What effects do you think it would have on foot traffic in the north capitol corridor?
DDOT did a study ( PDF)and had this diagram of traffic flow:
Here is a shot looking south toward that intersection:
A little further up North Capitol Street, there is a trench dug out of the road allowing traffic to pass under T Street and Rhode Island Avenue.
I'd like to suggest the open area between T and Rhode Island be covered to allow for greenspace on top
currently the division between the neighborhoods of Bloomingdale and Eckington is rather stark.
I;'d love to bridge that division.
imagine if that trench was covered to create a public space. summertime movie nights with the capitol in the background, perhaps?
how about a sculpture garden?
It seems as though Martini 2020, otherwise know as the old firehouse, is moving forward. The Borf Mansion seems to generate a lot of foot traffic in the neighborhood when they have events.
Here is a recent shot of that strip:
and an old shot:
Wouldnt the empty Savemore building make a nice new home for Olssons?
or maybe The Garden District? or better yet, does someone in the neighborhood have the desire to open up their shop here? i hear that Stu Davenport wants a Pizza Parlor.
There was talk on neighborhood listserves about marketing the area to developers and to create a "theme" for this corridor. I find this to be quite a bit tacky and wildly inappropriate, personally. To me, marketing the strip as "italian" as some have suggested, is insulting to who we are as a present day community. An ethnically oriented marketing only serves its purpose if its homegrown. and while there may be some history to that claim, there is little present in it. i prefer to live in my present day community, which i love, than some romanticized version of the past. granted, i love that people care enough to make suggestions, and to wish for things to become better, and to reverse the history of disinvestment. Still, we need to recognize our diversity and our present day culture in trying to grow.
My hope is that we can find ways to encourage those that live in the community to fill niches they feel are missing ( like the Big Bear) or encourage existing business to grow and change ( like Windows cafe) and to also encourage the type of DIY mentality that has made the borf mansion a vibrant scene ( yeah.. i know.. i know, but i like their direction, and people defintitely come out for their events.)
Anyway, i hope that people can use the comments here to engage in a (civil) discussion about what you'd like to see. we all know the hurdles, we all know the negatives, but it'd be great to hear of possibilities and solutions.
Additionally, if you have ideas that might be lengthy to post, shot me an email and i'll let you create your own posting here.
Old photos found here
20 comments:
I think a traffic circle would be a great idea. I do notice how it cuts into the commercial property on the SW edge so I'm not sure how okay they'd be with moving forward with that.
The green space seems very interesting. Does anybody know of a city doing this? Taking an existing span and turning it green?
Both the traffic circle and the green space are nice ideas, but I doubt that DC has the resources or organization to get something like this accomplished. I mean it takes them two years to get an alley repaved. I remember a presentation by DDOT several years ago with ambitious plans to reengineer New York Ave to make it safer (it currently hosts several of the most dangerous intersections in the city). When questioned the DDOT representative basically admitted that they make plans like this all the time, with virtually no possibility that they will be implemented.
But onto the positive side... I think North Capitol and especially Rhode Island are starting to have some life. One thing that I think would help would be a commercial equivalent to DC's vacant property tax rate. Basically, if you have your property available for lease without a commercial tenant longer than 12 months, then you get taxed at an astronomical rate. (For all I know something like this exists already... anybody know?) It just seems we have too many commercial landlords who are sitting on empty storefronts and asking prohibitive rents.
- W ST
They ask for high rents because they buy their commercial property at astronomical rates. That's what happens when people overspend for property in a transitioning neighborhood.
I like the traffic circle and green space ideas. A couple of interesting tid-bits:
1- Dallas has plans (and recently received funding, I believe) to cap a small section of the Woodall Rodgers Freeway, which bicects Uptown from Downtown. While capping North Capitol would obviously be a smaller undertaking, it's nice to see how the space could look should DDOT ever have the resources to make it happen. Visit this website to see the Dallas project: http://www.wrpproject.com/
2- Did you know the original Truxton Circle was north of where the DDOT study placed the newer version? To see exactly where it was located, google "DC GIS", click on the "Atlas Mapping" option. From there click on "Real Property (Legacy)". This will open a new GIS window. Zoom in to a lower, neighborhood level, and you will see an original plat map in the background. From this you can see where the original circle was located. Let me know if you have any issues.
"They ask for high rents because they buy their commercial property at astronomical rates. That's what happens when people overspend for property in a transitioning neighborhood."
You may be right, but I suspect that the opposite is happening... individuals have owned some of these commercial buildings for a generation and have no mortgage or other debts (except taxes). Therefore there is no pressing need to find a tenant.
- W ST
*sigh*
be civil people.
Well looking at the NoMa Bid Website, it looks like their artist put the fountain in place of the Wendy's.
Thinking about how people drive and the heavy use of FL and N Cap what is the likeihood of wandering over to the park (requiring crossing 1 or 2 roads of death). Add the homeless and drug services and I can see who'd be hanging out at the park.
Mari, exactly. The park/circle is nice in theory but the people who would enjoy it are the ones who pay no taxes and are "free riders".
Can someone please address what exactly IS "Martini 2020," and what is happening with the old firehouse at North Capitol and Quincy Place, NW? I've heard vague rumors that a 3-story American restaurant is moving in...
Never mind, I did my own sleuthing and figured it out... Anyone have a (good) idea of how long this GINORMOUS project is supposed to last or the timeline for completion?
(Does Twyla Garrett even know?)
Cheers!
from what i have read Martini2020 will be done next year.
i've always thought that covering the north capitol stretch from rhode island down to t would be great (and doing the same from dupont circle north to q street would accomplish the same thing), but that's a small potatoes idea, to me.
i say de-trench north capitol.
get rid of the trenched road underneath rhode island and new york avenues.
with the road back up at grade, the service lanes can be eliminated. that means that everyone who lives on north capitol in front of those service lanes will get a substantial front yard back. or, if in front of commercial area, a wider sidewalk and seating space can be created.
we should take north capitol back as a nice urban boulevard, not a freeway for those who drive through our neighborhood from maryland!
i talked to a few people that live above the trench, and they actually prefer the trench to having all that traffic right in front of them.
that's too bad, sean. i would think that, over the long run, the traffic on north capitol would not represent simply a lifting of the 60 mph traffic up to grade. with light timing, trees, and other traffic calming, the road could be brought down to a more human scale.
of course, it would never be as calm as a side street like seaton or randolph...
please understand that i hear you on that!
although really, i wouldn't mind if most city traffic was underground altogether.
so we can call all the drivers morlocks then? or C.H.U.D.s? monkeyrotica would be intrigued to hear about this....
The idea of traffic circle will definite work and successful result will in front of us. There is only requirement to implement this idea immediately.
____________________
Petric Rodger
Wide Circles
As a resident of Edgewood, I would love to see the North Capitol underpass covered with a nice plat of grassy land with walking paths and places to sit. I would also love to see the circle returned.
I am not a huge fan of the North Capitol/Florida/Rhode Island Ave traffic patterns.
DC should accomodate DC residents, not the residents of MD or VA. We need to take back our city spaces and protect the history and charm of this wonderful blooming city.
This would truly be a community effort and I would hope we all would be up to the challenge.
Those are some great ideas I encourage you to come to the Edgewood Civic Associations September meeting. The Mayor will be one of the many guest featured at the meeting. Visit www.theedgewoodcivicassociationdc.org for more info.
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