The new drawbridge will be 20 feet higher than the old bridge with a 70 foot total clearance.
The increased clearance will allow for seventy-percent fewer bridge openings and traffic interruptions. Currently, there are nearly 260 openings per year, which will be reduced to approximately 65 times per year.
The current Woodrow Wilson Bridge opens approximately 250 times a year (CY 2003). The majority of the boats/ships are high mast recreation sail boats (mast height ranging from 52' - 65' in height). (67% are high mast sail boats, CY 2003). The types of ships that are 70' and over vary: tall mast ships 112'; 67' and 100' cruise ships; Navy Tug ~95'; Merchant Marine Training Vessel 72' in height.
The new bridge will be twelve lanes
Typical Section without transit
Eight general purpose lanes, matching the number of lanes on the Beltway which will unclog the existing bottleneck.
Two merge/diverge lanes to allow safe acceleration and deceleration of vehicles traveling between the adjacent Maryland and Virginia interchanges.
An express/local configuration to balance through and local traffic.
HOV/Express Bus/rail transit lines (these lanes will not open for normal use until connecting systems are in place on both sides of the Potomac River, and will be used for incident management and traffic during construction).
Typical Section with transit
The design of the bridge will allow for the incorporation of transit onto the Beltway across the Potomac River. It would take the place of the HOV/Express Bus lanes. Once the transit line reaches the land, transitions off of the Beltway would be required to join the Metro system that is under consideration.
