Residents Remain Frustrated Over O&P Street Project

Residents of the West Village, specifically several who live on the 3300 block of P Street, aired their grievances last week and demanded more accountability from the O&P Street Project managers. 

At issue is the ongoing and incomplete work on the 3300 block of P Street even as contractors move to new sections of the neighborhood.

"Whoever is running this project seems to have a tough time finishing tasks," wrote Paul St. Lawrence in a letter he sent to several local officials and which he shared on the Georgetown forum.

Another resident of the West Village responded, "The haphazard nature of the work being undertaken would be laughable were it not so pitiful."

In an email response to St. Lawrence, the O&P Street project team expressed and understanding for his frustrations, but essentially said there was little they could do because of unexpected delays.

"Work must continue on other blocks to keep the overall project on schedule," they wrote in an email, which St. Lawrence shared on the forum.

One of those delays involves the . One of the O and P Street Project's goals is to maintain the historic integrity of the existing streetcar tracks as the roads are repaved.

But as the streetcar tracks began to come out of the ground in October, the contractors quickly discovered that most of the center rails were grossly worn away. The center rails had been exposed to the elements because of a drainage channel for the electrical system and were not in any shape to be re-installed in the streets as construction progressed.

The project team is now waiting on synthetic rails to replace the historic rails, but this process has impacted the speed with which streets can be finished.

In their email, the team wrote, "We absolutely share your concern and understand the frustration, and the Team continues to look for other solutions to this problem. The updated 3300 block of P Street schedule has the fabricated rails arriving on the project site in early April."

When asked about the complaints, Community Relations Team member and Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Ed Solomon said it is understandable that residents might get frustrated when there's nowhere to park and there's a construction zone outside the front door. Solomon and has worked with the project team to and residents as work progresses. Overall, he said that most of the feedback he has received has been positive.