The D.C. Department of Transportation will rebuild the collapsed pedestrian bridge over DC-295, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Thursday night, just hours before a D.C. Council hearing on the matter.

Bowser announced DDOT will also rebuild two other bridges along the stretch to better connect residents in Mayfair, Parkside, Eastland Gardens, and the surrounding communities of Deanwood and Minnesota Avenue.

“We are committed to working with the community and making the necessary investments to increase connectivity, improve safety, and build a multi-modal transportation network that works better for the residents of Ward 7,” Bowser said. “These three bridges, to be built over the next three years, are a critical component of this work and part of our overall effort to build a more connected D.C.”

Bowser says she’s directing $1.5 million in contingency funds to expedite the design work to replace the collapsed bridge that crossed Kenilworth Avenue via Lane Street. The new bridge will be moved slightly to allow more room to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility requirements, as the old one’s ramps were too steep. The new bridge will also span the service roads, which it didn’t previously.

DDOT director Everett Lott said during the council hearing Friday morning that the bridge will cost $25 million to rebuild and he hopes the city can get federal money to pay for the project.

The bridge crumbled after a truck struck it on June 23; five people were injured in the accident.

Bowser’s announcement comes after Lott said last week that the agency was exploring the future of the bridge but wouldn’t commit to rebuilding it, citing low use from a 2008 study that showed only about 11 people a day use the bridge.

DDOT says the bridge was rated in poor condition, but the force of the truck would’ve collapsed the bridge even if it was in better condition.

Meanwhile, the Parkside Pedestrian Bridge, which connects Parkside with the Minnesota Avenue Metrorail and Bus station and the Deanwood community to the east, is in the process of being rebuilt. Construction began last April and Bowser is spending $250,000 to get it open two months ahead of schedule in September.

The Douglas Street NE pedestrian bridge was set for replacement in the next two years, but DDOT is working to finish the construction contract, hoping to begin later this year with completion in winter 2022.

At the council hearing, Eboni-Rose Thompson, who represents Ward 7 on the State Board of Education, said she used the bridge to get to school for years.

“I remember being afraid,” she said. “I had a little bit of sense back then, I’d like to think I’ll have a little bit of sense now. Normally, the suggestion to walk a mile in someone’s shoes is a figurative one. Here, there actually might be a little need to take a walk to understand why this connection point is so valuable.”

Many Ward 7 residents said they were upset at the way the ward is treated by city officials and asked them to invest in the predominately Black communities. They advocated for a ward-wide look at dangerous arterial roads and connectivity issues because of freeways like 295 that created neighborhood “islands” that are difficult to get to without a car.

“DDOT knows Ward 7 is an area with fewer cars, so walking, Metro and biking is the only option for many,” said ANC Commissioner Rebecca Morris.”We always have to beg for things in our community… we should not have to do that.”

Councilmembers Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7) and Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) agreed.

“It’s shameful that we have to draw such attention to the issue to get it done,” Gray said. “It shouldn’t have to take a disaster like this to bring additional attention to the needs of Ward 7 that we’ve talked about.”

Cheh and Councilmember Christina Henderson (I-At Large) both advocated for a broader look at the 295 stretch, suggesting a study to turn it into a boulevard instead of a freeway or turn it into a tunnel with a park over it.

“Let’s use this opportunity to think a bit more creatively and innovatively about how we connect, reconnect neighborhoods, and redo or rather correct the injustice that was done before,” Henderson said, pointing to a document about how 295 took out more than 35 homes, several stores, a popular nightclub, and a church when it was built in the 1950s.

Lott said right now they’re focused on restoring connectivity, but doing more than that “would ultimately require some … comprehensive studies to be quite honest.”

“I think that is a larger issue and a larger conversation that ultimately may need to be had, but I do understand the inequities and that’s one of the things that I’ve talked about is to make sure that we do provide equitable services throughout all eight wards of the District,” he said.

This story was updated with quotes from a D.C. Council hearing on Friday.