Guest post by Robert Oliver

The timing of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton’s appearance at the December 2018 Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association (LRCA) meeting could not be better. This meeting provides the community with an excellent opportunity to discuss a lit, paved path across the portion of Fort Circle Park just east of the Fort Totten Metro station.  The National Park Service (NPS) plans to replace the informal trail connecting Gallatin Street NE and Galloway Street NE with a safe, paved, lit pedestrian path.

The need for a pedestrian path began with the opening of the Fort Totten Metro Station on February 6, 1978. While provisions for parking were made, no additional pedestrian infrastructure was considered.  Over the years, communities both east and west of the Metro Station have created informal trails through the NPS parkland. The Fort Totten neighborhood west of the metro station has a lighted, paved pedestrian path connecting Fort Totten Drive NE and 1st Place NE.  However, the North Michigan Park community, east of the Metro Station, has patiently waited for a paved path since 1978, or 40 years. Finally, some action has been taken.

Beginning on March 7, 2014, NPS issued a scoping notice for an environmental assessment of the social trails and adjacent parkland east of the Metro Station. NPS hosted a community meeting at the UDC Backus Campus on March 19, 2014. At that meeting, NPS explained the objectives of the scoping notice and offered the community four options to consider.

In January 2015, NPS issued its Fort Totten – North Michigan Park Pedestrian Access Improvement Project Environmental Assessment report in which no environmental issues were found. NPS hosted a community meeting at the Lamond-Riggs Library on February 2, 2015, to brief the community on the environmental assessment report.  Next, NPS received approval of its Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) report in compliance with the Department of Interior’s National Historic Preservation Act (NEPA) guidelines on October 28, 2015. Lastly, the National Capital Planning Commission has approved the NPS proposed trail specifications that include “a permeable 10-foot wide trail to replace the existing 320 foot-long informal dirt trail from Galloway Street NE to Gallatin Street NE.” The trail will be composed of asphalt, feature two-foot wide, soil and aggregate shoulders, and feature six lights for illumination. Approval was granted on July 5, 2018.

Location of proposed trail

Despite all of the work accomplished, there is more to be done. Other milestones include building Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant ramps across the street from the path and a storm water management system. Although NPS is working diligently, the construction phase of this project remains unfunded. This is where Congresswoman Norton can be most helpful. She can work at the federal level to secure funding for this worthy and long overdue pedestrian infrastructure. We all look forward to having this conversation with Congresswoman Norton and District officials.