Construction on the new Lane Place Pedestrian Bridge in Northeast D.C. is receiving crticism from the surrounding community.
The bridge is being built on DC 295 to replace the aging pedestrian bridge hit by a construction truck and knocked down in 2021. Members of the Eastland Gardens community said they are against a bridge being rebuilt because it was barely used in the first place.
“Really, the community does not want this. We are 100% against the bridge,” Junel Jeffrey-Kim, the president of the Eastland Gardens Civic Association said.
Jeffrey-Kim said the $22 million could be spent elsewhere. She said the community would prefer if the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) built sound walls or redesigned streets to slow down traffic.
Photos: Pedestrian Bridge Collapses Onto 295 in DC; 6 Hurt
“They are supposed to listen to us. They are supposed to represent us, they are supposed to do the things that we ask for them to do. Why would you go and do something that we clearly don’t want, when there is a list of things that we want you to do,” Jeffrey-Kim said.
Residents said the new construction is not considering how the walkway ends in front of a house being built or that there is another pedestrian bridge nearby.
“I hope that the city and the community can come to some kind of agreement to say, hey look, you know, let’s spend my tax paying dollars wisely,” resident Eileen McConnell said.
DDOT told News4 it has engaged the community about the bridge since it was knocked down in 2021 and it is delivering what the community “requested and demanded.”
If construction stopped now, DDOT said it would pay extensive fines and costs to the contractor. The new bridge is estimated to take a year to construct.
