Letter of Advocacy: Maryland and Virginia must Prioritize Reconstruction of American Legion Bridge
About this Letter of Advocacy: This letter was sent to both Governor Wes Moore of Maryland and Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia to rally support for the reconstruction of the American Legion Bridge, which is a vital transportation asset to our growing region. The Board of Trade joined other Washington Region Transportation Coalition members as part of these advocacy efforts.
As representatives of the vast majority of private and nonprofit employers across the DC region, we are writing to urge Maryland and Virginia to prioritize reconstruction of the American Legion Bridge, an essential part of the DC region’s transportation infrastructure that is reaching the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced.
Before the pandemic, the American Legion Bridge was widely recognized as the DC region’s worst traffic bottleneck. The Bridge carried a daily average of 250,000 vehicles and 375,000 people to jobs, housing, and commerce throughout our community. For comparison, the 2024 daily average ridership for the entire Metrorail system was 350,000 trips. Now that most public and private sector employees across the DC area have returned to the office, the number of people who rely on this bridge daily is growing, and if left unaddressed, this vital transportation corridor will continue to see further crippling congestion and delays.
As the only bridge directly connecting the DC region’s two largest jurisdictions – Fairfax and Montgomery Counties – the American Legion Bridge is critical to both the economic prosperity and security of the Nation’s Capital. When a tanker truck overturned on the bridge in 2018, it created a 24-hour traffic nightmare that brought our entire community to a standstill. Now the Maryland Department of Transportation has confirmed that the Bridge will reach the end of its useful life by 2030 and must be replaced.
Our region cannot afford to wait any longer to address this critical regional connection. Maryland and Virginia must take action immediately to ensure that this bridge is replaced and meets the long-term transportation needs of our community.
We urge you to prioritize this essential regional connection to meet the growing transportation, economic development, and national security needs of the Greater Washington region.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this important matter.
Sincerely,
Washington Region Transportation Coalition Members
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