Fort Totten – North Michigan Park Pedestrian Access Improvement Project
After a lengthy delay, construction of a pedestrian path between Gallatin and Galloway Street NE through Fort Totten Park is resuming. This path should be completed in a few months.
Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT) Brookland to Fort Totten Extension
The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) publishes weekly progress reports, photos, and other info on the project website at https://www.metbranchtrail-forttotten.com.
A neighbor passed along word that Z-Burger could possibly be opening soon on South Dakota Avenue NE across from the McDonald’s in North Michigan Park (See listed location: 4975 South Dakota Avenue NE).
The neighbor says:
I was just in the DC Super Mart on South Dakota avenue and the owner showed me their Z-burger fit out. It looks really nice! He says their build out is done and they are just waiting on some paperwork but it should open next month. I know we already have a five guys but I’m thrilled to have another option in the neighborhood. Also excited about 75 flavors of milkshakes.
There you have it, 75 flavors of milkshake on deck.
The DC Line published a press release from the National Park Service (NPS) stating an unexploded ordnance was found during construction of the long-awaited trail between Galloway Street NE and Gallatin Street NE near Fort Totten Metro Station. Construction of the trail to provide a formal pedestrian path between North Michigan Park and Fort Totten Metro Station began a couple of weeks ago. Residents noticed Metro Transit police and other officers redirecting traffic from the area on July 22, 2020. I have reached out to NPS for more information and will update the post when I hear back.
Press release below:
News Release — National Park Service
For immediate release: July 23, 2020
Contact: Katie Liming
WASHINGTON – On July 22, a WWI-era unexploded ordnance was discovered during construction work on a park trail. Out of an abundance of caution and until more research can be completed, an area of Fort Totten Park, in the Michigan Park neighborhood, is closed, and the National Park Service (NPS) is urging people to stay out of the area.
The area is currently marked with caution tape, and warning signs and fence will be installed as quickly as possible.
United States Park Police and Metropolitan Police Department responded after heavy rain revealed the ordnance, and the site was cordoned off immediately. The U.S. Army is analyzing and is expected to destroy the ordnance at Marine Corps Base Quantico.
The public’s safety is the NPS’s most important priority. Trail construction is halted, and the NPS is working to determine the next steps needed to evaluate the area. We will provide updates as more information is available.
Note: This closure is not in the vicinity of and does not impact DDOT construction work on the Metropolitan Branch Trail.
By Robert Oliver (Contributor)
At long last, work has begun on the pedestrian trail connecting Gallatin and Galloway Streets NE across Fort Circle Park east of the Fort Totten Metro station. I noted work was imminent in this post. On July 11, 2020, a field surveyor from GORDON, a land development consulting firm, staked out the pathway.
Today, workers from Autumn General Contractors, the primary contractor, arrived to begin the construction process. I spoke to the construction supervisor, who stated that this project will be completed in 120 days or less, depending on weather conditions.
The construction supervisor stated the path will be fenced off while under construction, but the remaining parkland will not be restricted.
The National Park Service should be commended for finally addressing this longstanding community concern. By this fall, North Michigan Park and its neighboring communities will have a paved, lit, and safe path to the metro station.
Yesterday, DC’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board denied Pax Liquor’s application for a new liquor license to open a liquor store at 4944 South Dakota Avenue NE (next to the McDonald’s). This is a big win for North Michigan Park residents who rallied and worked with ANC 5A Commissioners Ronnie Edwards (Chair) and Gordon Fletcher (Vice Chair) to protest the application.
The Board found approval of the license would not be appropriate because it would “encourage loitering to the detriment of peace and quiet” and that it will “likely have a detrimental effect on property values.” On the first point, the Board noted that loitering was likely given the loitering that takes place at other liquor stores in the ward. The Board also stated the McDonald’s next door would make the area an attractive place to loiter and that the overgrown alley and forest behind the lot would provide a hidden place for individuals to loiter and engage in antisocial behavior. On the second point, the Board pointed to evidence that the parking lot and building facilities of the proposed store have not been well-maintained and that the overgrown alley and forest behind the lot further demonstrate that a liquor store is not appropriate for the site. The Board cited evidence that the property owner has a history of not addressing issues on the property.
Hopefully this decision will spur the property owner to step it up and put more effort into maintaining the property.
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.
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.
Youth 18 years old and younger can eat free meals at a number of sites across the city, including a few locations in the neighborhood:
Phone: (202) 541-3526
Open June 22, 2015 through August 21, 2015
Meals served Monday through Friday
Breakfast: 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Lunch: 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Phone: (202) 576-5150
Open June 22, 2015 through August 21, 2015
Meals served Monday through Friday
Breakfast: 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Lunch: 12:30 – 2:30 pm
Phone: (202) 541-6265
Open: July 8, 2015 through August 14, 2015
Meals served Monday through Friday
Lunch: 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
With the announcement of WMATA’s selection of a joint developer for the park-and-ride lot at Fort Totten metro station, now is a good time to look at the state of development in the neighborhood. Even as the first major development nears completion, questions remain about how retail will ultimately shape up for the neighborhood.
1. Fort Totten Square
Fort Totten Square Phase I with potential Phase II rendering
Developer: JBG & Lowe Enterprises
Location: Riggs Road between 3rd Street and Chillum Place NE
Expected delivery: Mid- to late-2015
Fort Totten Square emerged the winner to be the first major development in the neighborhood. The Walmart anchor will be joined by Subway and Five Guys. There are two other retail spaces that have not been leased. Residential leasing personnel are being hired for the luxury apartments, so this development will be ready to accept residents without all of the pieces to the retail puzzle in place. Early in the development process, the developers indicated they were hoping to sign a coffee shop or a sit-down restaurant to the development. We cannot give the odds on either of those happening at this point.
In addition, talks are said to have begun again between District officials and the developers for sale of District owned land across the street from Fort Totten Square in order to build a second phase to the development. The developers provided an initial concept plan for the mixed use development for the second phase with less housing and more retail. We cannot say with any certainty though what will happen with the negotiations or the concept plan.
First to deliver, Fort Totten Square still leaves questions about what type of retail and amenities we can expect for the neighborhood in the near future.
2. Art Place at Fort Totten (Building A)
Art Place at Fort Totten Building A
Developer: Cafritz Enterprises
Location: South Dakota Avenue between Galloway Street and Kennedy Street NE
Expected delivery: 2017 (though construction is undoubtedly behind schedule)
Art Place at Fort Totten is a multi-phase planned unit development (PUD). The only tenant we know about for the first phase (Building A) is X-Sport Fitness. We are pumped about potentially having a gym in the neighborhood, but we are really interested in knowing what other anchor retailers are being targeted for Building A. The development team indicated early on that Building A would be constructed with the potential to locate three restaurants there. We also know the building will also have space for an ANC office and a daycare center.
At the ANC 5A08 SMD meeting on March 18, we learned that negotiations are taking place to have the children’s museum occupy the warehouses located at 5458-5462 3rd Street NE, rather than in Building B of Art Place as originally envisioned by the development team.
We will have to wait and see what happens with this development. The development team has long said they will be looking at the effect of Walmart’s opening on the retail landscape for the neighborhood, so they cannot provide any updates on future phases of the development. We still have questions about Building A though that also cannot be answered at this time.
3. WMATA/Donatelli Fort Totten Joint Development
Developer: Donatelli Development
Location: Existing park-and-ride lot on 1st Place NE
Expected construction start date: 2017
Donatelli bid
WMATA is up to its usual MO with the joint development of the park-and-ride lot at Fort Totten metro station. There were two proposals for the joint development. WMATA initially indicated they would make both proposals public. They presented the two concepts to ANC 5A’s commissioners (Fort Totten – Presentation to ANC 5A (Feb 11-2015)), but did not present at an ANC meeting. WMATA ultimately selected Donatelli.
We know the other bid was submitted by Jair Lynch. That proposal was more arts-focused to piggyback on the concept of the Arts Place development. However, that bid proposed fewer apartments than the Donatelli bid (302 versus 345).
Jair Lynch bid
We have long had the sense that WMATA is not too concerned about placemaking in its development projects, despite the inclusion of a placemaking element in the RFP.
Given that there has always had long been vacant ground floor retail space at Aventine Fort Totten (another WMATA joint development project at Fort Totten), we definitely have questions about the type of retail Donatelli anticipates bringing to this project.
Residential Development
The uneven retail landscape is interesting give the huge interest from homebuyers in the neighborhood. Median home sale prices have increased and homes have sold more quickly. The Hampshires, a subdivision of detached single family homes and townhomes by Comstock Homes, has attracted a lot of interest. A PUD application was recently submitted for the Totten Mews, another project of Comstock Homes, in nearby North Michigan Park. Several newly constructed homes by independent developers have also popped up in the neighborhood.
It is clear that many people love what the neighborhood has to offer: large open park space, relatively affordable homes with outdoor space, close proximity to a major metro line and downtown, low crime, civic-minded neighbors. Newer homebuyers are certainly attracted to the potential development coming to this established neighborhood. The small area plan identifies even more potential development sites. As we can see from development in the pipeline though, the state of retail for the neighborhood remains a big question mark.
There is one week left to comment on the National Park Service’s environmental assessment of construction of a formal path between Gallatin and Galloway Street NE to improve access to Fort Totten metro station. Currently, no funding plan exists to construct a path. However, it is an easier sell if 100 comments are received as opposed to 25. Let neighbors who do not use computers know how they can comment or invite them over to use yours. Comments do not have to be elaborate. Just let the Park Service know where you stand on having a formal path to get to the metro station.
Ways to comment:
Rock Creek Park
Attn: Fort Totten-North Michigan Park Pedestrian Access Improvements EA
3545 Williamsburg Lane, NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
Comments must be submitted or postmarked by February 19, 2015.
On February 2, 2015, the National Park Service will hold a public meeting on the Environmental Assessment for improvements to pedestrian access to Fort Totten metro station. Specifically, the NPS proposes to construct a formal direct path between Gallatin and Galloway Street to replace the shortcuts pedestrians currently use (discussed in this post).
The meeting will take place at 6:30 pm at Lamond Riggs Library (5401 South Dakota Avenue NE).
The NPS indicates comments will be accepted at the meeting. Comments can also be submitted online on the project website or mailed to:
Rock Creek Park
Attn: Fort Totten-North Michigan Park Pedestrian Access Improvements EA
3545 Williamsburg Lane, NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
Comments must be submitted or postmarked by February 19.
Next Stop...Riggs Park 