The $2.3 billion Long Bridge project broke ground Tuesday with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and other elected officials on hand to turn dirt, according to a news release from the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority. The new span will boost passenger rail service capacity over the Potomac River and relieve one of the largest rail traffic bottlenecks on the East Coast.
The new two-track railroad bridge between Arlington, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., will be built next to the current Long Bridge over the Potomac River, according to the release. Jacksonville, Florida-based rail company CSX owns the existing, 119-year-old Long Bridge, which carries both passenger and freight trains on its two tracks.
Currently, passenger trains often encounter delays because freight trains have priority on the shared tracks, according to ABC7. Only Amtrak and commuter trains like Virginia Railway Express will use the new bridge, while freight trains will continue to use the original span, reducing delays on both, per the announcement.
“In Virginia, our crippling traffic has truly become a bipartisan issue, and the Long Bridge groundbreaking represents our bipartisan solution,” said DJ Stadtler, executive director of the VPRA, in the release. “But it’s not just Virginians who will benefit. Travelers from Boston to Miami will feel the effects of this project.”
The project also enables rail service to expand to meet future demand, according to the release. It represents the largest of the commonwealth’s Transforming Rail in Virginia efforts, and is a key milestone to its second wave of Virginia Railway Express expansion.
Besides the main new span, the project also includes four other smaller rail bridges and two new bridges for people walking and biking, per the project website.
The project will be delivered through two main packages: For the Long Bridge-North portion, VPRA selected the joint venture composed of Swedish builder Skanska and Broomfield, Colorado-based Flatiron. It picked a Flatiron and St. Joseph, Missouri-based Herzog team to build the Franconia-Springfield Bypass. VPRA is currently interviewing potential builders for the Long Bridge South package.
Construction activities including site preparation will begin over the next few weeks, according to the release, and large-scale construction will begin in 2025. The project is scheduled for completion in 2030.
