The District Department of Transportation is moving forward with plans to replace the current South Capitol Street/Frederick Douglass Bridge, which has been envisioned in the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, as well as by the National Capital Planning Commission. As of mid-2005, two studies were simultaneously underway: The South Capitol Street Environmental Impact Study, and the South Capitol Street Bridge Alignment Study.
In August 2005, DDOT displayed three build alternatives to how the bridge's northern terminus would intersect with South Capitol Street; but it can be gleaned from the various studies (including NCPC's New Vision for South Capitol Street, the source of the graphic at right) that the desired design from an urban planning standpoint is having a traffic rotary where South Capitol Street, R Street, Potomac Avenue, and the new bridge would come together. The rotary would be big enough to include a park ("South Capitol Commons") in its interior. The plans would also include more public space between the south and east sides of the rotary and the river.
The 2005 US highway bill included $123 million for this project, with the bridge itself expected to cost between $300 million and $400 million, depending on the design. As for a timeline, even with the desire to speed the process because of the arrival of the new baseball stadium, this is most likely not going to be started before 2011.
In the meantime, the current bridge will be rehabilitated and, more importantly, will be closed in July and August of 2007 to allow for the demolition the 800 feet of bridge that runs from O Street to Potomac Avenue, and the lowering of an additional 580 feet of the bridge so that it reaches street level at Potomac Avenue. (See this Washington Post graphic for details.)
In March 2006 DDOT released four possible designs for the new bridge, shown below (see videos of designs).
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Image from NCPC's 
