ANC 5A just cancelled the special meeting scheduled for tonight.
From ANC 5A:
Please note, this meeting for tonight has been canceled. The election noted below will be conducted at our regular public meeting on June 26, 2024.
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[Ed. Note: A couple of months ago, the ANC decided that Commissioner Emily Singer Lucio (5A03), who had been installed as vice chair at the beginning of the year, would also take on the secretary role for the ANC. I have been told that this special meeting is for the ANC to follow the proper procedures to make her secretary role official.]
I. Call Meeting to Order 6:00 pm II. Quorum III. Agenda Review/Acceptance IV. Commission Business A. Special Election VIII. Next Meeting: Wednesday, June 26, 2024 IX. Adjourn
Topic: ANC 5A Special Meeting Time: Jun 12, 2024 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
As part of its bus network redesign, Metro is looking to consolidate some of its bus stops. View the full list of bus stops that Metro is proposing to eliminate: Metro Bus Stop Consolidation Report (May 2024). Metro states:
Metro used our Board adopted Service Guidelines, which provide guidelines of the average number of bus stops per mile for different kinds of service. We focused on stops that were about 660 feet apart or less and then assessed ridership at the stop and the availability of safe access for customers. For stops that were close together with low ridership or without safe pedestrian access were considered for consolidation.
Share your input with Metro
In this post, we discussed some of the neighborhood impacts of the 2025 Network Proposal. Residents should also comment on the proposed elimination of bus stops. Remember to provide input to Metro at https://betterbus.wmata.com/share by 5:00 pm on July 15, 2024.
Proposed Bus Stop Consolidation Neighborhood Impacts
Virtual Public Hearing Tuesday, June 18, 2024, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Meeting Code: 490 122 856#
Virtual Public Hearing Monday, June 24, 2024, 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. Meeting Code: 787 960 816#
Metro is holding popup events about the 2025 Network Proposal around the region.
Pop-Up @ Rhode Island Ave Metro Station Monday, June 17, 2024 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. Rhode Island Ave Metro Station 919 Rhode Island Ave NE Washington DC 20018
Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker cohosted a virtual Ward 5 meeting on June 3.
Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George is cohosting a meeting with Metro on June 27 at 6:30 pm at Coolidge High School.
Every Wednesday, Qualia popup selling fresh, locally roasted beans along with hot and cold brew and a selection of pastries from their partners, RavenHook Bakehouse.
[Ed. Note: A couple of months ago, the ANC decided that Commissioner Emily Singer Lucio (5A03), who had been installed as vice chair at the beginning of the year, would also take on the secretary role for the ANC. I have been told that this special meeting is for the ANC to follow the proper procedures to make her secretary role official.]
I. Call Meeting to Order 6:00 pm II. Quorum III. Agenda Review/Acceptance IV. Commission Business A. Special Election VIII. Next Meeting: Wednesday, June 26, 2024 IX. Adjourn
Topic: ANC 5A Special Meeting Time: Jun 12, 2024 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Ward 5 Family Biking for a bike ride with pride. Ride from North Michigan Park Rec Center to Metrobar. Enjoy tropical drink special for adult riders, crafts and fun for kids.
Beginning June 5, 2024, find Qualia Coffee at Hellbender Brewery every Wednesday, 8:00 am-12:00 noon. Selling fresh, locally roasted beans along with hot and cold brew.
The June 2024 LRCA Community meeting will be held on Monday, June 3, 2024, from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM EST. Doors open at 5:45 PM.
This IN-PERSON meeting is scheduled to take place at the Lillian J. Huff Neighborhood Library, Meeting Room 1, located at 5401 South Dakota Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20011.
The seats for ANC 5A06 and 5A07 are officially vacant for the rest of the year. By law, if a vacancy occurs within six months of a general election, nominating petitions may not be made available and the seat will remain vacant for the remainder of the term. These two seats have been vacant for several months now. There are quite a few things happening in particularly ANC 5A07, so the rest of the ANC and the chair will have to pick up the slack and stay on top of things in these areas.
Not too early for people to start thinking about running for ANC in the fall!
ANC 5A held its monthly public meeting on May 22, 2024. Commissioners present: Duvalier Malone (5A01); Karlus Cozart (5A02) – Parliamentarian; Emily Singer Lucio (5A03) – Vice Chair & Secretary; Diego Rojas (5A04); Gordon Fletcher (5A08) – Chair; Shelagh Bocoum (5A09) – Treasurer. ANC 5A06 & 5A07 are vacant.
Commission Business
The ANC voted to approve spending $90 to get video recordings of the ANC meetings off zoom and onto the ANC website. Commissioner Cozart voted no.
ANC Public Safety Committee Update
Commissioner Cozart, who is heading up the ANC’s public safety meeting, stated the ANC will tentatively schedule a public safety summit on June 20, 2024, at 6:45 pm. Commissioner Cozart said he has invitations out to the DC Office of Attorney General, DC Department of Youth & Rehabilitation Services, and Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker.
Ward 5 Mayor Office Report(Ward 5 MOCR Anthony Black)
The Giant Barbecue Battle will be in September. Reach out to him for tickets.
Mr. Black has Ward days on Tuesday and Fridays when he can meet residents and commissioners around the ward to discuss any issues.
Mayor Bowser FY2025 Budget Presentation(Phil Thomas, Director, Office of the Clean City)
Director of the Mayor’s Office of the Clean City stated the mayor’s FY 2025 budget has three core principles: (1) public safety; (2) public education; (3) downtown investments.
Ward 5 Council Report(Carlos McKnight, Constituent Services Coordinator for Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker)
The Council is in the middle of budget season and is looking to reverse some of Mayor Bowser’s propsoed cuts.
Metro is installing permanent bus shelters at Fort Totten and Brookland stations
Metro is redesigning its bus network.
DDOT will be holding kickoff meetings for the South Dakota Avenue corridor safety project on May 30 (virtual) and June 1 (in person).
DDOT Riggs Road NE Cycletrack; Taylor Street Bike Lane Project (Christopher Berg, DDOT Bicycle/Pedestrian Program Specialist; Michael Alvino, DDOT Active Transportation Branch Manager)
DDOT plans to reissue a Notice of Intent (NOI) to install a two-way cycletrack on the south side of Riggs Road NE between South Dakota Avenue and 1st Place NE. The goal is to install the cycletrack this year.
In response to questions, Mr. Alvino noted that DDOT is aware of the need for an additional curb cut on 1st Place NE. He also noted that DDOT is still working with National Park Service on a multi-use path on Galloway Street NE near Fort Totten station.
The Taylor Street NE bike plan project is in the planning phase.
As noted, DDOT will hold two kickoff meetings for the South Dakota Avenue corridor safety project.
Food & Friends Expansion & Curb Cut Request (Carrie Stolzfus, Executive Director, & Casey Dyson, Director Government Affairs and External Relations)
Food & Friends wants to expand their building at 219 Riggs Road NE in order to serve more individuals. They state that in order to do so, they will need to expand towards South Dakota Avenue. They have submitted an application to DC’s Public Space Committee for what they are calling a conceptual curb cut on South Dakota Avenue NE between Riggs Road and Kennedy Street. They gave a brief presentation to the ANC to request the ANC’s support of the curb cut. The ANC did not take a vote at the meeting.
When DDOT eliminated the slip lanes on South Dakota Avenue way back when, a contiguous parcel of land was created in front of Food & Friends. That parcel of District-owned land is slated for park space so that is why Food & Friends say they are now looking to expand towards South Dakota. Because of the property lines, Food & Friends would need a bit of public space for a driveway that they want to install (in addition to the curb cut) to access this planned addition.
(I asked if Food & Friends could share information from their public space application, such as vehicle count. It was a bit hard to follow from the presentation exactly what the plans are for having two separate vehicle entrances).
Commissioner Bocoum (5A09) stated she will arrange a meeting with Food & Friends and stakeholders about the expansion and driveway plan before the ANC takes a vote on the public space application.
Miscellaneous
I mentioned that Social Justice School has applied to relocate to 333 Kennedy Street NE (as noted in this post). A DC Public Charter School Board hearing was held on May 20, 2024. The school notified Chair Fletcher but the commissioner for the area, Commissioner Bocoum, was not aware and the ANC did not participate. Councilmember Parker submitted a letter in support of the relocation in advance of the hearing.
The ANC received notification Aldi’s application to obtain a beer/wine license.
Heads up. Due to Metro’s upcoming three-month partial red line closure, parking will be restricted on Galloway Street from South Dakota Avenue to 7th Street NE to make room for a bus bridge. No parking will be allowed at any time from June 1 to August 31, 2024.
Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker invites residents to join his next Monthly Public Safety Call on Thursday, May 30, 2024, at 3:00 p.m.
Guests will be MPD 4th District Commander Nikki Lavenhouse and MPD 5th District Commander Sylvan Altieri.
Register to receive the meeting link at ward5.us/monthlycall. The meeting will be livestreamed on CM Parker’s YouTube channel. It will be recorded, and slides will be shared afterwards.
The popular Fridays at Fort Totten summer concert series kicks off next Friday May 31, 2024. The series, sponsored by The Modern at Art Place & DC Fray, features a different artist 6pm to 8pm each Friday through August.
Bring a chair, hang out with neighbors, and enjoy live music, a food truck, and games.
Metro will be doing construction on a good chunk of the red line starting June 1, 2024. Takoma station will be closed June 1 – June 29, 2024. Glenmont, Wheaton, Forest Glen, & Silver Spring stations will be closed June 1 – Aug 31, 2024. Plan accordingly.
The three-month closure will allow the Maryland Transit Administration Purple Line project to build a new mezzanine at Silver Spring which will improve the connectivity between the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center and the future Purple Line Station with Metro.
The outage will also provide Metro with an opportunity to complete maintenance, repairs, and customer experience improvements on the Red Line, condensing eight months of weekend closures and disruptions into the summer months.
SERVICE INFORMATION
June 1 – June 29, 2024
Free shuttle buses replace trains between Glenmont and Fort Totten
Stations closed: Glenmont, Wheaton, Forest Glen, Silver Spring, and Takoma
Green Line service and Red Line service to/from Shady Grove available at Fort Totten
June 30 – Aug. 31, 2024
Free shuttle buses replace trains between Glenmont and Takoma
Stations closed: Glenmont, Wheaton, Forest Glen, and Silver Spring
Green and Red Line service available at Fort Totten
Takoma Station reopened. Customers traveling between the closed stations and Takoma should use the local shuttle bus, or limited stop shuttle bus to the Red Line via Fort Totten
TRAVEL ALTERNATIVES
Free Shuttle Service
Free local, limited-stop, and express shuttles available during Metrorail operating hours. Shuttles will be available at all closed stations for customers with accessibility needs. To request an accessible shuttle, please ask a Metro team member onsite.
Saturday, June 1 to Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024
Local: Local service stopping at all stations between Glenmont, Wheaton, Forest Glen, Takoma, and Fort Totten
AM/PM Peak – approximately every 4 minutes
All other times, weekends, and holidays – approximately every 8 minutes
Estimated travel time: 61 minutes between Glenmont and Fort Totten during peak traffic
Limited 1: Limited-stop service between Glenmont, Wheaton, and Fort Totten
AM/PM Peak – approximately every 4 minutes
All other times, weekends, and holidays – approximately every 8 minutes
Estimated travel time: 37 minutes between Glenmont and Fort Totten during peak traffic
Limited 2: Limited-stop service between Forest Glen, Silver Spring, and Fort Totten
AM/PM Peak – approximately every 4 minutes
All other times, weekends, and holidays – approximately every 8 minutes
Estimated travel time: 25 minutes between Glenmont and Fort Totten during peak traffic
Express: Express service between Silver Spring and Metro Center (pick up location 12th & G streets NW)
Weekday only – approximately 4-8 minutes all day
Estimated travel time: 39 minutes between Silver Spring and Metro Center during peak traffic
Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing is constructing Riggs Crossing Senior Residences, an income-restricted, affordable senior housing building on the corner of South Dakota Avenue & Riggs Road NE. Individuals interested in leasing who are 62+ and who have an income at or below 50% of median family income should fill out the interest form.
Now that Metro has approved its Fiscal Year 2025 budget, the agency is turning its attention towards its bus network redesign initiative known as Better Bus. Metro recently released its proposed 2025 Bus Network redesign proposal. The proposal includes changes to routes, route names, service frequency, and hours of operation.
Review and provide feedback on the proposed 2025 Network by using Metro’s interactive comment map, taking a survey, submitting written comments, or uploading a document at https://betterbus.wmata.com/share by 5:00 p.m. on July 15, 2024.
Or, provide testimony at an in-person or virtual Public Hearing. To view the full schedule of in-person events, visit https://betterbus.wmata.com/events.
Take a look at Metro’s handy Resource Page, which includes documents that make this gigantic proposal manageable to understand. One thing to keep in mind is that when Metro initially rolled out the Better Bus initiative in spring 2023, it was premised on receiving about 35 percent more funding to create a “better bus” route redesign. Metro is not getting that additional money but wants to proceed with a redesign based on current resources, so you will notice some of the proposed frequency levels are not great.
Proposed Route Name Changes
As part of its network redesign, Metro is proposing new route names. Metro explained that, decades ago, it inherited route names from a bunch of jurisdictions so it is now taking the opportunity to make the routes easier to understand. The proposed naming convention makes enough sense to me. Read the explainer.
The first character will be one of six letters:
“D” or “C” for DC routes.
“D” for routes traveling downtown.
“C” for crosstown routes.
“M” for Montgomery County routes.
“P” for Prince George’s County routes.
“F” for Fairfax County, Fairfax City, or Falls Church routes.
“A” for Arlington County or Alexandria routes.
The second character will be a number based on the corridor or neighborhood in which the route runs.
The third character will be another number to distinguish it from other routes in the area, or an “X” to represent a limited-stop route.
Neighborhood Impacts
Neighbor Gavin and I took a quick look at the 2025 Network proposal. In theseposts, we described changes Metro contemplated during the initial Better Bus rollout in spring 2023. Some of the routes Metro initially contemplated did not make it into the 2025 Network proposal. Metro created a handy comment/response summary document that provides a bit of the rationale for how it got to the proposal that is now open for public comment.
Let’s take a look at some of the neighborhood routes in the proposed 2025 Network.
E2 –> C71 Fort Totten – Union Station E4 –> C81 Sibley Hospital – Fort Totten E4 –> C83 Friendship Heights – Fort Totten 80 –> D30 Fort Totten – Federal Triangle via North Capitol Street 64 –> D44 Fort Totten – Federal Triangle via 11 Street NW K6 –> M62 White Oak Medical Center – Fort Totten via New Hampshire Avenue K6 –> M6X White Oak FDA – Fort Totten R1, R2 –> P13 White Oak Medical Center – Fort Totten via Riggs Road E4, F6 –> P32 Fort Totten – College Park F6 –> P35 Fort Totten – New Carrollton K2 –> P42 Takoma – New Carrollton
The one big change we commented on last spring was Metro’s preliminary proposal to cut crosstown service to the neighborhood along Chillum Place NE. One E4 crosstown route operates between Friendship Heights and Fort Totten station and another operates between Friendship Heights and Riggs Park. Last spring, we noted that Metro did not include a comparison crosstown map for the E4 terminating in Riggs Park for comment, and we asked Metro to keep one of the terminal points in Riggs Park, terminating at Eastern Avenue.
Those comments do not show up in the discussion for proposed crosstown routes C81 and C83. Instead, Metro took the comments saying, “Please keep the crosstown route to Riggs Park” and decided to treat those comments as a request for a connection from Fort Totten station to Chillum Place. So, Metro continues to propose shortening the crosstown route so that it ends at Fort Totten station.
And then, Metro is proposing to provide service along Chillum Place via a different route, Proposed Route P32. Metro states Proposed Route P32 will provide more frequent service along Chillum Place because according to Metro, current Route E4 serves Chillum Place every 40 minutes. Transferring from the crosstown bus to Proposed Route P32 at Fort Totten would add time though. Also, it is hard to tell from the map exactly what direction of travel Proposed Route P32 would take through the neighborhood (the arrows look like Metro is proposing to reverse the direction of travel), so it would be good to have clarity from Metro about this. And I kind of think it would be nice to keep a crosstown route as it exists now traveling along Chillum Place to Eastern Avenue.
It seems like service frequencies are not great on many of the proposed routes. I think we need better frequencies for daytime and weekend service if we are really serious about getting people out of private cars and using public transit.
Metro is proposing to continue providing 24-hour service on certain routes such as Proposed Route D30 (equivalent to existing Route 80).
Ward 5 Engagement Forum
Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker is hosting a Ward 5 Bus Network Engagement Meeting with Metro on June 3, 2024, at 6 pm. Register at ward5.us/busmeeting. Councilmember Parker’s feedback to Metro last year did not address issues in this part of the ward so the scorecard that his office prepared for this proposal likewise does not address issues in the neighborhood. But residents should certainly feel free to share comments with his office and that of Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George.
Public Meeting Notice: South Dakota Avenue Corridor Safety Project
(WASHINGTON, DC) —The District Department of Transportation (DDOT), in partnership with Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker, invites you to attend public meetings for the South Dakota Avenue Corridor Safety Project from Riggs Road NE to Bladensburg Road NE. DDOT will be hosting two meetings: a virtual meeting on Thursday, May 30, 2024, and an in-person meeting on Saturday, June 1, 2024.
The meetings are an opportunity for community members to share their feedback on ongoing issues, challenges, and opportunities for the corridor. DDOT staff will also provide information on existing conditions and will be available to answer questions and gather comments.
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Next Stop...Riggs Park 