interesting little jut-out into the river, on what I imagine is the footprint of the existing downstream bridge.

* If you drive 11th Street north of M and see the big concrete piers popping up to the east, they are for the new flyover ramp that will connect inbound freeway bridge traffic to the Southeast Freeway. Work is also underway on a new ramp that will bring traffic from RFK and Pennsylvania Avenue up to a signalized interchange at 11th Street rather than continuing underneath 11th to the Southeast Freeway. There will then be a ramp from 11th to the westbound freeway, which means that folks who live on the eastern side of Capitol Hill or who work at the Navy Yard will be able to get on the freeway at 11th rather than zooming down Virginia Avenue all the way to 3rd Street.

It's a pretty big project, and I'm giving short shrift to much of the change that will be coming to the connections to the bridges on the east side of the Anacostia, but the new photo gallery should still be interesting, and my 11th Street Bridges Project page can probably help with additional details if you're in need.

The photo gallery also has this stitched-together panorama taken up on the new flyover bridge, but you'll probably want to look at a larger version, since it gives a pretty good look at a large swath of skyline alongside the Anacostia River:

Since this is on the east side of the Anacostia, it's not something I'd normally be writing much about, except that I got to visit the flyover bridge with camera in hand, hours before its opening, as part of a wide-ranging tour of the entire 11th Street Bridges project that DDOT was generous enough to arrange for me. In order to stay ahead of the news cycle, I've posted a quick gallery of images of the new flyover bridge,

But of course these are not the only photos I took, and so early next week look for another batch of images that I'll be posting of the work on the bridges themselves and the new approaches that are being put in place. Work began on the project in late 2009, and DDOT expects that the new inbound and outbound freeway bridges will be open by the end of this year. The new 11th Street Local bridge should open in the second half of next year, with the various new connector ramps being completed soon after. (There is one shot of the new bridges included in this batch that should whet your appetite.)

I'll hold off on the other big news of the project until then as well.

If you haven't been to 1st and L since Thursday, you might be a bit surprised at what the northeast corner looks like, because about 24 hours after the decision to reject the landmarking application, workers arrived at the Market Deli and removed all the beige siding and the signs. (Dang, I would have offered to hang onto one of those.) I took a bunch of shots of not only the defrocked Deli but also its siblings along that stretch of 1st Street, because with raze permits having been filed, they may not be around much longer.

I also caught the progress at the Little Red Building version 2.0, where the windows and doors are now in place. And then I figured I'd better save for posterity the signs on the M Street fences at Canal Park announcing the availability of 3,500 square feet of restaurant space when construction is completed in (we hope) 2012.

A new demolition project started on Friday, bringing down the last portion of the decommissioned ramp from RFK to the outbound 11th Street Bridge, which will bring quite a change to 11th Street south of M as the massive retaining wall that has run along the east side of the street will be disappearing. There will be a new ramp from M just east of 11th to take traffic to the new outbound freeway bridge, but it will be set back a bit, and 11th Street itself will be wider since it will have traffic running in both directions to and from the new "11th Street Local" bridge. (UPDATE, many days later: As I watch the demolition, I now see that most of the retaining wall is going to stay in place, since that is where the new on-ramp to the outbound freeway will be. Duh.)

I walked the circuit down 11th, across O, and back up 12th, and took photos of the work on the new freeway span as it gets closer to crossing above O (above, left), as well as shots of work on the new exit ramp (above, right) that will take drivers off the inbound freeway span all the way up to M Street (rather than dumping them onto 12th as in the current configuration). I put a bunch of before-and-afters on my 11th Street Bridges project page (where you can also see graphics and information on the new design), but there's a number of enlarged versions of these construction photos in the photo gallery I posted (scroll down about halfway).

So, check out the gallery for the nice pretty big shots, follow the targeted links above, or see all of yesterday's photos, where as always you can click on the to see the complete archive of images for any location.

The framing of the next batch of townhouses in Capitol Quarter's second phase continues, and so I headed out to get an updated batch of photos at 3rd and I (which also happen to show the buzz around 225 Virginia/200 I, as workers are prepping to take down the exterior walls, perhaps starting next week I was told).

But it isn't just houses being built--a few weeks ago, curbs and asphalt were put in for the new 3rd Place, a north-south street between 3rd and 4th that will run between I and L streets. (You can see it, although it's unmarked, on this map.) It's the first time I've had to add a street to my Photo Archive, but it seems to have worked, and I not only have photos I took today, but whatever photos I could find from deep in the archives that by chance ended up being taken in the right location.

You can see my photos at both 3rd Place and I and 3rd Place and K and perhaps see some 2004-2006 photos you haven't come across before. These two shots are looking north-northeast at the new 3rd Place & K intersection:

(The street isn't actually open yet, though, since it goes right through the block that's currently under construction.)

I also took a lot of pictures along 11th Street, ostensibly to document the progress on the 11th Street Bridges, but I didn't actually go anywhere close to the waterfront, so you have to be satisfied with various other photos that show progress if you squint at them.

And I grabbed a lot of other shots around Square 906 today (7th, 8th, L, Virginia), since my archive is woefully lacking in images of that block, and things will be a'changin' around there before too long. You can see them as part of the display of the 151 pictures (eek) I've posted today, but I'll have something a bit more targeted within the next few weeks. You can also, as always, browse the photo archive at your own speed, using the map or the search boxes to see the intersection(s) you're interested in.

As for additional construction photos perhaps in the offing, a reader reports that No Parking signs have gone up along Second Street, indicating that parking will be prohibited 24 hours a day starting on March 7 for approximately 15 months. Is a certain park about to see some action?

This is all part of the 11th Street Bridges reconstruction; see my project page for more details. This closure would seem to mainly effect Navy Yard employees who come northward across the bridges and have been able to turn left at the bottom of the ramp on N to head toward the Navy Yard's gates, and who will now have to go up to M, turn left, and then turn left on 11th.

UPDATE: In looking at the plans, and parsing the press release wording, I think the "permanently" refers to drivers coming off the 11th Street Bridge inbound having to go to 12th and M. It looks like N will still be in existence, and in fact will be built through to 12th. I can't quite tell from the various graphics how traffic will flow on the new N. But basically, the way that N is used now (as a turn off the exit ramp) won't exist anymore.

Over the weekend DDOT sent out its latest "Eleventh Street Ledger," the official newsletter of the 11th Street Bridges project. It gives a pretty detailed update on the progress made over the past few months on surrounding infrastructure and the two new "freeway bridges," the inbound one of which now has 48 of its 54 girders set, with the outbound girders soon to follow. These two bridges will be opening in the fall, with the two-way "11th Street Local" bridge expected to open a year after that.

You can read the newsletter for all the information, but it does say (page 2) that coming soon in the 11th/12th/M/N/O corridor on the Near Southeast side of things will be the first of four new piers north of M to connect the new inbound freeway bridge to the existing freeway, and that this summer steel girders for the ramp will be placed above M Street. And the girders of the inbound bridge will soon be set to connect the new bridge itself to the northwest side of the river.

In the meantime, away from the construction zone, the National Capital Planning Commission at its upcoming meeting on Thursday is set to give its approval to the final design of the bridges, and the Staff Recommendation document gives a good overview worth reading of the general plans for the bridges.

There is also a graphic on page 5 detailing the ramps and right-of-ways that would be built in a later, currently unfunded phase of the project, with the bulk of the additional work to be done where the freeway curves at 11th Street. There would be a new wider flyover to take outbound traffic to the bridges; there also would be a change in the current Pennsylvania Avenue approach with a new ramp down to 11th Street, where drivers would go through a streetlight-controlled intersection to either turn left or right on 11th or continue forward toward Pennsylvania Avenue on the new "Southeast Boulevard" (which is what drivers know today as the below-grade route to and from Pennsylvania Avenue and Barney Circle). There would also be new approaches north of M between 11th and 12th to take drivers exiting off the inbound freeway bridge up to Southeast Blvd., where they could turn either left to get to 11th Street or right to go to Pennsylvania Avenue.

These additional routes were all called for in the EIS, but if you came in after the design/build phase of the bridges got underway, you might be unfamiliar with these other connections that DDOT hopes to eventually add, which will make the intersection of 11th Street and Southeast Blvd. quite a happening juncture. This intersection will actually get its start during the bridge's first phase, as within a few years there will be a new ramp allowing northbound traffic on 11th Street to turn left and enter the Southeast Freeway--no more zooming down Virginia Avenue for eight blocks to the 3rd Street ramp. And traffic coming from Pennsylvania Avenue on the first iteration of Southeast Blvd. will be brought to this new 11th Street intersection as well.

The NCPC document also says (page 8) that the path on the local bridge for cyclists and pedestrians has been widened in the final design to 16 feet from 14 feet. And the design is still configured to allow for streetcars to run on the local bridge in shared lanes, with lighting fixtures and other design elements configured for overhead wires, should they be necessary.

The inbound bridge will remain open. For detour routes and other information, see the press release. It does note that if there's inclement weather, the closures will be rescheduled to the same overnight hours on Sunday, Jan. 30. And, given the Wednesday night forecast, it is possible that slot will get rained or snowed out (more likely rained).

* Last week I heard from the owners of what will soon be the Harry's Reserve "upscale" wine and spirits store at New Jersey and I, saying that they hope to be open by February 1.

* This year's NatsFest at the baseball stadium will be held on March 30, the day before the Opening Day home game against the Atlanta Braves. The schedule of events is still to come, but hopefully the decision to better tie in the event to the hoopla surrounding the start of the season won't be offset by it being on a Wednesday, when it's harder for kids to be there. (Especially kids who may already be playing hooky the next day!)

* The Yards Park web site now has information about renting space for public, private, or community events. And if you wander through the calendar, you can see what events might be on tap for this year, though the main calendar shows what's been confirmed, such as the Capitol City Beer Festival on May 28, the previously discussed DC Music Festival on May 7, the MetroDash obstacle course race on July 9, and a monthy Art Market.

* Stephen Strasburg, working on his degree while rehabbing, has written a thesis on the effects new stadiums have on neighborhoods, with a focus on Nationals Park. If he was looking for information on what the neighborhood looked like "before," I hope he found it! (And no, the thesis isn't available anywhere.)

* The National Capital Planning Commission will be looking at the final 11th Street Bridges site and building plans at their February 3 meeting. Gosh, I hope they like where the bridges themselves are placed in the designs!

* Off-topic, but the hunt seems to be back on for a new DC United stadium location, with one of the potential spots being across South Capitol Street at Buzzard Point in Southwest. (Please note that I said Buzzard Point. There is no s on the end. In case you missed 642 tweets about it today.) SWill has some additional information.

And, coming on Thursday (I hope), my 2011 State of the Hood roundup of the past 12 months' worth of activity, and what might be on the horizon. (I'm telling you this to force myself to actually get it done.)

* The National Capital Planning Commission at its Thursday meeting should be approving the design of the 611-foot-long floating bridge to connect the Yards Park with Diamond Teague Park. The "delegated action" document says that the bridge will also include an 81-foot-long platform that will be used as a "marine environmental education center" -- the platform is necessary to span three underground pipes at the DC Water pumping station. At the BID annual meeting in December, it was said that construction on the bridge could begin this spring. (UPDATE) And construction is expected to take 6-8 months.

* If you drive into downtown DC across the 11th Street Bridges late at night/early in the morning, be advised that the ramps from northbound I-295 and 13th Street, SE, will be closed between midnight and 5 am on both Friday, Jan. 7 and Monday, Jan. 10 to allow for work with overhead steel girders. But the South Capitol Street Bridge will be open for your Anacostia crossing pleasure.

* There hasn't been much apparent movement by American Water Taxi to get started with its planned service between Georgetown, the Southwest Waterfront, and Teague Park, but an update on their web site within the past few weeks says that "Focus groups and working group meetings to start in January."

* The agenda for the Jan. 11 ANC 6B meeting includes an item on the "Resolution of the Bavarian Beer Garden [Liquor] License Protest." Does this mean that the ANC and the folks wanting to open the beer garden at 8th and L have gotten the voluntary agreement hashed out, after all the concerns recently expressed? We shall see.

A few parts of the new design on the Near Southeast side of the project are worth (re-)pointing out, if you can make it through my torrent of descriptions:

* The "freeway" traffic and the "local" traffic will now be separated, with four lanes inbound and four lanes outbound on the freeway/upriver bridge and two lanes inbound/outbound on the "local"/downriver bridge (which Johnston was referring to as "Local 11th Street" because 11th will now feel like a street that crosses a river), as shown on slide 10.

* The local bridge will allow easier access between Near Southeast and Anacostia, for not only cars but pedestrians and bicycles, as well as streetcars when the routes are expanded. As part of this, 11th Street south of M is going to become two-way, and there will be bike lanes in both directions on 11th north of the bridge. (Slide 9)

* Another feature that appears to be coming together for pedestrians and bicyclists is creating two overlooks that jut out above the river on the south side of the local bridge--these would use two of the in-water piers from the current downriver bridge, and you can see them at left and on slide 11.

* One of the big changes for traffic flow for both Near Southeast and Capitol Hill is that there is going to be a new two-lane on-ramp to go westward on the Southeast Freeway toward Virginia at 11th Street, underneath where the current flyover ramps are. (See slide 7.) Folks who have easier access to 11th Street will no longer have to drive along Virginia Avenue and/or 3rd Street to go westbound on the freeway.

But part of this new 11th Street intersection is that traffic coming from Pennsylvania Avenue along the sunken road that currently feeds directly into the freeway will instead be brought up to street level at this new signalized 11th Street intersection and will then drive straight onto the new on-ramp. So there will be some consternation from drivers using this route. (This is also shown on slide 7.)

* To go across the river from Near Southeast on the freeway bridge, for access to DC-295 northbound and I-295 southbound, drivers will have a new ramp on the southeast corner of 11th and M (slide 4). The existing ramp at 8th and Virginia will still be available, too.

* There will still be an exit ramp from the inbound freeway bridge to I Street, just as there is now (slide 4).

* If you look at slide 4 very closely (and/or click on the bird's-eye view at right) and follow the paths off of each bridge, you can see how the freeway bridges coming across the river will have an exit for M Street similar to the current exit, but it deposits drivers at M just west of 12th instead of using 12th itself. It also no longer has the neat little N Street cut-through directly from the ramp that some Navy Yard workers cherish. To get to the Navy Yard, drivers will turn left on M, then left at 11th, and then go to whichever gate they need.

Other information in the slides includes: a graphic showing of the new ramps and accesses on the east side of the bridges at 295 and MLK (slide 12), of which the biggest addition is that you'll now be able to get to and from 295 and the bridges in all directions. There's also recent construction photos (including the first structural steel being laid on the freeway bridge), and information on stormwater management areas, and upcoming traffic impacts (slide 19).

It's expected that the freeway bridge will open about a year from now, with the new local bridge being finished in the winter of 2012/2013. (Dr. Gridlock wrote about recent milestones and upcoming work a few weeks ago.)

If you want to know more, there's my 11th Street Bridges project page, and you can also spend a couple months reading the Environmental Impact Statement to see all the studying they did of potential, um, impacts. There's also this Fact Sheet that they handed out.