11th Street Bridge Detour for Next 6 Months

By now you've probably already noticed the closure of MLK Ave between the 11th Street Bridge and Good Hope Road. All this means is that you need to get off at the Anacostia Park exit and take a left on Good Hope to get back up to MLK.





This closure will be for approximate the next 6 months. All in the name of progress... right?

For more information on the 11th Street Bridges project, Click Here

*goodlinks: expect the unexpected

vacant home on W Street SE - ready for revival

A Class 4 tax rate for blight? via Washington Business Journal
the DC Council recently lowered the vacant property tax rate from $10 per $100 of assessed value to $5. But Ward 4 councilwoman Bowser is fighting to recognize the benefit of a higher tax: property owners are finally acting.

Art Monk and Charles Mann Sell Former City Property for Millions, Bail On Anacostia Job Training Center, via Washington City Paper
for many years the Good Samaritan Foundation has been promising to open a job training center in the old Carver Theater on MLK Ave near the metro station. Now its former-Redskins founders have sold the building to Howard Road Academy. Another school on our main street within a block from Metro?

And We've Got Tracks, via Barry Farm (re)Mixed
the Anacostia Streetcar Line is finally under construction, and tracks are actually being laid on Firth Sterling Avenue now. Nobody yet knows if this will be a boon for the neighborhood, but my fingers are crossed that investors and developers see this exciting new form of transportation as reason to start building.

11th Street Bridge Under Troubled Wires, via DC Mud
it's no secret that overhead wires aren't allowed in the Federal City, but now the National Capital Planning Commission is threatening to disallow wires crossing the new 11th Street Bridges, arguing that they might interrupt important views to the city's monumental core.

Waterfront Precidents, via City Block
following up on a discussion about narrowing the Anacostia River to encourage more urban development on both sides, this blogger explores urban waterfronts around the world and compares their features to our own waterway.

11th Street Bridges Update Tomorrow

what's going on this week

tuesday:



the first in a new series called the Anacostia Waterfront Forum:“Sustainable Development, Infrastructure and the Future of the District of Columbia.”

Tonight from 6:30-8:30 PM at the Great Hall in the MLK Library (901 G Street, NW)

Click Here for more information (PDF)

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wednesday:



another River East neighborhood is on the brink of redevelopment, and the city is beginning efforts to make sure it is planned well. Come out tomorrow for the first meeting about the Bellevue Small Area Plan.

- - -

thursday:



River East Emerging Leaders (REEL) is hosting a meet and greet at the Honfleur Gallery (1241 Good Hope) from 6:30-8:30 PM.

REEL is all about networking, building partnerships, and realizing the potential of our part of the city. Everyone from all areas of the city are welcome and encouraged to attend.

1918 13th Goes Office

The Board of Zoning Appeals met on December 9th to recommend that 1918 13th Street be allowed to change from residential to office use. I couldn't make the public hearing, and I'm not against this change. However, as a low-density neighborhood it is important that we retain and add as much residential as possible. Does a live/work zoning category exist? If so, maybe that would have been most appropriate.

The applicant has requested zoning relief to convert a single-family residential building at 1918 13th Street, SE for use as an office. The property is 2,160 square feet in size and is improved with a vacant semi-detached house. The applicant completed renovations on the building in 2007. No additional construction is proposed or needed to facilitate the requested change in use.

The applicant currently operates an office for his construction business about a block away at 1111 Good Hope Road. The applicant hopes to relocate this office to the subject property, as the existing office location is intended to be redeveloped.

this paragraph caught my attention, as it is further proof that we need to return 13th Street to a two-way road, as well as add stop signs along its length so that its on-ramp appeal is lost:

In this location, 13th Street, SE is a oneway, three-lane street with no onstreet parking and serves as a primary westbound entrance for the 11th Street Bridge.

All in all, this is a fine zoning change. A restored building, an office user who is choosing to stay in the neighborhood, and a glimmer of hope for more development at the Gateway.

Does this mean that there is progress being made at Anacostia Square, or that property owners on the 1100 block of Good Hope are finally giving in to both development and eminent domain pressure? Let's hope so.


these signs give the bare details

Click Here for PDF of the Office of Planning's report

photo by DG-rad

via the 11th Street Bridges

although I would have loved to see some aerial photos of Anacostia itself, Flickr user Stephen Elliot took some amazing shots of DC from a helicopter. The neighborhood is just to the left of this picture, but it shows Anacostia's proximity to the rest of DC.

if only...

...the new 11th Street Bridges could be as simple as it used to be.


(click to enlarge)

Notes on the Bridge Oversight Hearing

I spent a couple of hours at the oversight meeting yesterday regarding bridge projects in Washington, DC. Most of the discussion was on controversy surrounding the 11th Street Bridges replacement project. As of now, the plan is to totally replace both spans, making one of them a local bridge between Anacostia and Capitol Hill, and the other between the freeways on either side of the river.

Various people testified, including DDOT Director Emeka Moneme, and DDOT Chief Engineer (as of yesterday) Kathleen Penney.

(Interesting sidenote: I sat next to Director Moneme at last week's ANC 8A meeting--knowing he worked for DC, but not knowing that he was the Director of DDOT! Fortunately I like to make my opinions known at public meetings, and was talking with him about what I thought needed done with the project.)

Their testimony focused on the elements of the preferred alternative, and it took a while for the councilmembers to understand what all was involved.

For the record, Ward 8 Councilman Marion Barry was NOT in attendence at this Very Important meeting that will significantly affect his ward. Pretty disapointing, actually.

After their testimony, members of the Capitol Hill Restoration Society testified along with someone they hired from Smart Mibility, a land use and traffic modeling firm based out of New Hampshire. Their argument was that the replacement project will be a detriment to neighborhoods west and north of the Anacostia River, siphoning more traffic onto local roads. My own personal suspicion is that they are worried the new local bridge will make it easier for Anacostia residents to venture into their neighborhood. I hope it does.

Further testimony came from the Sierra Club and Smart Growth America, who jointly raised the concern that the bridges are not taking into account the need for alternative transportation such as street cars, light rail, bicycles, and pedestrians. They make a very good point, and it is my understanding that it is also DDOT's goal to incorporate the structure for that.

Testimony from neighborood organizations and condo communities focused mainly on the plan to remove the 13th street direct access to 395. The new plan forces drivers to cross the local bridge before accessing 395 from an onramp in Capitol Hill. While it is true that one of the reasons I chose Anacostia as a neighborhood to personally invest in and live in, I have not decided for myself if that is an issue I feel strong about defending. My main concern is that Everything about this project takes the beauty of the waterfront into consideration. We do Not want a mixing bowl on our waterfront. We want it to be more accessible and attractive, not less.

This issue is far from decided, but yesterday's meeting made clear that there are residents and organizations that will not let this move forward without a fight to make it a good project. Let's hope DC is listening.

Check out:
November 13, 2007 presentation on Project (very helpful)

Take Your Lunch Break at 10am on Friday

So that you can testify or at least attend the oversight meeting for the 11th Street Bridges Project. This will significantly affect our community and our commuting. Please see previous posts for details.

Today is the last day to sign up to testify. Sign up for public statements with LaDorsa Willis, (202) 724-8195, before 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 14, 2007.

If you can't testify, send an email to Councilmember Jim Graham who is holding the hearing: Jim@grahamwone.com

Bridges Update!

I recommend any and all who can make it to go to the DC Bridges Public Oversight Meeting.

When:

Friday, November 16, 2007 at 10:00 A.M.

Where:

Council Chamber, John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20004

What:

From Neha Bhatt, Councilman Tommy Wells' Policy Advisor on Smart Growth and Transportation:

"This is an opportunity for anyone who is interested in connectivity and other issues to be heard. You can sign up to testify or submit written comments. If you do testify, remember to bring copies of your testimony for the council members. If you can't testify, send an email to Councilmember Jim Graham who is holding the hearing: Jim@grahamwone.com"

Key Issues:

- Further physical separation of Anacostia from rest of city and region.

- Major infrastructure on waterfront is unnatractive and does not spur economic development.

- We should use this bridge replacement as an opportunity to do something GREAT, not something normal.

- We need to suggest alternatives such as tunneling the highway at this intersection so that the waterfront is more accessible to Anacostia.

- With all the talk of tearing the Whitehurt Freeway down in Georgetown, why are we even considering building more highways in the sky?

Sign up for public statements with LaDorsa Willis (202) 724-8195 before 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 14, 2007.

The 11th Street Bridges Project

(for maps, photos and renderings, scroll down)

For a project with such major impact on Anacostia and at extreme cost to the city, the 11th Street Bridges project has been very much under the radar and hidden from the public. I attended the ANC 8A meeting last night (1st Tuesday of each month), where some concerned citizens from Capitol Hill presented on the impacts of the "Preferred Alternative" selected by DDOT for the reconstruction of the 11th street bridges.

Anacostia residents and workers currently enjoy Extremely easy access to 395, downtown DC, and Virginia from our local onramp on 13th Street and Good Hope. And while highway access isn't something I would always promote, it is one of the features of our neighborhood that attracted me. I can drive to the capitol in less than 5 minutes. I can get to Arlington and Alexandria in about 10. It's that easy.

However, the 11th Street Bridges reconstruction will probably change all that. I don't have a clearly defined position on this yet, but my first instinct is to want to protect that accessibility. Anacostia already has enough setbacks and separations from the rest of the city and region --why eliminate even more? On the other hand, the preferred alternative will turn one of the bridges into a "local bridge", essentially forcing us to cross over into Capitol Hill and then get on the highway from there. The other bridge will be strictly for highway users. (see pictures) Another benefit to this plan will be that there will be an exit to the local bridge from 295, making it much easier to access our neighborhood from points south.

Click to Enlarge

Preferred Alternative




They really should have used a real picture of Anacostia Gateway. Their fake rendering is hideous!


This is what it actually looks like

Here is the thing that annoys me the most: this is 2007. This is not 1960. In 1960 American planners slapped highways in the middle of cities, segmented neighborhoods, and did away with pedestrian connectivity and public transportation all in the name of progress. The problem? Turned out that that was a huge mistake and that everything that they eliminated was actually what made cities vibrant and attractive.

What are we doing building more highways in the sky in 2007? Why can't OUR side of the river get the same kind of redo as the Frederick Douglas Bridge got near the new baseball stadium? They wanted to make it more attractive: they reconstructed the boulevard and made everything look less highway-like. I'm not against making the highways more efficient, but let's Please do it in an attractive way that does not further segregate Anacostia.

11th Street Bridges website
Make your voices heard: public comment closes at the end of the month!

images courtesy of DDOT, photo by DG-rad