On the left is the old 11th and O looking south-southeast, while the picture on the right shows the new view, with the overpass for the old outbound 11th Street Bridge now a pile of rubble, and the new bridges at left and center, far more visible in person than in this low-res photo, of course. (At right is the path down to the Riverwalk, with the Navy Yard fence at far right.)

Speaking of rubble, there's no shortage of it at 11th and N (at right), where the on-ramp to the old outbound bridge is getting torn down.

These and a number of other new photos from Sunday are now posted on my 11th Street Bridges page. The full photo archives for 11th at M, N, and O may also be of interest to construction and demolition geeks, to see exactly how much this stretch of road has changed over the past few months. (Users of the Riverwalk who haven't ventured to this spot in a few weeks might also like checking it all out.) While I finally made my first trip across the new local bridge by bike on Monday, I haven't gotten up there with a camera yet, but hope too, soon.

(If you like these sorts of disappearing-overpass images, be sure to step into the time machine to see my photos from the demolition of the South Capitol Street viaduct five years ago.)

The rest of the 11th Street bridges project continues to move forward, with the next big milestone being the opening of a new ramp on the east side of the river from southbound DC-295 to the inbound 11th Street Freeway/I-695 bridge. (Page 16 of this June 11 presentation packet says "on or about June 27" for that opening, so maybe this is going to happen really soon, though as of now there's been no announcement.) Then, sometime in the fall, the next big "missing movement" will open, which is the ramp from the outbound freeway/I-695 bridge to northbound DC-295. Following that will be ramps to and from DC-295 and the local bridge. Also in there at some point should be the new ramp from 11th Street to go westbound on the freeway, replacing the long trek down Virginia Avenue to 3rd Street for many people.

And, the wheels have started to turn on the project's second phase, with a $90 million contract awarded to Skanska/Facchina. Page 17 of the presentation packet (seen at right and here) shows in red and blue the additional ramps and movements that will be built by late 2015, including:

* The new "Southeast Boulevard" that will replace the sunken part of the Southeast freeway between 11th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, with signalized intersections at 11th Street;

* A new extension of 12th Street north of M to allow traffic exiting I-695 to continue north to the new Southeast Boulevard and then turn right to go to Pennsylvania Avenue/Barney Circle or left to 11th Street;

* A new flyover ramp from the eastbound Southeast Freeway to outbound I-695, adding an additional lane of volume and presumably being built at the same level as the new inbound flyover, which will allow the taller old outbound flyover to be demolished;

* Additional lanes on northbound 11th between M and the new Southeast Boulevard interchange;

* And probably a few other items that are hard to discern in the drawing.

As I posted a few weeks ago, the new Anacostia Waterfront web site mentions that an environmental review will be coming this fall of a combined Barney Circle/Southeast Boulevard Project that will "reconstruct Barney Circle from a misnomer into a true traffic circle, while transforming the easternmost dead-end section of the Southeast/Southwest Freeway into a boulevard between the circle and 11th Street, SE." It also describes the Southeast Boulevard reconstruction as "converting the roadway from a below-grade freeway into a four-lane at-grade boulevard with a green median and adjacent new multi-use trail to allow bicycle and pedestrian travel not currently possible in this area."

(You know what would be keen? If the improvements to Virginia Avenue that CSX is looking at post-tunnel construction would include bike lanes all the way to Virginia Avenue Park, which could then maybe hook up with some sort of bike path across the north side of the park to 11th Street, where it would then access the Southeast Boulevard trail. Then there'd be a complete bike route from Barney Circle and points north on the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail all the way to Southwest, via a one-block jog from Virginia over to I Street SE at 2nd or 3rd or 4th, since I Street will be built between 2nd and New Jersey within a few years. This also might alleviate the issues with the Navy Yard and Yards portions of the Riverwalk not really being open to bikes.)

For more information on all of this, see my project page, the AWI 11th Street Bridges section, and the latest "Eleventh Street Ledger" newsletter.