A design team led by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), landscape architects OLIN, and structural engineers WRA has completed preliminary plans for the new 11th Street Bridge Park in Washington, D.C.

Made up of two interlocking runways that meet to create a series of covered outdoor spaces, the bridge park links two sides of the Anacostia river that are currently only connected by highway overpasses. Like other recent active bridge designs, the overpass creates habitable green spaces along the ground below the bridge while also creating new overlooks and usable spaces along the span of the bridge itself. 

According to a press release from OMA, plans for the bridge were reviewed and approved by the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) in early April. Late last year, The Bridge Park also ”received positive feedback from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and is planning a presentation to the full Commission this Fall,” the release states. 

The bridge park is the byproduct of a 2014 international design competition that OMA entered in partnership with OLIN, a partnership that has since expanded to include the Washington, D.C. District Department of Transportation, non-profit Building Bridges Across the River, and a selection of local agencies and stakeholders.

OMA Partner Jason Long, stated via press release, “At a time when we are paradoxically isolated from one another but united in a common cause, public spaces that we all share and that benefit health have become more important than ever. Our work has focused on creating a new civic space that engages with the Anacostia River and refining the program for the park to ensure it will be a place for everyone in DC.”

Meanwhile, Yusef Ali Dennis, OMA Associate, adds that, “This project would not have been possible without the efforts of key stakeholders and the community. Their comments and feedback truly shaped the bridge, from its overall design to its specific programs and features. It’s only fitting that a project of this size and importance has required such broad cooperation and collaboration.”

According to the architects, the 11th Street Bridge Park is scheduled to begin construction in 2021.