I am a little late in providing an update on the Food & Friends request for a new curb cut on South Dakota Avenue NE.

At a hearing on August 22, 2024, the DC Public Space Committee approved a conceptual curb request for Food & Friends on South Dakota Avenue just north of Kennedy Street NE. The matter was on the consent agenda after the PSC asked DDOT’s traffic safety division to review the request following a hearing held in July 2024.

As explained in this post, the organization states that the new curb cut is necessary to expand their facility in order to serve more clients around the region. The conditional approval enables them to move forward with planning and fundraising for their building expansion, which they say will be built as a matter of right. They have two years to apply for a final curb cut.

Conceptually, the curb cut will be pretty sizeable for a block without one currently. It will be 33 feet wide with a 6-foot island. Truck movements will be right in, right out. Food & Friends currently has two curb cuts in front of their building at 219 Riggs Road NE. Both curb cuts are approximately 29 feet wide. At DDOT’s request, one of the Riggs Road curb cuts would be closed as part of the expansion process.

There is a lot planned for this little corner of the neighborhood. We will have to see how things shake out with the proposed Riggs Road NE cycletrack, the planned park space, and the future phase of the Cafritz development next to Food & Friends property.

Conceptual diagrams of Food & Friends truck movements on South Dakota Avenue below.