Public School Students Create Exhibits Exploring Neighborhood History — Story of Our Schools, a program that first launched at Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan, brings public school students closer to the history of their neighborhoods through research projects and field trips. [DCist]
Hampton Inn Opens in Navy Yard — Hampton Inn and Suites opened to guests on Thursday at 1265 1st Street SE. [JDLand]
Bike Lane Between NoMa, Union Station Named Sixth Best Bike Lane in the Country — The protected bike lane along 1st Street NE, which runs from the Metropolitan Branch Train in NoMa to Union Station, was named one of the best bike lanes in the nation by cycling advocacy organization People for Bikes. [Washington Post]
Families of Navy Yard Shooting Victims Sue Shooter’s Employer — Six families of victims of the Navy Yard shooting in 2013 filed multi-million dollar wrongful death lawsuits claiming that the defense contractor who hired Aaron Alexis, the shooter, should have known about his violent past. [WUSA9]
11th Street Bridge Park Plans to Open in 2019 — The 11th Street Bridge Park that will cross the Anacostia River is aiming to open in mid-2019, connecting Navy Yard and Anacostia. [Urban Turf]
Virginia Avenue Tunnel Project Plans for Extended Bike Lanes — The Virginia Avenue Tunnel Project aims to connect the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail with the National Mall with a bike lane and sidewalk along Virginia Avenue SE. [Greater Greater Washington]
In Hill East, Violent Crime Rises Slightly, Property Crime Falls — Over the past 30 days, violent crime in Hill East has increased slightly compared to the previous 30 days, while property crime has decreased sharply. [Capitol Hill Corner]
Pilot Who Landed Gyrocopter at U.S. Capitol Raises Thousands of Dollars for Defense — Douglas Hughes, the man who landed a gyrocopter on the U.S. Capitol grounds in April, has raised almost $10,000 online to fund his defense. [WTOP]
Hill East ANC Commissioner Criticizes Metro After Safety Drill — ANC 6B Commissioner Denise Krepp said the safety drill that Metro held in the Stadium-Armory Metro station last weekend left her with “little confidence” in the agency’s preparedness for a smoke or fire incident. [PoPville]
Protected Bicycle Lanes Planned for C Street NE — The District Department of Transportation plans to install bicycle lanes along C Street NE between 16th Street and Oklahoma Avenue NE with a landscaped barrier separating cyclists from car traffic. [Greater Greater Washington]
Grant Memorial Near U.S. Capitol to be Restored — The restoration of a bronze memorial to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant outside the U.S. Capitol sheds light on the original sculptor’s agonizing efforts. [Washington Post]
Photo via Twitter/SenateSergeantAtArms
Olympics Unlikely to Come to Capitol Hill Area — The U.S. Olympic Committee hinted that it would name Los Angeles as its official candidate to host the 2024 Olympics, quieting speculation that the games could come to D.C. Supporters of the District’s bid had discussed the possibility of constructing major Olympic venues in the Capitol Hill area. [Los Angeles Times]
New Pepco Substation to Serve Southwest — Pepco will build a new substation in Buzzard Point in an effort to address increased electrical usage in Southwest. [The Southwester]
Capitol Hill Bicycle Lanes Get New Paint Job — Bicycle lanes on 4th and 6th streets NE received a fresh coat of bright green paint over the weekend. [The Hill Is Home]
D.C. Officials to Meet With Rosedale Residents About Recent Crime — Councilman Charles Allen of Ward 6, a Metropolitan Police Department commander and other D.C. officials are scheduled to visit Rosedale tonight for a discussion on public safety in and around the area. [Hill Now]
Community leaders on Capitol Hill are urging D.C. and federal officials to install protected bicycle lanes that would connect cycle tracks near Union Station and the U.S. Capitol.
The two-way cycle track ANC 6C formally requested last night would be on Louisiana Avenue, between Columbus Circle NE and Constitution Avenue NW. The bike lanes are intended to bridge the Pennsylvania Avenue NW bike lanes with the 1st Street NE cycle track that is under construction, helping link bike lanes that stretch across the District.
“Right now, it’s a dangerous stretch of roadway for cyclists,” said Joe McCann, a former ANC 6C transportation committee chairman, who is helping lead the commission’s push for the cycle track.
The District Department of Transportation last year identified the cycle track as a second tier priority in the “Multimodal Long-Range Transportation Plan” it released last year. The cycle track, which would be almost a half-mile long, would cost $900,000 to complete, according to DDOT.
To build the bike lanes, DDOT would need the approval of the Architect of the Capitol. Louisiana Avenue NE between Columbus Circle and North Capitol Street NE has three lanes for congressional staffer parking, one of which needs to go to support the cycle track, the ANC wrote in a letter it approved last night to DDOT Director Leif Dormsjo and Architect of the Capitol Stephen Ayers.
A DDOT spokeswoman didn’t have an immediate comment. A representative of the Architect of the Capitol wasn’t immediately available to comment.
Streetcar ‘Flash Fire’ — A brief “flash fire” broke out atop an H Street streetcar about 11:45 p.m. Saturday. DDOT officials called the fire an isolated incident but didn’t provide additional information. [Washington Post]
More Bike Lanes Coming — Several stretches of new bike lanes are set to be created on the Hill this year, including near Union Station. [Greater Greater Washington]
Southwest Waterfront Transformation — Washington City Paper dug into how The Wharf redevelopment will change Southwest. “People are going to start to realize that the water’s what they’ve been missing,” one developer said. [Washington City Paper]
Carjackings and Car Thefts Are Up District-Wide — Police are investigating a wave of carjackings and car thefts. Two of the four young people charged earlier this month with carjackings on the Hill and in NoMa are believed to be responsible for additional crimes. [Washington Post]
The District Department of Transportation installed a record nine miles of new bike lanes this year and more are on the way.
DDOT officials celebrated the milestone this morning (Wednesday) at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new 4th Street bike lanes. The lanes stretch from Pennsylvania Avenue NW to School Street SW, providing a connection to the waterfront.
“With the 4th Street bike lanes, residents and visitors can bicycle from National Ballpark, across the Mall to downtown and beyond,” DDOT Director Matthew Brown said.
This year, in Ward 6, the department installed protected lanes in NoMa along 1st Street NE, plus lanes on 11th Street SE. The District also did resurfacing projects on G and I streets NE to prepare for more bike traffic once the D.C. Streetcar starts operating on H Street NE.
No plans have yet been made for what bicycle projects DDOT will tackle in 2015, but proposals will be reviewed in the coming weeks, said Sam Zimbabwe, DDOT associate director. The department takes into account demand, safety concerns and the nature of the work that needs to be done, he said.
“We want to continue this momentum,” Zimbabwe said.
The number of District residents who commute to work by bike has grown to 4.5 percent, or 15,000 people, DDOT says. This percentage is likely higher on the Hill, where many residents use bikes as their main mode of transportation, Zimbabwe said.
Ward 6 has about 18.8 miles of bike lanes within its boundaries, DDOT said.
The District Department of Transportation is planning to start extending a bike lane in Northeast before winter hits, and two other upgrades are in the works.
A two-way protected bike lane will be installed on 1st Street NE between G Street NE and Massachusetts Avenue NE starting in late November, DDOT bicycle program specialist Mike Goodno said.
The new section just west of Union Station is expected to take six months to complete and will extend the 1st Street NE lane installed in May.
“It will be one long network,” Goodno said.
A protected bike lane extension on M Street NE from 1st Street NE to the Metropolitan Branch Trail near Delaware Avenue NE is pending approval, the DDOT rep said.
A lane extension crossing the National Mall is also pending approval. That project would create a lane on 4th Street SW between School Street SW (near the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station) and Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
The D.C. Department of Transportation can expand transit options for Hill residents by increasing the number of protected bike lanes and adding small shuttle buses, Ward 6 City Councilman Tommy Wells said.
Wells weighed in on the long-term MoveDC transportation plan Mayor Vincent Gray released Tuesday. The councilman praised the extensive 25-year plan but said it didn’t “get into the fine grain of what to do.”
“There’s been a major increase in bicycling in Ward 6, so they need to continue to look at protected bike lanes, like on Pennsylvania Avenue,” he said.
Wells also called for the use of small shuttle buses in underserved parts of the district.
“It’s a way to expand public transportation in areas not necessarily served by buses,” he said.
MoveDC called for the restoration of funding for 22 miles of streetcar tracks. Wells said “bumps in the road” to create the H Street NE streetcar have hurt general will to support the expansion of the network.
“The future of the streetcar is going to require private business leadership to step forward,” he said.
The citywide plan calls for improved traffic signals, additional sidewalks, upgraded pedestrian safety measures, dedicated bus lanes and more.
