Construction of the Massachusetts Avenue portal in February. Photo via Facebook

The Third Street Tunnel ramp, which is used by downtown drivers traveling to Interstate 395, is being replaced by what is being billed as a more efficient way to hit the highway.

After nearly two years of construction as part of the forthcoming Capitol Crossing complex, the D.C. Department of Transportation has announced the opening of a new on-ramp at 4th and Massachusetts Avenue NW on Saturday.

The largest private development underway in the city, the $1.3 billion Capitol Crossing project will bridge the Capitol Hill and East End neighborhoods, creating three new city blocks above 1-395. The completed project will put the seven acres of land to use into a 2.2 million-square-foot complex of five mixed-use buildings.

As the Third Street Tunnel project reaches completion, crews will work on restoring nearby streets and finishing the tunnel extension, said project developer Sean Cahill, in a release.

For drivers, the new route to I-395 will “achieve improved traffic flow” and provide a “much safer environment” for pedestrians and bicyclists,” according to DDOT Director Leif Dormsjo, adding in the release that the agency installed nearly $200 million “in critical infrastructure upgrades.”

Per DDOT, here are the new traffic patterns:

• Southbound traffic entering I-395 can use the new Massachusetts Avenue portal entering from the eastbound lanes of Massachusetts Avenue on the approach to 4th Street, NW. Motorists may also use the D Street entrance off 3rd Street, NW.
• Eastbound H Street between 3rd and 4th Streets expands to three lanes.
• Eastbound Massachusetts Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets is reduced to two lanes.

Through the fall, drivers and pedestrians will face construction crews along Massachusetts Avenue and H Street NW, between 2nd and 4th Streets who will work on repaving sidewalks, among other things, according to DDOT. The tunnel extension work will wrap-up in 2020.

District residents can expect to see Capitol Crossing’s first building, an office-retail tower at 200 Massachusetts Avenue, by 2018. And the final four buildings are projected to be finished by 2022.

Manhattan’s popular Union Square Cafe has signed on to be a restaurant anchor for the development, though it’s unclear when it will open.