The Long Awaited 11th Street Bridge Park Is One Step Closer to Breaking Ground

Image via City Cast DC

After 15 maddening years, the 11th Street Bridge Park — a project likened to the High Line in New York and pitched as a way to revive a long-neglected part of the city — is closer than ever to breaking ground.

The city could announce as soon as next month that it is finally accepting general contractor bids for the project, a task that will bring the roughly $92 million project to fruition, according to Building Bridges Across the River, the nonprofit that will manage the park and has overseen planning and fundraising.

Soliciting a contractor is the first actionable development in years on the project, an expanse of grass, art and attractions that spans the Anacostia River between D.C.’s buzzy Navy Yard neighborhood on one bank and historically struggling Ward 8 on the east side of the river. But there’s still a long way to go, said Scott Kratz, the founding director of the 11th Street Bridge Park and the president and CEO of Building Bridges.