Construction has begun on a plan to speed up buses on the busy 16th Street corridor in D.C.

The 3-mile project, which runs from near the White House to Arkansas Avenue, has been in the works since 2013 and should be open by next spring at the latest.

At a press conference Wednesday, Mayor Muriel Bowser said the bus lanes would affect more than 20,000 daily riders (pre-pandemic). Bus riders make up more than half of the number of people using 16th Street, officials say.

The goal is to make trips faster and more reliable by giving buses a dedicated lane. The project will also let buses jump ahead of cars at traffic lights.

“We have experienced this elsewhere where DDOT has installed car-free lanes and we know that this can be a game-changer for 16th Street,” Bowser said. Cyclists can also use the lanes.

DOT constructs the lanes, but Metro buses benefit. The lanes would be in effect during peak periods from 7-9:30 a.m. and 3:30-7:00 p.m. and would likely shave two to three minutes off per trip. Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld says the lanes should give passengers a smoother ride.

“The frustration is when you get on a bus and you sit in traffic and you’re doing three miles an hour,” Wiedefeld said. “And it also totally runs havoc to the scheduling. So, again, it gives us a better product and gives the customer a better experience.”

DDOT has accelerated its bus lane program in recent years, though advocates would like to see even more of the red-painted lanes in the city.

The District launched a test of bus lanes on H and I Streets downtown in summer 2019, and later made it permanent. Another bus lane cropped up on 14th Street near D.C. USA in Columbia Heights. Last summer, DDOT installed a roughly one-mile-long bus lane on M Street in Navy Yard and a mile-long bus lane on Martin Luther King Avenue in Anacostia.

A third bus lane through Chinatown stalled after businesses pushed back on the plan, but it’s still a project DDOT wants to do, says new interim DDOT Director Everett Lott.

“At the end of the day, we want to make sure that we’re supportive of those businesses and helping them to survive that pandemic,” Lott said. “So we will revisit it… after we get to this pandemic situation.”

Most of the other bus lane projects in the District have been lighter lifts, with the city repainting lanes and adding signs. The 16th Street project involves lots of milling and repaving, and moving utilities to widen lanes in some areas. The utility relocation is going on right now. Work will move from the northern end of the project and head toward the southern end.

The intersections at 16th and Pine Street, Harvard Street/Columbia Road and U and V Streets will see the most disruption.

Drivers can expect some heavy construction in the area for the next year or so. Pedestrians should also expect sidewalk closures and detours.

The District also announced other initiatives Wednesday, including its annual spring clean to pick up trash in the District and its plan to repave 85 miles of roads and repair 109 alleys and 369 blocks of sidewalks across all eight wards.