Daylight-Savings Time ends at 2 a.m., local time, on Sunday, November 4th. The end of DST means the beginning of days being lighter earlier in the morning, and nights getting darker earlier. Adjust your clocks by turning them back one full hour.
Sunset view (Georgia Ave & Irving St, NW)
If you drive, ride, or commute along southern Georgia Avenue, here’s something that should be of interest. I’m sure this will be particularly true of the many area bikers. DDOT is proposing exclusive bus lanes on Georgia Avenue between Barry Place and Florida Avenue. To assist them in designing the bus lanes and streetscape, they want community input in this process.
DDOT will be presenting two options. The first is for exclusive shared bus and bike lanes north and southbound, with a left turn lane northbound at Barry and a left turn lane southbound at Bryant. The second proposal includes the first, but makes Barry one way westbound and provides flashing yellow lights 24 hour northbound on Georgia at Barry and southbound at Georgia at Bryant.
According to information shared by Sylvia Robinson on the Georgia Avenue Community Development Task Force e-mail blast, meetings have been scheduled for the following dates and times:
The following meetings will be held with DDOT to discuss these options:
Monday October 15th from 5-7 p.m. at the DC Housing Finance Auditorium – 815 Florida Ave. NW (click on flyer above for details)
Wednesday October 24th at 7 p.m. (GA Ave Community Development Task Force Meeting) at ECAC – 733 Euclid St. NW (accessible entrance in the rear – call (202) 462-2285 if assistance is needed)
For questions on this proposal contact:
Wendy Peckham
Phone: 202-671-4581
Email: wendy.peckham (at) dc.gov
Installation of faux brick crosswalk on Georgia Avenue
Area residents may have noticed that the intersection of Georgia and New Hampshire/Rock Creek Church Road became a little more attractive over the weekend. For a good amount of time on Saturday a crew was enhancing the crosswalks with a faux brick appearance. For me, it was kind of interesting to watch.
I have to admit, I am completely ignorant of the process and materials that were being used — though I know I can call DDOT and find out quickly enough should it come to that. But, from watching the process it appeared that brick colored sheets were placed over the existing asphalt, then the brick imprint and top coat were added to make the crosswalk look like actual brick.
While I know that many may think that this is purely aesthetic, decorative crosswalks also yield safety benefits. The color, which is typically burnt red, helps to calm traffic by making the crosswalk easily distinguishable from the street pavement and are intended to draw more attention to the crosswalk.
For me, I’d just be happy if they helped keep stopped cars out of the crosswalk while pedestrians have the walk light.
Crosswalk installation in progress, showing the before, during, and after views
New ginkgo trees on the New Hampshire Avenue side of the Metro station
With some area residents coping with power outages or worried about flooding yesterday, I wonder how many noticed the new ginkgo trees planted at the Georgia Avenue Metro station. Ginkgos were also planted on the wedge in front of Sweet Mango (between New Hampshire and Rock Creek Church Road).
While the trees are about the last components of the Middle Georgia Avenue Great Streets project to be installed, they were a planned part of the project from the beginning. Though I’ll admit that I have a love/hate relationship with ginkgos, I’m thrilled that we have more trees around the Metro station and Sweet Mango. Both sites lacked much needed shade in the summer months.
Ginkgo trees in front of Sweet Mango
Alterations to the building’s main entrance on Georgia Avenue
The Fisherman of Men Church, located at 3641 Georgia Avenue in the former York Theater, is continuing its building remodeling project. At present, the church is working on the main entrance to the building.
I’ve been scratching my head on this project for a while as there has been very little information shared with me by the church and I wasn’t entirely sure about their vision. I now have a much better idea due to a postcard that was found on the ground while walking the community (below). Aesthetically, it doesn’t appear that there are any plans to significantly alter the exterior of the church, which I appreciate. Although, the design rendering also appears to remove the upper roof (probably not something that will actually be done) and to add a giant video screen to the roof.
From a practical standpoint, however, I still have a significant concern with the work being done at the entrance of the building mostly due to the serious crack in the brick and bow to the wall that exists between the entrance and the first arch. Structurally, this should have been addressed and stabilized prior to the concrete board, foam, and stucco that is being applied over it. Failure to do this prior to the new work in front of it will just lead to a larger problem in the future.
This postcard provides an idea of what the updated Fisherman of Men church could look like
I was very pleased to see that the 700 block of Princeton Place is in the midst of having its sidewalks and gutters replaced. Last September, the 700 block of Park Road had its sidewalks replaced. In recent years the 400 block of Kenyon, the southern end of Park Place, the 600 block of Rock Creek Church Road, and if memory serves me, I think part of Irving Street have also had their sidewalks replaced. All of this is in addition to the improvements made on Georgia Avenue north of Otis Place.
Its heartening to see so many of these much-needed infrastructure improvements happening in the neighborhood.
Mock up of information Kiosk at the Georgia Ave. Metro
Something I’ve struggled with over the past few years is how to effectively communicate with the community. While there are a good number of neighborhood listservs and blogs available, not everyone reads them. Moreover, there is still a significant digital divide in the community.
One solution I’ve adopted is a monthly newsletter that gets delivered to each household in single member district ANC1A08. The biggest drawbacks to this approach are the time required to deliver it and its inability to get the word out when something important comes up that needs immediate distribution.
The reworked streetscape on the east side of Georgia at Otis Place has a large sidewalk are that could support kiosk
While talking to a neighbor about this problem as it related to posting events at the Park View Recreation Center, it dawned on me that many universities addressed this question long ago by strategically placing kiosks around their campuses for flyers and announcements.
I got to wondering if such a solution could work here. I freely admit that there would need to be a plan to remove dated material from time to time. However, by providing a series of kiosks along a major corridor (such as Georgia) two benefits come to mind.
Kiosks certainly wouldn’t ensure that items posted on them are read. Nor is any approach to bridging the digital divide perfect. But judging by the number of posters, flyers, and announcements that are frequently pasted on anything and everything along Georgia Avenue, it seems to me that there must be a better and more attractive solution.
I’d love to hear what you think, especially if you have alternative ideas.
Residents of ANC 1A started receiving visitor parking passes on July 24th
Many residents living within ANC 1A came home on Tuesday, July 24th, to find their new Visitor Parking Pass (VPP) in the mail waiting for them. The new passes are part of the Ward 1 Enhanced Parking Permit Program (ERPP) that was initiated last year by Councilmember Graham.
Based on the language of the legislation, each of Ward 1′s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions had the opportunity to weigh in on the ERPP program and could choose not to participate. ANC 1A voted in favor of the program.
The ERPP has two components:
The letter accompanying the parking permit explains that the permit can be used immediately and that it does not provide an exemption to the Registration of Out of State Automobiles (ROSA).
According to an email sent out yesterday by Councilmember Graham, DDOT is also in the process of installing the new signs that relate to the second component of the ERPP. His full email is below:
Dear Friends,
The new Ward 1 parking law–which strengthens parking for RPP holders–is (finally) being implemented.
Some new signs are up. A lot more to come. But the visitor passes are in the process of being mailed out.
If you do not receive a pass within the next two weeks, please email Mr. Harvey whose email address is Harvey, Damon (DDOT) (damon.harvey@dc.gov).
This new law will make a difference in the ability of residents to park on Ward 1 streets.
Based on a few comments I’ve received, I know that some in the community would like a better idea of just what streetscape work is going on at the Georgia Avenue Metro station and the wedge in front of Sweet Mango. While I posted the working drawing of what DDOT intends to do and alerted folks that the Capital Bikeshare has permanently moved to the northwest corner of the Georgia Avenue/New Hampshire Avenue intersection to make way for additional trees, it is still hard to conceptualize just exactly what the end product will look like.
So, to help readers out, I pulled the following images out of the Middle Georgia Avenue/Petworth Presentation that dates to March 10, 2009. I hope that they provide a much better idea of what is in store for our community.
(DDOT streetscape work at the Georgia Ave. Metro station)
As I posted on Friday, DDOT began their final push to complete the Middle Georgia Avenue Great Streets project on Monday, June 25th. In addition to the bike racks that will be installed in front of DC Reynolds, the major work will be around the east entrance to the Georgia Ave. Metro Station and the wedge in front of Sweet Mango.
Not only will DDOT be installing pavers to match what has been installed elsewhere on Georgia Avenue, the area around the Metro will also be getting several more tree boxes. The detail below, from DDOT’s plans, show both the pattern of the pavers and the locations of the new tree boxes.
Due to the time of year, there is a very high likelihood that the new trees will not be planted until the regular seasonal tree planting season later this year or early next year.
Proposed paver designs for the area around the Georgia Avenue Metro station (courtesy of DDOT)
"The territory comprising Park View extends from Gresham Street north to Rock Creek Church Road, and from Georgia Avenue to the Soldiers' Home grounds, including the triangle bounded by Park Road, Georgia Avenue, and New Hampshire Avenue" (from Directory and History of Park View, 1921.)
Metrorail disruptions WUSA-TV – DC News Washington Business Journal
