Thanks to neighbor Gavin for passing along information from DPR’s kickoff meeting for improvements to the playground at Lamond Rec, held on December 1, 2025.
A couple of days ago, I received an email from a group calling itself “Save Kansas Avenue.” They sent this email in response to last week’s post about the updated design for the Kansas Avenue bike lane project. They said they wanted to share information from the perspective of some of the directly impacted residents, and they passed along the flyer created for the community meeting organized on December 10. Primarily they say that DDOT did not do sufficient community engagement over the life of this project and that many residents were not aware of this project until after construction began a few weeks ago.
(I published a post about the Notice of Intent for this project back in 2022. The NOI is the point when the public weighs in. I do not know what kind of outreach was done at that point and over the years to let people know about this project. I also published a post in September of this year with an update about the construction timeline that was slated for October. Again, I do not know what kind of outreach was done at that point to convey the construction timeline. The email from the Save Kansas Avenue group stated that over the past three years, DDOT has engaged only with ANC commissioners and the charter schools in the area (and they say that the charter schools are opposed to the protected bike lanes) and that residents did not get any notice about construction before it started.)
On December 5, DDOT provided detailed responses to resident concerns in a letter (linked in last week’s blog post) explaining what design changes the agency planned to make. Residents organized a community meeting on December 10 where DDOT gave a presentation about the updated design. I did not attend that meeting. The presentation is available on the Kansas Avenue bike lane project website.
Updated Kansas Avenue bike lane design, December 10, 2025.
The Save Kansas Avenue group wanted to let me know that even with DDOT’s updated design they are still against the project. They wrote:
[T]he community is still against it because of the hazardous conditions it has caused with the removal of the street medians to accommodate the bike lanes. Additionally, we see a great opportunity with the city by instead of installing protected bike lanes, the city could install a multi use trail at the Fort Slocum Park by expanding the sidewalk by 4 feet. This would not only accommodate pedestrians and cyclists, but also tie it to the adjacent Metro Branch Trail and would be better for the local community.
Summary of DDOT’s commitments from December 10, 2025, presentation.
Included in the December 10th presentation is a slide about DDOT’s commitments going forward. Unclear what will ultimately happen given the continued concerns from these residents.
Urban Garden Brewing is no longer coming to Art Place at Fort Totten. The brewery was looking at locating in the first phase of Art Place on South Dakota Avenue. Owner Eamoni Collier posted a message on instagram a couple of days ago:
These past few weeks have been a lot to process. Due to a combination of factors including ongoing design delays, challenges accessing additional funding, and the current political and economic climate, our Fort Totten lease has ultimately been terminated. We were preparing to begin construction in late October and worked diligently to bring the project to the finish line, but circumstances beyond our control prevented us from moving forward as planned.
This has been painful, especially after all the love, work, and community support that went into it. Even through the frustration, I keep coming back to gratitude. Every person who believed in this dream helped build something real, and that means everything.
Urban Garden Brewing is not over. The mission, the heart, and the community that built it are still here. Weeks after losing Fort Totten, I am still reminded to keep believing.
I can’t share more yet, but I can say this: every ending makes space for a new beginning.
Join Metro Transit Police Department for their annual Holiday Bus event at Fort Totten Metro station on December 18, 2025, 5:30 pm-7:30 pm. Enjoy festive bus decorations, music, and holiday treats.
DC Dental Studio, a general dentist practice by Dr. Jasmine Marshall, is now open at Art Place at Fort Totten, located at 430 Galloway Street NE, Suite B.
Construction on the Green Line will cause single-tracking between U St and Georgia Av-Petworth starting at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 16 through system closing Tuesday, Dec. 30.
Customers are encouraged to plan ahead and allow additional travel time.
All stations will remain open. However, wait times will be longer than usual with Green Line trains running every 16 minutes all day. Yellow Line trains will run every 8 minutes all day between Mt. Vernon Square and Huntington during the construction period.
Customers also have several bus options as alternatives, including the D40 and D4X along Georgia Avenue NW, the D50 and D5X along 14th Street NW, the D60 and D6X along 16th Street NW, the C51 and C53 along U Street NW, and the C61 along Columbia Road/Irving Street NW.
Metro is doing critical work to improve safety and reliability, including replacing rail and fastening systems, renewing communications and signal equipment, and restoring lighting infrastructure. For more information, visit the winter major construction page.
Metro scheduled this work during the holiday season, when ridership is typically lower, to minimize impacts on customers.
Starting Dec. 31: Yellow Line to Greenbelt
Once construction ends, the Yellow Line extension to Greenbelt will begin on Dec. 31. Half of the Yellow Line trains will operate between Huntington and Greenbelt, and the other half will operate between Huntington and Mt. Vernon Square.
Trip Planning Resources
Customers are encouraged to use MetroPulse or wmata.com for real-time service information, sign up for MetroAlerts, or check @wmata, @metrorailinfo, and @metrobusinfo on social media for updates. Customers can also call 202-GO-METRO (202-466-3876, TTY 202-962-2033), M-F, 7 am-8 pm; Sat-Sun, 8 am-8 pm. Automated information is available 24/7. View our planned track work at wmata.com/trackwork.
Spot Treatment Locations from Highest to Lowest priority
Hamlin Street to Bladensburg
Lawrence to Rhode Island
Webster to Taylor Street
18th to Otis Street
Galloway Street to Gallatin St
Galloway-Gallatin is the only location selected for spot treatment in this neck of the woods. DDOT did not plan to address anything on the northern end, but then Galloway received the most comments and Riggs Road received the second highest number of comments. So DDOT decided to put Galloway-Gallatin at the bottom of the priority list. Everyone, including DDOT, knows that Riggs is a problem but they say that addressing Riggs & South Dakota would be a very capital intensive project that would need support from the Ward 4 councilmember.
In any case, DDOT has about $600,000 remaining in the South Dakota Avenue corridor project budget, which is enough for just the top one or two priority areas. But Councilmember Zachary Parker’s office seems confident that they can get more money to do all five priority areas if residents really want them to.
So let’s pretend that DDOT will get to the northern end and take a look at what they propose for Galloway-Gallatin.
Existing Conditions Galloway-Gallatin
Residents are familiar with existing problems at South Dakota/Galloway and at South Dakota/Gallatin. Galloway gets a lot of traffic. It leads to the Fort Totten station and the Metropolitan Branch Trail, so lots of cars, buses, pedestrians, and people on bikes. The station is a major bus transfer point and lots of students use the station to get to nearby UDC and charter schools or to get on buses to go to schools outside the neighborhood. Gallatin sees less traffic than Galloway, but still gets a fair amount. And Gallatin is envisioned as a future connection to bike trails in Prince George’s County.
Looking at the existing conditions described by DDOT above, note that there is no intention of putting a traffic circle at either Galloway or Gallatin. That was a comment submitted by a resident during the early stages of the project.
Proposed Concept – Gallatin
For Gallatin, DDOT would consider a few things:
Centerline hardening southbound South Dakota to slow down turns
“Stop for Pedestrian while Turning” signs
Daylighting markings on all four corners of Gallatin to improve visibility of crossing pedestrians
Yellow frame around traffic lights so that they are easier to see
This all seems fine enough and would not interfere with potential bike facilities in the future.
Proposed Concept – Galloway
For Galloway Street, DDOT would consider doing a few things:
Northbound South Dakota Avenue
Dedicated left turn lane
Short Median in northbound travel lane would provide safe space for people in middle of crossing, ensure that drivers turn left at Galloway and do not proceed straight, and reduce the number of through lanes in just that one spot.
Center lane hardening
Southbound South Dakota Avenue
Lane markings
Eastbound Galloway Street
Two eastbound travel lanes so that there is a left turn lane for drivers to head northbound on South Dakota Avenue or proceed straight on Galloway and a dedicated right turn lane.
Westbound Galloway Street
One travel lane westbound
Daylighting markings east and west of South Dakota
This post is way too long so TL;DR here – I do not think what is proposed for Galloway makes sense, and I am curious what others think.
The thing that jumped out to me immediately is that the proposal states that DDOT would talk to Metro about removing the eastbound bus stop at Galloway & South Dakota in order to make two eastbound travel lanes on Galloway. I confirmed with DDOT that they were referring to the eastbound stop. In fact, Metro removed that eastbound bus stop during the bus network redesign but that got overlooked by DDOT.
That means the westbound stop on Galloway would remain. There are a lot of cars and buses that make that left turn onto Galloway. Currently, when buses make the turn onto Galloway and stop at that westbound stop (it is used a fair amount), cars are able to go around the bus. If DDOT makes two eastbound travel lanes and one westbound lane, I do not think there will be enough space for cars to go around the stopped bus and that would leave cars hanging out in the intersection trying to make the left turn. That would not be good.
DDOT said maybe they could move the stop further west or create a diversion space around the bus or something. I do not see where else the stop could go that would not create the same problem or become useless given that it is the last stop before the Metro station and moving it closer and closer to the station would eventually make it useless.
Also, I think I can safely say that the buses would not be able to make that turn onto Galloway if the stop bar is at the crosswalk. Moving the stop bar back could provide a better turning radius but then fewer vehicles would get through the intersection to turn left or go straight ahead.
With respect to the dedicated turn lanes westbound Galloway, I do not know that it makes sense to have vehicles traveling straight on Galloway sitting behind vehicles waiting to turn left.
I am also not sure about the treatment for South Dakota Avenue with the short refuge median there.
All of this to say, I am not so sure that the proposal for the Galloway-South Dakota travel lanes make a lot of sense. But I am not an engineer and I have not seen a traffic analysis, so I don’t know, maybe this all could make sense.
Things that I think would make sense:
More time for pedestrians to cross South Dakota at Galloway
Centerline hardening (though I suspect the buses will just run over it)
Daylighting on Galloway east of South Dakota on both sides of the street. Bulbouts here are actually included in UDC’s 2023-2033 Lamond-Riggs campus plan (which is not really moving forward because apparently there is no money or something). UDC’s enrollment at the Lamond-Riggs campus has grown tremendously (which is why they really need funding to proceed with their campus plan, so DC Council really should give them the money to do it!!). Between campus visitors and the youth sports teams that practice on the field across the street from the campus, lots of cars end up being parked right up to the intersection often enough.
I like the idea of dedicated left turn lanes because it is true that waiting for buses/cars to turn left backs up traffic and makes people impatient and they end up running the light regularly enough. But I just do not know that this concept is the way to do it unless maybe they removed the parking lane on Galloway west of South Dakota, which I am reluctant to even type out because I can just see heads exploding. Lots of parents drive to the daycare on Galloway so I can certainly see why people would want some curbside space to drop off and pick up the kiddos.
Also, a 10-foot multi-use path is supposed to be installed on the south side of Galloway between South Dakota and 4th Street, with construction currently anticipated in 2026-2027. This is one of those (federal) projects that keeps getting pushed back year after year for all sorts of reasons. If this does proceed as planned, it might be useful to see how travel patterns for pedestrians and people on bikes change.
None of this will likely do much to slow down the excessive speeding on South Dakota, which was supposed to be the whole point of the corridor project. But we abandoned that goal before we really got started so.
These are just my thoughts. DDOT will not do anything at Galloway-Gallatin unless residents really want them to and ask Councilmember Parker’s office to identify funding to get it done. The cost for Galloway-Gallatin is not that much (roughly $70,000-80,000), so people need to decide what they want to happen or not happen.
The DC Office of Planning (OP) is working on DC 2050, the update to DC’s Comprehensive Plan, that will guide how the city will grow. So far, OP has hosted several in-person public workshops. Now there is an online self-guided version of the public workshops that gives residents an opportunity to explore the city’s land use policy and let District officials know how and where you think the city should grow.
OP is hosting an online workshop next Tuesday December 16, 2025, entitled “Designing Queer Futures Workshop.” The DC Office of Planning invites LGBTQIA+ community members, elders, advocates, and allies to share with OP what matters to them.
Thanks to Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) for sharing information about DDOT’s December 5, 2025, update for the Kansas Avenue bike lane project.
DDOT originally planned to install fully protected bike lanes on Kansas Avenue from Longfellow Street NW to Chillum Place NE. The updated design will have buffered bike lanes in certain sections to preserve curbside parking.
WABA notes that Kansas Avenue is classified as a minor arterial road and according to DDOT policy, “[a]ny bicycle facilities planned for minor arterial streets will be fully-protected facilities (per NACTO/FHWA guidance).” So the updated design will be a bit of a departure from DDOT policy.
DDOT plans to attend a community-organized meeting on December 10, 2025, at 6pm at Capital City Public Charter School.
The piece tracks what Social Justice School officials have previously shared about the school’s mission and its guaranteed income pilot for families. Check it out.
Join ANC Commissioners Keith Sellars (5A01), Danielle Geong (4B09), and the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association for a neighborhood clean up along Eastern Avenue NE!
Date: December 6, 2025
Time: 10:00 am-12:00 pm
Check-in locations:
Galloway Street & Sargent Road NE by the Michigan Park Commons Apartments
South Dakota Avenue & Kennedy Street NE by the Lamond-Riggs Library
Gloves, trash bags, and grabbers will be provided.
For questions, contact Commissioner Sellars at 5A01@anc.dc.gov.
The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) invites you to a Ward 5 public workshop for the Strategic Bikeways Plan project. This in-person workshop will be held on Tuesday, December 9 from 6p to 8p at Bunker Hill Elementary at 1401 Michigan Avenue NE. The project team will be presenting results from its evaluation of existing conditions and will be inviting community members and stakeholders to share feedback on the project team’s work to date, bicycle transportation needs, safety concerns, key gaps in the bicycle network, potential project ideas, and other local considerations.
ANC 5A held its monthly public meeting on November 19, 2025. Commissioners present: Keith Sellars (5A01); Emily Singer Lucio (5A03) – Chair; Jack Hermes (5A04) – Parliamentarian; Derrick Holloway (5A06); Elaine Alston (5A08); Shelagh Bocoum (5A09) – Treasurer.
Commission Business
ANC 5A FY2026 budget.
The ANC re-approved the budget. The ANC approved spending up to $1,000 for tablecloths and a tent for events.
Commissioner Hermes (5A04) will head up an ANC bylaws review committee with Commissioners Bocoum (5A09), Alston (5A08), and Holloway (5A06). They will aim to have a draft for review by the ANC’s February 2026 executive meeting
Mundo Verde Public Charter School Holiday Work (5A03)
Mundo Verde wants to work on certain holidays in 2026 in order to open its Calle Ocho campus building expansion in time for the fall 2026 school year. Commissioner Lucio held an SMD meeting where residents supported the holiday work. The full ANC voted in support.
Clinical Health & Wellness Medical Cannabis Shop Update (5A08)
Commissioner Alston (5A08) asked Commissioner Hermes (5A04) to give an update on Clinical Health & Wellness, the medical cannabis retail shop seeking to open at 4942 South Dakota Avenue NE in North Michigan Park. Commissioner Hermes said that the ANC recently filed a motion for stay of the ABCA proceedings while the ANC’s litigation against the ABC Board’s dismissal of ANC 5A’s protest proceeds.
Commissioner Hermes said that the DC Office of the Attorney General (OAG) agrees with ANC 5A’s view that the Board improperly restricted ANC 5A’s right to great weight (my paraphrase). Commissioner Hermes said that the OAG will recommend that the parties settle so that the ANC can submit documentation that will be afforded great weight by ABCA. Commissioner Hermes said that this issue is a problem for ANCs across the city and that Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker will likely have a public hearing about everything that ABCA is doing wrong.
Ward 5 Council Update (Andriana Lovelace, Ward 5 Constituent Services Coordinator for CM Parker)
CM Parker had a Thanksgiving grocery giveaway on November 20.
On November 4, the Council voted to decouple DC’s tax code from federal code in order to preserve revenue. A portion of the expected revenue will go towards funding a child tax credit as a result of a bill amendment introduced by Councilmembers Parker and Frumin.
On November 20, DPR held a Ward 5 capital projects meeting,
ERAP is reopening on November 20 at 9am.
Seniors and people with disabilities may apply for snow shoveling exemption by December 2. The exemption is valid for 2 consecutive snow seasons.
A resident stated that the 24/7 Tobacco & Grocery shop at 4944 South Dakota Avenue NE was caught selling illegal flavored vapes & loose cigarettes from out of state. Chair Lucio asked him to work with Ms. Lovelace and North Michigan Park Civic Association President Carmen Williams on issues regarding the smoke shop.
Catholic University officials gave a preliminary presentation on the university’s 2027 Campus Plan, which the university is in the early stages of drafting. They expect to have a DC Zoning Commission hearing in spring 2027. They are engaging early and plan to have frequent engagement with ANC 5A and neighboring ANC 5B. For questions, contact Deborah Natua-Rodriguez at nautarodriguez@cua.edu or Sherry Rutherford at rutherfords@cua.edu.
UDC Lamond-Riggs Campus 9/11 Memorial (5A01) (Juanita Gray, UDC Director of Community Engagement)
UDC Director of Community Engagement Juanita Gray let residents know that the university plans to update the 9/11 memorial that is located near the entrance of UDC’s Lamond-Riggs campus. The property previously housed Bertie Backus Middle School. The memorial honors Bertie Backus student Asia Cottom and teacher Sara Clark, who lost their lives in the 9/11 Pentagon attack. The existing memorial is in terrible condition. (Aside: The university mentioned updating the memorial during the 2023 campus plan process).
Ms. Gray said the university wants community involvement in what the new plaque looks like and says, but she did not outline a plan for community engagement. Commissioner Alston (5A08) stated that the Ward 5 Leadership Council has been working on the memorial but did not say exactly what they are doing.
Ms. Gray said that UDC wants to have an updated memorial in time for the university’s 175th anniversary in fall 2026. Commissioner Sellars (5A01) asked if the university could speed up the timeline for replacing the memorial because it has been in terrible condition for a while.
Washington Gas Infrastructure Project (Monica West, Director of Community Engagement & Public Policy, Washington Gas; Hal Khalef, Director of Construction, Washington Gas)
Monica West, Washington Gas Director of Community Engagement, let residents know that the utility company has a major gas pipeline replacement infrastructure project coming up in April 2026 in the area around Bunker Hill Road NE between 18th & 22nd, Randolph, Shepherd, and Varnum. This area is near but not in ANC 5A, so Washington Gas is letting residents know because residents will be impacted as they travel around. They wanted to start community engagement early. They will return in 2026 with detailed maps and more information.
The project will take eight months to a year. They will coordinate with Pepco and DC Water so that those utility companies can immediately do their work after Washington Gas finishes instead of repaving and then having to dig up the roads again. Washington Gas expects to start in April and Pepco in September. Ms. West stated that Metro may need to temporarily move bus stops when the work begins. All of that will be communicated to residents.
Community Concerns/Commissioner Updates
A resident asked what happened to the plan for McDonald’s to repave the parking lot of Faith United Church. Commissioner Alston (5A08) previously stated that McDonald’s would repave the lot. She said the person from McDonald’s who promised that has left and that McDonald’s did not park vehicles on lot so McDonald’s does not plan to repave the lot.
Commissioner Sellars (5A01) noted that he has been working with the National Park Service (NPS) to clean up Fort Circle Park along Sargent Road & Galloway Street NE, which sees frequent dumping. Part of the parkland sits in Commissioner Thomas (5A02) & Commissioner Alston’s (5A08) SMDs, not in ANC 5A01, but Commissioner Sellars has taken the initiative to work with NPS on this. NPS officials, on their own, reached out to the DC National Guard for assistance and Guard members helped to clean up the area as well as Fort Totten Park.
A resident noted that there was dumping in Fort Totten Park along Rock Creek Church Road/Fort Totten Drive NE. This area is ANC 5A07. Commissioner Sellars said he would let NPS know. Commissioner Sellars said he plans to have a cleanup on December 6.
The next ANC meeting will be January 28, 2026. Chair Lucio said the January meeting will mainly focus on ANC business.
Next Stop...Riggs Park 