Dear Ecumenical Council, ANC 5E Commissioners, Neighborhood Civic Association Presidents, and Other Neighborhood Leaders:
I am writing to share good news! During the past six
months, the North Capitol St. Deck Over Steering Committee (a
multi-community grassroots coalition group focused on advocating for
transforming North Capitol St. by decking over the underpasses of North Capitol
St. and creating on that deck, a park with a neighborhood history
theme. We believe doing so will increase safety, enhance the quality of
life along the North Capitol corridor, and promote small business growth andm
decking over advocacy in support of enhancing quality of life and small business
l gusiness development in developing ,t After more than two dozen meetings with
City elected and appointed leaders and their senior staff,
presentations to seven area civic associations, consultation with other
neighborhood organizations, promotion of community letter-writing and
testimonies to various City Council Budget Committees, and a host of
other efforts, the North Capitol Deck Over Steering Committee (a
multi-community grassroots group) that is leading efforts to promote the
decking over of North Capitol Street between approximately V St. and Seaton Pl,
NW, $1 million dollars was placed in the DC FY22 Budget for "a feasibility
study of a North Capitol Deck Over"! Plus -- DDOT has already
identified a project director, and asked the Steering Committee to join DDOT
staff in a 'pre-scope' walk-thru of the proposed North Capitol Deck Over
and Streetscape site.
So it looks like the study is about to start.
Bring out the horns, fly the flags, throw the confetti and join us on
SEPTEMBER 25, ST. MARTIN'S CHURCH, 7 T ST. NW, 2 PM TO 4 PM FOR OUR FOURTH
COMMUNITY-WIDE DECK OVER where we will celebrate by sharing the Deck
Over's current and future status, address your related questions and
concerns, and listen carefully to your suggestions. So join us in
celebrating the forthcoming kick-off of the Feasibility Study of the North
Capitol Deck Over by:
- hearing its Steering
Committee's visions for the Deck Over and its abutting Streetscape
area
- sharing YOUR vision of the
whats, whys, and hows of this community-led could transform the
Mid-City neighborhoods.
A Forum Flyer is attached. Persons can attend
the forum in either a face-to-face format (using COVID protocols at St.
Martin's church) or virtually. Please distribute the Forum Flyer
to your members, constituents, and others who live in the Bates/Truxton,
Bloomingdale, Eckington, Edgewood, Hanover, LeDroit Park and Stronghold
neighborhoods. We want all in Mid-City East DC to learn
about the Deck Over -- its history, its planning
and purpose and proposed future.. And
we hope ALL will share their ideas
and input and BE PART OF THE
JOURNEY!
Bertha Holliday
Commissioner, ANC 5E07
Co-Director
Bloomingdale Civic Association's Bloomingdale Village
Square Initiative
2 comments:
Where in this discussion is McMillan Park? Our 25 acre publicly owned green space and historic site on North Capitol, which was Bloomingdale's outdoor recreation and tree lined promenade, landscaped by Olmsted Firm for our city. The community enjoyed the outdoors and sunset and Capitol Dome views 1905 to 1941, and it was the only integrated park in DC. This belongs right here in this discussion of North Capitol.
Any decent city government would be planning how to save our public green space, as it masses so much housing in NOMA, RI Ave. and the 81 acres of thousands of units to come at Armed Forces Retirement Home just North.
Proper urban planning first brings innovative and critically missing mass transit to serve all, McMillan Park, AFRH, Brookland and the Red Line, and serve the adjacent multiple hospital centers. Thousands could live at AFRH without private vehicles, reducing traffic on North Capitol, just the opposite of where we are headed.
We need this DC Central Park and this is how to graciously expand housing, reduce the urban heat island effect, and offer our city and the nation, outdoor concerts, urban gardens, and to provide fresh food as that supply is endangered from California/Mexico/Chile and shipped 3 thousand miles by trucks. Right here at McMillan we can grow "Vertical agriculture and farmed fish" in the climatically stable 20 acres under ground concrete structures, that once filtered our drinking water through sand beds.
The Bowser plan to demolish these massive concrete chambers is simply unwise, as this is a stable safe available space , even a potential emergency shelter for tens of thousands, God forbid but "who knows", and DC Water is right now using it to reduce the devastating flooding, so God knows we need to protect our environment. So folks, no one ever regretted saving Central Park in New York 's Manhattan. Wise to keep what is good and open and green, and find many other civic benefits in adaptive re-use of this fascinating historic site, that we own.
Like NY we need access to the reservoir as well ,113 acres of our green space for jogging, walking and meeting our friends, picnics, music, memorials, rallies, and festivals, even outdoor schools to stop covid. Please voice your support to the City Council and join us www.savemcmillan.org
Wouldn't an EL, an elevated train like in so many parts of NY serve real rapid transit up North Cap, and not even interact with street traffic, like a monorail for instance. This would join Union Station and NOMA to the hospital centers, and the Red, Yellow and Green lines, and potentially East West service on Irving or Michigan. That is called "regional planning", not "shoe horning" in residences like sardines and gobbling up and paving our needed green space. This vastly improved rapid transit connects to thousands of residential units coming to Armed Forces Retirement Home(AFRH) just north of McMillan Park(we are struggling against the DC govt. to save this park and our publicaly owned green space), so many thousands on North Cap and thousands of new residents at AFRH would not even need a private vehicle. The EL would connect to the entire world, including National Airport via metro, and serve our DC Central Park at McMillan. The Zoning was created by law, to "reduce traffic congestion", but our Zoning Commission greenlights mass increase in dangerous traffic congestion, more air pollution, and traffic literally blocks our emergency services right there at North Capitol and our medical services, Why?
Ask Bowser and His Highness Phil Mendelson?
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