Historic Construction Project Finishes with a Snip

With the snip of a pair of oversized scissors, District and community leaders brought to an end 18 months of construction on O and P Street, NW in Georgetown.

The project was more than 20 years in the making, pre-dating long-serving Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans' time on the District Council. At the ceremony Tuesday, Evans joked that the first meeting he had on the project was with President Washington and Pierre L'Enfant.

Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Jeff Jones, whose district included the project area, reflected on the project's role in connecting the current streets with the past when streetcars rode throughout. He also said the complexity of the construction brought together the community.

"To me this project connects neighbors with neighbors as I've seen first hand in the last 19 months," said Jones, citing the early morning calls, late night calls, emails, meetings and more that went into keeping neighbors informed and businesses happy.

"Yes it was a terrible period to live through. It was messsy, it was noisy, it was dirty, it was loud," said Hazel Denton, a nearby resident.

But she thanked the contractors for making an extra effort. Denton said when she had to park far from her home during road closures, "extra hands" just appeared to help her carry her groceries home.

On her own behalf and that the Citizens Association of Georgetown, Denton said, "We the residents, want to say thank you for a tough job very well done."