An idea for naming the proposed Potomac Shared-Use Bridge

Not to count our chickens before they hatch, but if all goes well there could be two new bridges across the Potomac River in the area of the current Long Bridge - a second railroad bridge and a shared-use path bridge. People have been calling them all part of the Long Bridge, but really this is an opportunity to choose something better.

Even the Long Bridge name isn't really a name we picked. When it opened the Long Bridge was the Washington Bridge, but it acquired the sobriquet Long Bridge as a short form of "The Long Bridge across the Potomac" to distinguish it from the shorter Chain Bridge. Over the years the bridge was replaced by another and another and then pairs of bridges that resulted in "Highway Bridge" and "Railroad Bridge" in the early 20th Century. The latter got the historical "Long Bridge" name in the 1980's when the planners of VRE began to call it that again and the name stuck. 

I was talking with my kids about what we could name the new bridge, suggesting that a woman or a person of color, or even a woman of color should be considered. We threw out a bunch of ideas with "MIchelle Obama" being my kids favorite, but then while reading a book together at bedtime it hit all of us at the same time: Louvestre Bridge. Mary Louvestre (sometimes Touvestre) was a self-freed former slave living in Virginia during the Civil War

Mary [Louvestre], a freed slave, worked as a housekeeper for one of the Confederate engineers who were repairing the U.S. Navy’s Merrimac. The steam-powered frigate had been partially burned on April 21, 1861, when Federal forces abandoned the Gosport Navy Yard. Rebuilt as an ironclad, she was renamed the C.S.S. Virginia. [Louvestre] overheard the engineers talking about the ship and realized its significance as a weapon against the Northern blockade. Traveling at great risk with a stolen set of plans, she made her way to Washington and got an audience with officials in the Department of the Navy.

Surprised by the momentum of the Confederate project, the officials speeded up the building of the Union ironclad, the Monitor. Some historians believe that if the former slave had not carried her warning to Washington, the Virginia might have had several unchallenged weeks for a rampage against vulnerable Union ships, thwarting the blockade long enough for the arrival of desperately needed supplies from Europe.

The story is that she walked to Washington. If she did she would have had to cross on one of two bridges, most likely - you guessed it - the Long Bridge. Louvestre checks a lot of boxes including a connection to the area and active transportation as well as being a Virginian (Virginia is paying for the bridge and will have a say in naming it). I'd be really surprised if a name I liked better came along, so I'm suggesting it now, early in the process.

The Long Bridge project has had a good year so far. In December, Virginia and CSX announced a $3.7 billion agreement for the state to buy 225 miles of track and build new passenger rail improvements to allow for more passenger rail traffic into L'Enfant Plaza station. 

More trains would be added between 2026 and 2030 as additional construction work on new tracks and the new Long Bridge over the Potomac is completed — eventually doubling the number of Northeast Regional trains running in and out of Virginia.

In September, the DC and VA completed the environmental study for the new bridge.

In addition to rail congestion relief, the Long Bridge project will create a new, independent pedestrian and bicycle bridge crossing of the Potomac River between the Mount Vernon Trail, Crystal City, and the monumental core of the District of Columbia.

The Lovestre Bridge would be hard to jettison (still some ICC Trail scars there) because NPS is considering it part of the mitigation package for the impacts on NPS land. 

The Parties have agreed to address the impacts of the Project on NPS lands through the implementation of a broad package of mitigation measures, identified during compliance with various federal, environmental, cultural, and natural resources review requirements, including NEPA, the Section 4(f) evaluation process, and the NHPA Section 106 consultation process. Those measures include the construction of the elevated bicycle-pedestrian bridge...

Unfortunately the preferred option is to put the Lovestre Bridge between the railroad bridges and the Metro Rail bridge (so no unobstructed views of the river for you). 

The separate bridge was chosen for safety reasons and the location upstream of the bridges was chosen to reduce impact on NPS's viewshed from the parks. (eye roll).

Based on input from the December 2017 meeting they are now seriously considering a connection to both the MVT and to Long Bridge Park/Crystal City (as apposed to just the MVT), which makes this two bridges really - one from Long Bridge Park to the MVT and one from the MVT to Ohio Drive in DC.

The ramps connecting to the MVT in Virginia and to Ohio Drive SW in the District would begin sloping down to existing ground once the crossing reaches land on either side of the river or may begin sloping down while still over the river, which would minimize the length of ramp switchbacks. The determination of whether the bridge can begin sloping downward while still over the river channel would be made in consultation with the United States Coast Guard regarding the minimum allowable vertical clearance over the channel. 

They aren't sure if this would be built with the railroad bridge or later.

It may be possible to phase construction of the bike-pedestrian bridge so that some of the bridge is constructed concurrently with the railroad bridge, and DRPT will pursue this approach to the extent feasible. However, the EIS analyzed the scenario that would result in a longer duration of impacts, which assumes an additional 2 years of construction following the construction of the railroad bridge due to the space constraints between the new bridges and the Metrorail Bridge. The EIS analysis assumed that construction of the bike-pedestrian crossing would use some of the same construction access and staging areas as the railroad bridge construction.

This would be a great new crossing, it deserves a great name. 

Comments

[Shalom]

Love the name! And I love the story of the too-little-known heroine who may have changed the outcome of the entire Civil War.

Is it too late to move our bridge downstream of the railroad? Not only would it be a much better addition to the viewshed than the railroad bridge. It would also open up enough space so they could build both at once, which would surely be cheaper, and would get us the bridge faster, which has quantifiable value too.

[washcycle]

It's not too late to move it downstream, but I think NPS's mind is made up. And I think the two can be built together regardless of whether it's up stream or downstream.

[Shalom Flank]

Wash -- I was relying on your quote, about "an additional 2 years of construction following the construction of the railroad bridge due to the space constraints between the new bridges and the Metrorail Bridge."

If our bridge were downstream, I assume the rail bridge would stay in the same spot, opening more room for construction. So we could argue for our preferred outcome, but on the basis of cheaper construction costs?

[washcyle]

Oh I see. I do think the downstream bridge would be better when crossing the river, but it makes for a difficult connection with Long Bridge Park. They seem unclear on which would lead to a faster and/or cheaper construction process.

[Purple Eagle]

If they build the trail bridge upstream of the RR bridge it can essentially be an extension of the existing promenade on Long Bridge Park. If it were downstream they would need to somehow get the trail across the RR tracks in order to connect to the park

[MPPSC Notes]

If our bridge were downstream, I assume the rail bridge would stay in the same spot, opening more room for construction. So we could argue for our preferred outcome, but on the basis of cheaper construction costs?

[paytonc]

OTOH, railfans may appreciate having a bridge right at wheel height. 360 degree view of trains!

[Mike]

if you have a 360 degree view of trains while you're on a bridge, you're probably screwed