the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Feb 28, 2022
On Friday night, February 11, transportation officials shut three lanes on the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge for emergency repairs. This bridge links downtown Washington, D.C. to a major highway to the Virginia suburbs, Interstate 66. The bridge’s remaining four lanes must handle the 150,000 cars that usually cross it every day. Gridlock, meet bottleneck!
Fire engines, ladder trucks, and snowplows over 10 tons aren’t allowed to use the bridge, and other emergency vehicles must drive slowly. Inspectors had found deteriorated steel support beams threatening the bridge’s ability to support heavy weight. This bridge has not had a major rehabilitation in its 58 years. An inspection in 2014 found the need for more work, which never happened. In the meantime, in 2018 the bridge was rated “poor.”
For everyone stuck in traffic, these official promises of fixes this summer are hard to swallow. Assurances to fix more than 70 other old bridges in D.C. within a decade are equally impossible to believe.