Grand Arc Opportunity For New Hampshire Avenue/Maryland WMATA Line

The Grand Arc Project, my selection of a name for a project constructing a D.C. North Mall/Enclosed filtrated Underground North Central Freeway (electronically tolled Expressway), offers the tantalizing opportunity to add a new WMATA line along New Hampshire Avenue into Maryland.

Since the existing WMATA Red Line would be rebuilt underground, we have the opportunity for creating a new two track WMATA line spur, beneath the hill at New Hampshire Avenue, between the RR corridor and the DC-MD line.  Such a line would connect to and from the south with the Red Line, and the Grand Arc Project's inclusion of reconstructing the railroad underground provides opportunity to increase the number of WMATA as well as MARC/CSX tracks.  Squandering the opportunity would be unacceptable, and neglects the fundamental stage-ability: of starting with this new spur, at least to its nearest station, somewhere in Maryland, between the District line and the vicinity of Sheridan Street.  This is essentially a two block long segment of the 6 lane New Hampshire Avenue commercial strip zone, and a prime candidate for re-development.  This initial stop would be called Sheridan Station.  

This entire initial segment, including the portion within the District, would be underground. 

To the north, where the topography descends into the valley at Ray Road, its extension would transition to a bridge, perhaps as a lower level of a new span for carry New Hampshire Avenue over the valley.  Past that, it would enter its second tunnel segment to pass beneath the log established parking lot of Giant Supermarket

Have a second station in the southeast quadrant of the next main commercial area at the intersection with 410 East West Highway.   Likewise, place that segment underground.  Be sure to guarantee a guarantee of rent stabilization for the existing businesses in the strip malls, within the first level of the inevitable replacement development.

Owing to the topography, of the valley at Ray Road, this line could emerge upon its own narrow viaduct, and if a bridge was constructed to place New Hampshire Avenue atop that valley, place the new WMATA line as its lower level.  Have it transition to tunnel (cut and cover) extending beneath the existing Wendy's and north past East West Highway (Rt 410).

Where the topography again descends, either have it elevated, perhaps above the median of New Hampshire Avenue, or optionally, continuing it as trench & cut and cover, to a cut and cover segment towards and at the northeast quadrant of New Hampshire Avenue's intersection with University Boulevard, at the site of this line's 3rd initial stop- University Avenue Station.

Initial project would stop here, with its design fully anticipating a further continuation along New Hampshire Avenue to White Oak, by the U.S. F.D.A. Center, with the initial portion of a subsequent extension along the wide 6 lane expressway spec Route 29, with the next stop being at the commercial area alongside Rt 29 just south of Cherry Hill Road- fairly near to the Rt 29 interchange with MD 200/ICC Inter County Connector.  

As an option, examine the use of moled tunneling, to start near the DC/MD line, to see if such could extend under the various valleys.

Construction of the Grand Arc Project would provide some added rail capacity alongside the underground vehicular expressway, with the WMATA & MARC/CSX RR, each improved from 2 to 3 track operation.

Whatever Happened With The Tunnelfication of Washington, D.C.'s SW-SE Freeway?

We ALL know that the District's SW-SE Freeway is a monstrosity.  BAD design.  NO safety shoulders.  Open trench bisecting SW, before rising up upon a hideous viaduct that crosses atop South Capital Street.  And continuing east, a Chinese wall along Virginia Avenue to the interchange with the 11th Street Bridge, and a brief surface segment, before its sole well designed segment, the pair of 4 lane rectangular box tunnels beneath Pennsylvania Avenue SE's Barney Circle.

30 years ago, the Washington Post published a good article, by Roger K. Lewis, March 27, 1993, "For The 21st Century A Capital Design Reach In Need of A Regional Reach".  Within was an illustration, indicating an underground replacement for the SW-SE Freeway.

 

 

Washington Post, March 27, 1993

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, U.S. National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) published a few brochures with illustrations of the South Capital Street area with the SW-SE Freeway viaduct removed.

In 2005, NCPC published a brochure showing a westernmost portion of an underground SW Freeway, extending further west to extend beneath Washington Channel.

Nevertheless, NCPC fails to show any plans that are workable.

Note how the renderings above have substandard capacity (refusing to correct the bottleneck), poor geometry (too sharp a curve), and impractical to build as it transitions upon exactly the same right of way, which must maintain traffic through the reconstruction.

Even worse, the 1990s NCPC planning with the South Capital Mall - what it would obviously be called, yet such a phrase appears nowhere in any of their public publications - did not even include an underground replacement for the SW-SE Freeway.  Instead it presents the unworkable-absolutely impractical notion of I-395 simply connecting to 14th and F Streets!  An anti express highway exemplified by such NCPC published statements at that time, that "amphibious cars - contemporary versions of the old Army ducks - could render bridges obsolete" - try picturing that!

Anyone looking at the situation can see the obvious, that a band of land MUST be cleared directly to the south.  And do note that the area WAS already cleared during the late 1950s-early 1960s for the SW Redevelopment Project.  Yet nonetheless, that area was subsequently filled with new residential development by the early 1970s. 

 

By 1993, that area had become developed except for the plot bordered by the SW Freeway southward to G Street, and extending west-east between 9th and 7th Streets SW.  That is the area that people likely saw as being reserved by the feds for serving as the staging area for a project to reconstruct the SW Freeway underground, as well as definitely widening that short stretch of expressway to the interchange with the Center Leg/3rd Street Tunnel.  Indeed that segment was built with inadequate capacity, lacking the must have minimum of two added lanes per direction, owing to the 1955 design report's excuse over aesthetics, never-mind the failure to design it as a cut and cover tunnel, and that the space was cleared anyway for the SW Redevelopment.

Nevertheless, and quite weirdly, in 1999, shortly after the start of the administration of D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, motorists are horrified, seeing a new real estate development project there being erected- the "Capital Square" townhouse project.  It fills that parcel with townhouses, including a row of 28 at the northern side, a mere 16 or so feet from the open trench 1950s design expressway.  This "Capital Square" project is undertaken by an entity called "E.Y.A. Associates.

They are the same firm that subsequently constructs another townhouse project to the east, facing the southern side of the same expressway between 3rd and 4th Streets, between I Street to the south and Virginia Avenue, complicating not only ever under-grounding that segment (which is an elevated earth filled berm), but also complicating the indisputably required Virginia Avenue railroad tunnel reconstruction project.  E.Y.A. reportedly underplays the likelihood of that project to potential townhouse buyers.  These townhouses are filled with new dwellers. At least one of them gets to bring a law suit to block the project.  And that effort is supported by the "Committee of 100 on the Federal City", which instead sought to replace that railroad with one to the south side of the Anacostia River, and which would NOT be a tunnel.  Fortunately that effort failed, and the Virginia Avenue railroad tunnel project gets built.

Now, one would suppose that the SW-SE Freeway corridor would have undergone an effort to purchase properties for the space to construct an underground replacement.  As traffic MUST be maintained through the construction, a band of land MUST be assembled.  As this area includes existing occupied dwellings, simply purchase them over time, at least when they come onto the market, and either demolish, or at least have occupied by people told that the use is only for a set period of time.

But get this, one such area IS cleared out, with dwellings removed, and without any protest sufficient to block such dislocations- the area immediately west of 4th Street SW, right next to the expressway where it transitions from trench to viaduct.  And real estate developers are allowed to erect a new residential building- at 600 4th Street SW, called the "Kiley Apartments".

And this occurs in the same general area where the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development, as well as the U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Highway Authority are situated.

What is preventing the U.S. government from doing its duty?!

Who decried that only the City of Boston is to get a serious project to reconstruct its main existing expressways underground with its Central Artery Tunnel Project (with its mainline done sadly with NO shoulders)?  If Ted Kennedy and Tip O'Neil could get such for Boston, why NOTHING for the nation' Capital, Washington, D.C.?!?!

Why Is Biden Allowing the Continual Blight of the SW-SE Freeway Viaduct Atop South Capital Street?

30 years ago, in 1993, the Washington Post published an article about future planning for Washington, D.C., which featured reconstructing the SW-SE Freeway, removing the surface and elevated highway and submerging a replacement expressway within a new tunnel.

Illustration from the Washington Post, 1993

Yet, D.C. Department of Public Works is now embarking upon a project to reconstruct the existing horrifically blighting elevated facility.  See: https://seswbridges.ddot.dc.gov/

 DDOT is planning to rehabilitate the SE/SW Freeway (I-695) Bridges, which comprise the elevated interstate of I-695 over South Capitol Street SW, New Jersey Avenue SE, and Virginia Avenue SE / 2nd Street SE, along with the associated ramps. This series of bridges were built from 1958 to 1963 and rehabilitated in 1991. Due to the age of the bridges and continued deterioration to some elements, the main objective will be to rehabilitate the bridges and update key features to further extend their service life. Additional improvements to lighting, signing, lane striping, and drainage will be incorporated in conjunction with the bridge rehabilitations.

What gives?  If Boston, Massachusetts could have it Central Artery/3rd Harbor Tunnel project - the "Big Dig" - approved way back in 1986, started circa 1991, and completed about 2005, why can't Washington, D.C., our nations capital, have its project to replace its disgusting, badly designed, no safety shoulder 1959-67 SW-SE Freeway likewise replaced?