Guest post by Robert Oliver, North Michigan Park resident

Two pedestrian friendly projects are earmarked for Fort Circle Parks/Civil War Defenses of Washington near Fort Totten metro station. The National Park Service (NPS) owns the parkland, parcel 136/114, bound by South Dakota Avenue NE to the east, Galloway Street NE to the north, Fourth Street NE to the west, and Gallatin Street NE to the south. Social pathways cross this park due to the lack of decent, paved sidewalks on all sides. The lack of sidewalks has forced many, including seniors, to use an often muddy, rocky path to Fort Totten metro station.

Sidewalk on Galloway Street NE

The first project involves installing a sidewalk on the south side of Galloway Street between Fourth Street and South Dakota Avenue. According to District Department of Transportation Planner Stephen Rice, the project is funded through the Federal Lands Alternative Program (FLAP) and is managed by the federal Department of Transportation. Mr. Rice said the project is in the preliminary engineering phase and construction should be completed in March 2018. (According to the latest project chart, we should be nearing the start of the construction phase.) Also, the DC Council’s Transportation Committee was notified to track this project. See images below for an area map and view of the trail.

View of Galloway Street NE social trail heading west from South Dakota Avenue NE towards Fort Totten metro station. Please take notice of both the pedestrian and taxi cab in the street.

Direct trail to metro station through parkland

The second project involves constructing a direct multi-use trail between Gallatin and Galloway Streets. It is long overdue, and should have been part of the 1978 Fort Totten Metro Station build-out.

According to the project website, planning and constructing the trail will cost $279,000. According to Nick Bartolomeo, NPS Chief of Resource Management for Rock Creek Park, funding has been approved for design, but not for construction. NPS expects to issue a contract for the work this spring or early summer. For more project information, please reference the project website.

Project area under consideration for improvements. Source: National Park Service

Why do these projects move at such a glacial pace? Part of the problem lies with the community itself. The public input was abysmal. NPS hosted two community meetings. The first was on March 19, 2014, at UDC-CC, Backus Campus. The next was on February 2, 2015, at the Lamond-Riggs Library.  Only 16 attendees appeared in the March 2014 meeting, and only 14 in the February 2015 meeting. I know that many will say, “I did not receive any notice.” I can only say that the information was available.

Community support and pressure are a must to keep these projects on track and moving forward. Hopefully, there will be more to report by year’s end.