Long Bridge Project

The Long Bridge Project will double rail capacity over the Potomac River and add a new bicycle-pedestrian bridge between Arlington, Virginia and Washington, DC.

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Project Summary

The Long Bridge is a CSXT owned two-track, 119-year-old bridge that spans the Potomac River in Washington, DC. The Long Bridge Project will double the capacity, creating a four-track corridor, and constructing approximately 1.8 miles of improvements including eight rail bridges and pedestrian bridges over land and the Potomac River and related railroad infrastructure between Arlington, VA, and Washington, DC.

The Long Bridge Project will construct a new, two-track railroad bridge next to the existing Long Bridge, creating a four-track corridor. A new bike-pedestrian bridge also will be constructed as part of the mitigation to National Park Service (NPS) parkland and will span the Potomac River and George Washington Memorial Parkway, connecting Long Bridge Park directly to East and West Potomac Parks.

Freight and passenger rail operators within the project corridor include Amtrak, Virginia Railway Express (VRE) and CSXT. Annually, up to 1.3 million Amtrak passengers and 4.5 million VRE commuters traverse the current Long Bridge, which operates at 98% capacity during peak hours. The project’s purpose is to create greater railroad capacity between Virginia and the District of Columbia while alleviating the rail congestion caused by the existing two-track Long Bridge.

1.8

Miles of Rail

6

New Bridges

6.5K

Feet of Rail Bridges

20K

Feet of Tracks

Project Timeline

DDOT logo
DDOT logo
VPRA Logo
VPRA Logo

2011 – 2016
Planning

2016 – 2020
Environmental and
Conceptual Engineering

2021 – 2023
Preliminary Engineering (PE)

2023 – 2030
Final Design and Construction

2011
Federal Rail Administration (FRA)
High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) grant awarded

2012 – 2015
Phase I Study: Preliminary operations plan; visual inspection of the corridor; initial evaluation of existing and future capacity needs; and preliminary development of conceptual alternatives

2015 – 2016
Phase II Study: Purpose and need, environmental data collection report; long range service plan; refinement of engineering concepts; and development of evaluation criteria

2016
DDOT, DRPT, and VRE formalize a partnership through a memorandum of agreement (MOA)

2016
FRA Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) discretionary grant awarded

2019
Draft EIS, DRPT is named project sponsor for engineering and construction

October 29, 2019
Public hearing on the Draft EIS, Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation, and Draft Section 106 Programmatic Agreement

2020
Order of magnitude cost established: $1.9 billion

Mitigation commitments determined

September 3, 2020
Combined Final EIS/Record of Decision and Final Section 4(f) Evaluation executed

February/March 2021
PE contract awarded

2021 – 2023
Advance design from 15% to 30%

Determine project delivery method

Land acquisition activities

Begin environmental mitigations

Permitting

Agreements with partner organizations

August 2021
VPRA request for entry into FTA Core Capacity Grant two-year Project Development Phase

2023 – 2030
Project delivery: Design-Build OR Design-Bid-Build

Land acquisition activities

Continue environmental mitigations

Permitting

Agreements with partner organizations

Final design and construction

DDOT logo
DDOT logo

2011 – 2016
Planning

2016 – 2020
Environmental and
Conceptual Engineering

2011
Federal Rail Administration (FRA)
High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) grant awarded

2012 – 2015
Phase I Study: Preliminary operations plan; visual inspection of the corridor; initial evaluation of existing and future capacity needs; and preliminary development of conceptual alternatives

2015 – 2016
Phase II Study: Purpose and need, environmental data collection report; long range service plan; refinement of engineering concepts; and development of evaluation criteria

2016
DDOT, DRPT, and VRE formalize a partnership through a memorandum of agreement (MOA)

2016
FRA Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) discretionary grant awarded

2019
Draft EIS, DRPT is named project sponsor for engineering and construction

October 29, 2019
Public hearing on the Draft EIS, Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation, and Draft Section 106 Programmatic Agreement

2020
Order of magnitude cost established: $1.9 billion

Mitigation commitments determined

September 3, 2020
Combined Final EIS/Record of Decision and Final Section 4(f) Evaluation executed

VPRA logo
VPRA logo

2021 – 2023
Preliminary Engineering (PE)

2023 – 2030
Final Design and Construction

February/March 2021
PE contract awarded

2021 – 2023
Advance design from 15% to 30%

Determine project delivery method

Land acquisition activities

Begin environmental mitigations

Permitting

Agreements with partner organizations

August 2021
VPRA request for entry into FTA Core Capacity Grant two-year Project Development Phase

2023 – 2030
Project delivery: Design-Build OR Design-Bid-Build

Land acquisition activities

Continue environmental mitigations

Permitting

Agreements with partner organizations

Final design and construction

Project Timeline

DDOT logo

2011 – 2016
Planning
test

2011
Federal Rail Administration (FRA)
High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) grant awarded2012 – 2015
Phase I Study: Preliminary operations plan; visual inspection of the corridor; initial evaluation of existing and future capacity needs; and preliminary development of conceptual alternatives2015 – 2016
Phase II Study: Purpose and need, environmental data collection report; long range service plan; refinement of engineering concepts; and development of evaluation criteria2016
DDOT, DRPT, and VRE formalize a partnership through a memorandum of agreement (MOA)
DDOT logo

2016 – 2020
Environmental and
Conceptual Engineering

2016
FRA Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) discretionary grant awarded2019
Draft EIS, DRPT is named project sponsor for engineering and constructionOctober 29, 2019
Public hearing on the Draft EIS, Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation, and Draft Section 106 Programmatic Agreement2020
Order of magnitude cost established: $1.9 billionMitigation commitments determinedSeptember 3, 2020
Combined Final EIS/Record of Decision and Final Section 4(f) Evaluation executed
VPRA logo

2021 – 2023
Preliminary Engineering (PE)
s

February/March 2021
PE contract awarded2021 – 2023
Advance design from 15% to 30%Determine project delivery methodLand acquisition activitiesBegin environmental mitigationsPermittingAgreements with partner organizationsAugust 2021
VPRA request for entry into FTA Core Capacity Grant two-year Project Development Phase
VPRA logo

2023 – 2030
Final Design and Construction
s

2023 – 2030
Project delivery: Design-Build OR Design-Bid-BuildLand acquisition activitiesContinue environmental mitigationsPermittingAgreements with partner organizationsFinal design and construction

Project Stage

Development – Preliminary Engineering

Schedule

Pre-NEPA Stage: 2011 – 2016

NEPA: 2016 – 2020

Preliminary Engineering: 2020 – 2024

Final Design/Construction: 2024 – 2030

Map of the Long Bridge Project