At Last! I-295 Project at Kenilworth Ave. NE Is Finished

$34 million, 3-year project caused traffic congestion for many

Northeast resident Tillie Lee has lived near Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue for more than 20 years, but the last three have been the worst.

Since April 2007, the city has been ripping up Interstate 295 where it crosses over Burroughs Avenue, replacing the six-lane bridge and doing major redesign of the on and off ramps. It's an area of northeast D.C. that handles 120,000 vehicles every day.

"I didn't think it would ever come to an end," Lee told NBC4. "There was so much traffic I couldn't get out of my house. I couldn't get in." 

The dust, the dirt and the huge mounds of construction equipment didn't help either. But now Mrs. Lee is delighted.

"The Lord is good and he's seen that this is a finished project," she rejoiced.

The $34 million reconstruction along Kenilworth Avenue and I-295 is just one of several transportation reconstruction projects going on in the city.  Last week, the District announced a $300 million project to build a new 11th Street bridge in Southeast over the Anacostia.  That new bridge, to open in about two years, will allow city traffic to go both north and south on I-295 without clogging up Pennsylvania Avenue and other local roads.

"You can see a lot of improvements," said DDOT Director Gabe Klein, who's overseeing the construction work that creating thousands of jobs in this poor economy.

Contact Us