WASHINGTON — Heads up, DMV drivers. A portion of one D.C. road is set to be closed to traffic for the next six years, to make way for a long-awaited pollution control project.
DC Water will close Ohio Drive, SW, between Independence Avenue SW and West Basin Drive, SW, beginning Monday, June 17.
The years-long closure is so work can be done on the Potomac River Tunnel Project. The project consists of a large-diameter deep sewer tunnel, diversion facilities, drop shafts, and support structures to capture flows from existing combined sewer overflows (CSOs) along the Potomac River and convey them to the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant for treatment.
An estimated 654 million gallons of CSOs currently enter the Potomac River in a year of average rainfall. The proposed controls are estimated to reduce the volume of CSOs to the Potomac River by 93% and reduce their frequency from approximately 74 events to four events in a year of average rainfall.
The tunnel will be about the size of a Metro train tunnel, but much deeper underground. It will run 5.5 miles from Georgetown all the way to Joint Base Anacostia Bolling. When completed in 2030, the tunnel will improve water quality and aesthetics of the Potomac River for the benefit of all, DC Water says.
The project is estimated to cost the District $820 million.
"Once we complete it were are going to be capturing 93% of the combined sewer overflows that used to go in the river," said Moussa Wone, the vice president of DC Water’s Clean River Project. "The goal in the long run is to make the river fishable and swimmable.
A similar tunnel along the Anacostia River is already built and has captured 17 billion gallons of sewage and 11,000 tons of trash, leaving the Anacostia clean enough to support the major waterfront development now occurring there.
"When you have a healthy river you have healthy cities," Wone said. "I believe this project is going to have an impact for generations to come."
During the closure, eastbound and westbound travel lanes, parking lanes, and the sidewalk through West Potomac Park along Ohio Drive, and between the John Ericsson Memorial and West Basin Drive, will be closed. Detour signs will be posted to safely redirect pedestrians, motorists, and cyclists around the construction zone into West Potomac Park.
A relocated Ohio Drive is expected to open by mid-October. The relocated section of Ohio Drive will intersect Independence Avenue and remain open until the project's completion.
Until the relocated Ohio Drive is completed, motorists and pedestrians will use West Basin Drive to access Independence Avenue from Ohio Drive. To reach Ohio Drive from Independence Avenue, motorists will detour around the Tidal Basin to Maine Avenue, SW, and East Basin Drive, SW.
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