Fort Totten and Lamond Riggs: A Historical Tapestry
The Heritage Wall at the Lamond-Riggs Library now has a beautiful companion book, “Fort Totten and Lamond-Riggs: A Historical Tapestry,” co-authored by Michelle Lisa Herman, Stephanie Mills Trice, and Deborah Grimstead. The book stitches together written narratives and excerpts of oral histories from contributors to the Heritage Wall (created by Michelle Lisa Herman), as well as photos of the original artwork from the permanent installation.
The book is available to read free online at https://www.michellelisaherman.com/fort-totten-and-lamond-riggs-project. Copies of the book will be given to local organizations, and a few copies are available for viewing at the Lamond-Riggs Library. Books may also be purchased at-cost (the cost of printing) through Blurb.
WDCEP Fort Totten-Riggs Park 2024 Neighborhood Profile Sheet
This two page document from the Washington, DC Economic Partnership offers demographic and other information on the Riggs Park neighborhood and other communities surrounding the Fort Totten metro station. The profile describes the area as an established neighborhood with a solid housing stock that the DC comprehensive plan envisions as a transit village served by the red, yellow, and green lines.
Vibrant Retail Streets Study: Lamond-Riggs (2015)
On September, 24, 2015, the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association teamed up with Streetsense and DC’s Office of Planning (OP) to host “Vibrant Retail Streets – Fort Totten.” Lamond-Riggs was one of eight commercial areas in which OP and Streetsense offered technical assistance to promote vibrant and sustainable retail options. This meeting was one part of their technical assistance and was designed to give residents the vocabulary, data, and tools to be able to champion our own vibrant streets. The Vibrant Street boundary selected for this neighborhood is Riggs Road NE between South Dakota/3rd Street and Chillum Place NE with a second node on South Dakota Avenue NE between Galloway Street NE and Kennedy Street NE. A copy of their presentation is available here: Fort Totten – Application of DC Vibrant Retail Streets (pdf).
In the words of OP and Streetsense, the purpose of the Vibrant Streets toolkit is “to give every neighborhood the necessary tools to create a Vibrant Street of their own, regardless of population, ethnic composition, location, income, or budget.” Streetsense began the presentation by noting that retail is fundamentally a commercial activity. It has to make money and it has to be sustainable. With that, OP and Streetsense outlined several attributes that successful vibrant streets share:
(1) Managed by a civic/nonprofit or merchant association;
(2) Retail-appropriate spaces like transparent storefronts and wide sidewalks;
(3) Mix of tenants;
(4) Safe as perceived by shoppers and pedestrians;
(5) Championed by private and/or public sectors;
(6) Anchored by a cultural feature that attracts people for a non-commercial use;
(7) Walkable as part of a walkable community; and
(8) Unified by a common character.
I posted a three-part series on the presentation.
Part 1
Fort Totten Vibrant Streets Part I: Market Analysis
Part 2
Fort Totten Vibrant Streets Part II: Retail Attraction
Part 3
Fort Totten Vibrant Streets Part III: Start at Step One
This online illustrated guide from DC’s Office of Planning presents the history of Ward 5 and identifies points of interest.
Ward 5 Industrial Land Transformation Study (2014)
The Ward 5 Industrial Land Transformation Task Force was established in 2013 to create a plan to “stimulate and and promoted the modernization and adaptive use of parcels of Ward 5’s industrial land.” The task force developed seven goals for the study:
• Jobs & Economic Development: Support the Diversification of the District Economy and Leverage Industrial Areas to Create More Good Paying Jobs with Low Entry Barriers and Good Career Ladders
• New & Emerging Uses: Harness New and Emerging Businesses – Green, Tech, Food, Creative Industries
• Improved Industrial Neighbors: Address Nuisance and Improve Physical Appearance
• Community Amenities: Bring New Amenities, Services, and Other Offerings to Nearby Communities
• Municipal Needs: Create Efficiencies and Reduce Impacts of Ongoing Municipal Land Needs
• Create Great New Places: Advance Urban Design & Place Making to Create Vibrancy and Improved
Gateways
• Implementation: Develop Strategies that Reflect Market Forces and Can Be Implemented
The 5-year strategic report Ward 5 Works (pdf) was released in August 2014 with the following recommendations:
- Create an Industrial Advocate to serve as a liaison to Ward 5 residents and spearhead marketing, business attraction, technical assistance and coordination among businesses
- Revise the zoning code to preserve industrial land, buffer residential uses from industrial impacts, encourage inclusion of retail space in production, distribution, and repair (PDR) businesses, and reduce the amount time to obtain a building or occupancy permit
- Improve waste management activities and limit future ones and launch a pilot Good Neighbor program
- Coordinate workforce development program with the Industrial Advocate to ensure a pipeline of PDR jobs for District residents
- Help Ward 5 business access financial resources and technical assistance
- Build support for industrial uses and change perception of Ward 5
- Explore potential for a “creative hub” and partner with private sector to support development of affordable space for PDR
- Enhance access to Ward 5 with investment in bicycle infrastructure, pedestrian connections, bus service, streetcar and other premium transit options
- Invest in new and upgraded community amenities, such as parks, retail, restaurants, streetscapes and family-friendly destinations
First Place and Galloway Street NE Transportation Access Plan and Improvement Study (2011)
DDOT conducted a study in 2011 to improve pedestrian access and transportation around Fort Totten metro station. The study focused on station access; streetscape and urban design; access management; wayfinding; traffic calming; transit efficiency; bicycle parking; connections to existing and planned regional trail network; and traffic and congestion around the reconfigured South Dakota Avenue/Riggs Road intersection. Key issues raised were formalizing the shortcut between Gallatin Street and Galloway Street and improving perceptions of safety, for example by providing lighting under the railroad bridges.
Fort Totten Access and Joint Development Study (2010)
2010 study commissioned by Metro in conjunction with DC’s Office of Planning and the District Department of Transportation regarding development potential of both the Kiss & Ride and the Park & Ride lots at Fort Totten Metro station. The study includes a list of joint development recommendations as well as station area recommendations. Metro’s general joint development page is available at https://www.wmata.com/business/real-estate/joint-development.cfm.
Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue NE Small Area Plan (2009)
This Area Development Plan was initiated by the Lamond Riggs Citizens Association, completed by DC’s Office of Planning in 2008, adopted by the DC Council in 2009, and fully incorporated into the District’s Comprehensive Plan in 2021. The plan focused on a study area of about a quarter mile radius around the intersection of Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue and a secondary study area of a half mile radius of the intersection. The plan’s guiding principles:
- Establish a dynamic neighborhood center at Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue that enhances community character and reactivates the street.
- Attract development that serves all generations.
- Connect, activate, and create new open spaces.
- Promote safe access and circulation throughout the neighborhood.
A number of projects addressed in the plan have been completed or are in progress: the realignment of the South Dakota Avenue/Riggs Road intersection, the completion of the Aventine apartments (previously known as the Fort Totten Station apartments), the construction of Fort Totten Square and Art Place at Fort Totten, and the proposed development of the park-and-ride lot at Fort Totten metro station. Notably, the plan includes additional “opportunity sites” for development in the neighborhood: the industrial area just west of the metro station, the fast food and office building on the corner of South Dakota Avenue and Riggs Road, and the industrial area just north of the intersection.
Executive Summary
Full Area Develpment Plan
2016 Implementation Report
South Dakota Avenue Transportation and Streetscape Study (2007)
The South Dakota Avenue Transportation & Streetscape Study provided recommendations for the project area along South Dakota Avenue from Hamilton Street NE to V Street NE, as well as the main side streets along the corridor. Observations included excessive speeding along the corridor; faded roadway markings; poor crosswalk striping; obscured pedestrian visibility in some locations due to grade changes and vertical alignment of the corridor; some signalized intersections without pedestrian signals; sign clutter; and lack of maintenance of pocket parks and tree trimming.
The study noted that (at that time) the only off-road bike facilities in the study area was east of South Dakota Avenue between New York Avenue and Bladensburg Road.
Recommendations included corridor-wide improvements and intersection specific recommendations.
Corridor-wide recommendations:
- Install additional speed limit signs
- Install automated speed enforcement devices
- Install additional school zone warning signs and roadway markings
- Sign inner lanes for truck traffic
- Vibration study
- Set back stopbars a minimum of 4 feet behind crosswalks
- Improve curb radii to a minimum of 15 feet
- Install missing sidewalks & replace sidewalks that are deteriorated
- Install handicapped-accessible ramps at all crosswalks
- Install Yield to Pedestrians Signs at all uncontrolled crosswalks
- Install temporary signage when crosswalks are removed
- Enhance the streetscape through better plantings
- Reduce sign clutter
- Enhance lighting in dark areas
Since this study, the intersections of South Dakota at Hamilton, Ingraham, and Jefferson Street NE have been reconstructed for development projects. Some recommendations that are still relevant:
- Galloway Street
- Paint stopbars a minimum of 4 feet behind newly painted crosswalks
- Install signs to help guide the public to the Metro station on Galloway Street.
- Paint all crosswalks with highly visible ladder-style pattern as appropriate
- Extend sidewalk from Metro location to South Dakota Avenue on the southside of the western leg.
- Between Gallatin and Galloway, plan bushes/shrubs along eastern side of the block to visually separate South Dakota Avenue from athletic field.
- Hamilton Street
- Pain stopbars a minimum of 4 feet behind newly painted crosswalks.
- Paint all crosswalks with highly visible ladder-style pattern as appropriate
- Jefferson Street
- Install driver feedback sign warning motorists of automated speed enforcement midway between Jefferson and Ingraham Streets
Comprehensive Plan Area Elements Ward 5
The Upper Northeast Area Element of the Comprehensive Plan (2006) addresses planning policies and priorities for Fort Totten metro station and surrounding areas. This document is useful in the review process for development projects, both for planned unit developments (PUD) and for matter-of-right projects that have to go through large tract review, because reviewing officials have to evaluate the projects to make sure they are not inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan. The neighborhood is also briefly mentioned in the Rock Creek East Area Element.
Updated Comp Plan – Upper Northeast Area Element (2021); Rock Creek East Area Element (2021). The 2021 Comp Plan Update fully incorporates the Riggs Road/South Dakota Avenue NE Area Development Plan by reference.
Next Stop...Riggs Park 