DDOT Town Hall to Address Wisconsin Avenue Project

Monday night residents will have their chance to ask questions and get some answers about Ward 3 transportation issues, including the Glover Park Streetscape Project on Wisconsin Avenue.

Council member Mary Cheh and District Department of Transportation (DDOT) Director Terry Bellamy are hosting a town hall meeting Monday at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

"The Glover Park and Cleveland Park transportation projects, in addition to the Ward 3 Livability Study, will be among the key initiatives to be discussed" according to a press release.

The Glover Park Streetscape Project will The project will reduce the number of traffic lanes from three to two during peak hours and from two to one during off-peak hours. Certain intersections will have left turn lanes.

After painting the medians, DDOT will wait a year to see if they cause any unintended consequences before making them permanent.

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Since then neighbors have taken to the listserv to report their observations of increased traffic on 37th Street and slower traffic on Wisconsin Avenue during construction.

A group of neighbors wrote a letter to DDOT and asking for, among other things, a traffic study of 37th Street and traffic-ameliorating measures on 37th Street. ().

The original Glover Park Transportation Study did basic modeling of future traffic conditions with the recommended improvements and did not identify any critical problems. For this reason we do not believe it necessary to halt the construction project for further study. As DDOT began construction on the Wisconsin Avenue Streetscape project, we have done some spot traffic and speed counts at Tunlaw and 37 Street. This will provide another data point in addition to the baseline data used in the planning study, and we will continue to monitor conditions both during and after construction.

Just last week the on 37th Street, north of Whitehaven Parkway. The traffic study would develop a baseline to determine the eventual impact of the streetscape project on traffic in the area just north of Georgetown.

Among other complaints, neighbors in Glover Park and Georgetown have complained of poor communication about the project. DDOT recently rolled out a website dedicated to the streetscape project, though as of Sunday evening it did not include any detailed two-week construction schedules. (http://www.wisconsinavenueproject.com).

The meeting with Cheh and Bellamy Monday will offer residents the opportunity to continue to push for changes and better communication.

The meeting will be in Window’s Lounge at UDC (4200 Connecticut Ave. NW) from 7 to 8:30 p.m.