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The 2.3 billion dollars The Long Bridge project began construction Tuesday with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and other elected officials on hand to get dirty, according to a statement from the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority. The new span will increase the capacity of passenger rail service over the Potomac River and relieve one of the largest rail traffic bottlenecks on the East Coast.
The new two-track rail bridge between Arlington, Virginia and Washington, DC, will be built adjacent to the existing long bridge over the Potomac River, according to the release. Railroad company CSX of Jacksonville, Fla., owns the existing 119-year-old Long Bridge, which carries both passenger and freight trains on its two tracks.
Currently, passenger trains often experience delays because freight trains have priority on shared tracks, according to ABC7. Only Amtrak and commuter trains such as the Virginia Railway Express will use the new bridge, while freight trains will continue to use the original span, reducing delays on both, according to the announcement.
“In Virginia, our crippling traffic has truly become a bipartisan issue, and the Long Bridge represents our bipartisan solution,” VPRA Executive Director DJ Stadtler said in the statement. “But it’s not just Virginians who will benefit. Commuters from Boston to Miami will feel the effects of this project.”
The project also allows rail service to be expanded to meet future demand, according to the release. It represents the largest of the Commonwealth’s Transforming Rail efforts in Virginia and is a key milestone for its second wave of Virginia Railway Express expansion.
In addition to the new main section, the project also includes four other smaller railway bridges and two new bridges for pedestrians and cyclists, according to the project’s website.
The project will be delivered through two main packages: For the Long bridge-north partVPRA selected the joint venture formed by Swedish builder Skanska and Broomfield, Colo.-based Flatiron. He chose a Herzog team from Flatiron and St. Joseph, Missouri, to build the Franconia-Springfield bypass. VPRA is currently interviewing prospects builders of the Long Bridge South package
Construction activities, including site preparation, will begin in the coming weeks, the statement said, with full-scale construction set to begin in 2025. The project is expected to be completed by 2030.
