A SE Freeway Plan Benifiting The Greatest Segment of Society

http://www.kirsten6b.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/2014-08-04-ANC-mtg-Concept-Alternatives.pdf

C1 [MODIFIED]

Shown as an underground bus depot, though clearly practical as underground box tunnel freeway
connecting into the existing set of box tunnels beneath Barney Circle

Freeway Cover should be modified to connect the north-south running streets to M Street 
and extend Water Street with appropriate waterfront terracing, 
reconnecting neighborhood to waterfront
NONE of the proposed options would do such 

Relatively Low Cost Underground SE Freeway - build box tunnel atop existing eastern SE Freeway and the adjacent railway with terracing down to the waterfront- low cost due to that the most expensive portion of an underground freeway is creating the new excavation, and this segment would not require any new excavation.   Build new linear park atop, flanked by 2+ lane surface roadways tied into the existing street grid, with some new development to the sides.

Extend to new interchanges at East Capitol Street and Benning Road - would require minimal excavation, being cut into side of hill along the western side of the Anacostia River, with northern portion a trench through parking lots, connecting to the New York Avenue Corridor-with access to the BW Parkway and design flexibility to the northwest.

Build such with surface roadways as "complete streets" tied into the street grid; line portions with new development alongside if not atop in areas.

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/24147/breakfast-links-taxi-money/#comment-247419 

They could keep the freeway, extend it along the west bank of the Anacostia to Route 50/BW Parkway with interchanges at East Capitol St and Benning Rd and cover the whole thing with a platform containing a "complete street"-type boulevard lined with retail, entertainment, condos, and apartments that intersects with existing neighborhood streets .

This would make lot of sense considering DC's desire to get the 2024 Olympics. The housing could be built as housing for the teams and converted to market and affordable housing later. And since it would be a once in a lifetime project - located away from the historic core where people are obsessed with "views" - perhaps they could relax the height limits, allowing for some really creative and interesting architecture.

But that would require imagination and spunk. Something the District's "leaders" are severely lacking.

Provides underground freeway at considerably less cost then the much needed undergrounding of the existing Anacostia Freeway to the east of the Anacostia River that now cuts off those less affluent areas from the Anacostia Waterfront.

Provides alternative route- crucial for diverting traffic from the existing Anacostia Freeway, making that latter freeways undergrounding - which requires a new excavation -- more practical.  That would increase the likelihood of those less affluent areas to the east of the Anacostia Freeway to have that freeway undergrounded, hence increasing their access to the Anacostia Waterfront.

Opposition to the freeway to the west of the Anacostia River - whether the established portion or the extension -- would be a classic text book example of a wealthier area getting over on a less affluent area, and society at large.  Such is being pushed by officials as ANC 6B09 Commissioners Brian Flahaven and Kirsten Oldenburg.

http://flahaven6b.com/2014/08/07/residents-consider-improved-design-concepts-for-barney-circle-southeast-boulevard-project/#comment-20858 

In November 2013, the District Department of Transportation shared five design concepts for replacing the end of the Southeast Freeway with a boulevard and constructing a full traffic circle at Barney Circle SE. As I detailed at the time, all five DDOT concepts essentially replaced the freeway with….a freeway completely separated from the neighborhood grid. ANC 6B unanimously opposed DDOT’s concepts and urged the agency to reconsider their plans.

ANC 6B

Note that the freeway extension would run along the outer edge of ANC6B and NOT displace any homes there.  Built properly with the box tunnel cover with waterfront terrace, it would actually increase ANC6B's waterfront access.

A freeway extension is alas not being formally considered, only the long established portion to the west of Barney Circle-Pennsylvania Avenue and east of the 11th Street Bridge is being considered.

Recent planning was pushing to have this SE freeway segment decommissioned and replaced at best with a surface street, though DCDOT has apparently had second thoughts and is now moving for its restoration for re-opening.

http://flahaven6b.com/2014/08/07/residents-consider-improved-design-concepts-for-barney-circle-southeast-boulevard-project/ 

Bowing to political pressure from both DC and Maryland commuters, DDOT is planning to temporarily re-open the freeway between 11th Street and Barney Circle by the end of the year. Construction crews are already putting the old road back in place using funding from the 11th Street Bridge Project.

http://flahaven6b.com/2014/08/19/urge-mayor-gray-to-halt-reopening-of-southeast-freeway/#comment-19951

I watched while hundreds of dump truck loads of dirt were piled on the freeway over the last couple years. Now I’m watching as hundreds of dump truck loads of dirt are removed.

Some reasons given:

http://jdland.com/dc/index.cfm/4022/Southeast-Blvd.-New-Concepts-But-Also-an-Unexpected-Reopen/#comment10553 

Let DC reopen this road. It would relieved the operational problems on the other side of the river. Traffic bound for eastbound Pa. Ave enters DC 295 from the left side of the freeway trying to exit to Pa. Ave on the right side of the road. This is dangerous.

On the other hand, westbound Pa. Ave traffic entering DC 295 enters on a cloverleaf ramp trying to merge with DC 295 traffic exiting to Pa. Ave eastbound. Equally dangerous.

This is why I assume the SE freeway spur is being opened.

As for thinking that opening the road will increase traffic on 19th and 17th Streets, drivers were using the narrow ramp by the cemetery illegally. If it was blockaded, the traffic on those two streets would not increase.

Let DC reopen the road to relived the dangerous situation on the other side of the river before some gets injured or killed.

People from the Hillcrest neighborhood, on the eastern, less affluent side of the Anacostia, understandably see this as a positive development.   In response to a letter from Boyle Stuckey, 2d Vice President of the Hillcrest Community Civic Association (HCCA):

We at the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) have received your support for reopening the connection between the Southeast/Southwest Freeway (I-695) between 11th Street SE and Barney Circle.

This is an important connection for District residents east of the Anacostia River, primarily in Ward 7. Reopening this roadway segment will reestablish traffic movements (for example, eastbound I-695 to eastbound Pennsylvania Avenue SE toward Ward 7; westbound Pennsylvania Avenue SE to westbound I-695).

We appreciate your support and will take your concerns about closing the left-turn lane from Pennsylvania Avenue SE to northbound DC 295 into consideration. For further questions, please contact DDOT at 202-673-6813.

DCDOT is doing the right thing- as a foundation and start for a significant change for the better.

Links:

http://www.anacostiawaterfront.org/project-updates/meeting-materials-barney-circle-southeast-boulevard-112113-public-meeting/

http://jdland.com/dc/index.cfm/4022/Southeast-Blvd.-New-Concepts-But-Also-an-Unexpected-Reopen/#comment10553

http://flahaven6b.com/2014/08/07/residents-consider-improved-design-concepts-for-barney-circle-southeast-boulevard-project/

http://www.kirsten6b.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/01-14-DDOT-2nd-Public-Mtg-of-Barney-Circle-SE-Blvd-Transportation-Planning-Study.pdf

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In the day and a half since I published this piece, not one but two articles have appeared on this freeway segment in David Alpert's Greater, Greater Washington:

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/24152/a-traffic-engineer-and-a-planner-both-study-a-closed-freeway-segment-their-conclusions-are-wildly-/

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/24154/when-temporary-becomes-permanent-why-reopening-the-se-freeway-is-risky/


Very interesting comments section in both.  Likewise with the following 2010 and 2013 GGW articles on the adjacent area to the south:

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/5732/ncpc-worries-about-viewsheds-in-waterfront-development/

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/17788/do-we-need-a-southeast-boulevard-at-all/

Last spring, I was in a studio at school that looked at the development potential of removing or capping parts of the Southeast/Southwest Freeway. I did the urban design plan, and in the area you're talking about, we extended the existing street grid to the river and got a pretty substantial amount of housing and a lovely waterfront park to boot.

My beef with Southeast Boulevard is that they didn't really consider how the street would fit into a larger scheme for that area. It could be the spine of a new waterfront neighborhood, but instead it'll just be a street as divorced from its context as the freeway is.

by dan reed! on Feb 28, 2013 11:12 am • link •

Dan Reed- I would love to see that studio's work.

A Landmark Example of 'Hill East' Gated Community Mentality
http://wwwtripwithinthebeltway.blogspot.com/2013/08/washington-dc-war-on-people-shuns-east.html

http://www.treehugger.com/urban-design/german-autobahn-covered-giant-public-park.html

Wasting the Eastern SE/East Leg Freeway

http://www.anacostiawaterfront.org/awi-transportation-projects/barney-circle-southeast-boulevard/

Eastern end of Washington, D.C.'s SE Freeway beneath Pennsylvania Avenue-Barney Circle

note Congressional Cemetery at upper left, and the Anacostia River at upper right.

Extension to East Capitol Street canceled during the mid or latter 1970s, vis a design first officially adopted about 1963, replacing the earlier proposals for a depressed freeway on a new swath alongside 11sth Street SE/NE.

A proper design could build this with an enclosure atop in the fashion of the existing Barney Circle Overpass - Above Ground Tunnel, with the added fashion of extending Washington, D.C.s Monumental Core eastward- rather than having such merely to the west.  This would be easy to do, with the freeway extension to East Capitol Street, owing to it being somewhat cut into an existing hillside, both to the west and to the east of Barney Circle.

A recent report included illustrations of various cross sections essentially making the segment to the west as an above-ground tunnel, yielding maximum benefit for the broadest segment of society.  Strangely that idea is only conveyed by the illustration, with ZERO recognition in the text, which merely focused upon the restored street grid atop.

The existing plan to destroy the approaches to and beneath Barney Circle should be immediately abandoned, and replaced with a reconstruction with a minimum of 4 lanes per direction of undercover freeway, taking advantage of it being largely cut int the side of an existing hill, and with a look towards a design to permit some air rights development, with southern extensions of the existing north-south surface streets.

Ideally, this should be accompanied via reconstruction of ramps to and from the 11th Street Bridge, to more equitably handle the traffic burden, rather than the current plans for this to serve PRIMARILY as a dip down into SE east of the Anacostia, as yet another text book example of a more affluent area getting over on a less affluent area.

I-295 East Leg to East Capitol Street and the SE Freeway at Barney Circle 
http://wwwtripwithinthebeltway.blogspot.com/2007/03/i-295-east-leg-to-east-capitol-street_17.html


Eastern SE Freeway Bastardization
http://wwwtripwithinthebeltway.blogspot.com/2008/11/eastern-se-freeway-bastardization.html

11th Street Bridges Project: How We Got There

Cancelling All The Other D.C. Freeways:
the Barney Circle Project and the earlier East Leg

11 Street Bridges (new replacement- construction started late 2009)

This area’s previous project was the Barney Circle Connector, proposed in 1982-83 to essentially continue the I-695 SE Freeway to a split to a parkway not allowing commercial traffic to RFK East Capital Street, and a straight ahead continuation of the mainline freeway upon a new bridge crossing the Anacostia River to the existing 295 freeway to and from the east. Initially each of these was to have 2 lanes per direction, feeding into the 4 lane per direction SE Freeway; however this was soon downsized with the parkway having a single lane per direction.

Illustration: Barney Circle Connector

It succumbed to a law suit alleging environmental grounds, and had its political death with a 1996 D.C. City Council rejection of its initial construction contract. Although promoted by the D.C. government under a Mayor Marion Barry who had risen to political prominence with the anti-freeway organization ECTC – the Emergency Committee on the Transportation Crisis – the project towards the end was not supported by U.S. NCPC.

Illustrations: BCC

The preceding plan was the East Leg of the Inner Loop as routed towards RFK Stadium.

Illustrations: East Leg 1967

The original plan for the East Leg along 11th Street.

Illustrations: East Leg 1955

Illustration: 1961 East Leg ideas

Yes, the 11th Street Bridges were actually initially meant as a link in a longer north-south route.

Illustration: 1959 Mass Transportation Plan

As per both the 1959 Mass Transportation Plan, and the initial I-95 Northeastern Freeway engineering study report released in 1960, this 11th Street corridor would have linked directly with I-95.

The East Leg was to be I-295, with I-95 routed via the north south Center Leg to the SW Freeway.

Under all of these plans with an East Leg, the traffic burden was to be spread with north-south traffic upon a north-south route within northern Washington, D.C. While the 1959 Mass Transportation Plan had three separate northern radial freeways, the November 1, 1962 Kennedy Administration report proposed a single 2 into 1 “Y” route B&O railroad aligned North Central Freeway signed as I-70S to the north of the point of its interception via the Fort Drive-Northwest Branch route I-95 Northeastern Freeway.

JFK 1962 Plan

1963-1964 Study

A sensible idea for its central location and its existence as the sole north-south railroad industrial corridor, minimizing residential displacement, the B&O Route North Central Freeway would be politically subverted by its initial 1963-64 engineering studies extreme deviation. That study had an upwards of 37 route options either nowhere near the railroad, or partially paralleling it with serious deviations in Takoma Park, Maryland, and in Brookland, NE D.C.; that would understandably inflame opposition, while the subsequent supplementary 1966 study’s more true to the 1962 JFK version, would be sabotaged by various officials refusing to commit to it; they would argue in favor of instead constructing the infamous 1964 version as late as 1968, long enough to stoke the opposition to reverse the support of the D.C. City Council and the U.S. NCPC for the B&O Route North Central Freeway over the 69 houses (reduced by a design revision in 1970 to 34) for its I-95 segment (while approving I-66, Route 50 and I-295 links with segments respectively displacing 148, 600+ and 172 dwellings as per the 1971 plans).

Illustrations: 1971 plans

These plans would have provided replacement housing, perhaps with even greater numbers of dwellings as the size of the buildings shown suggest.

These northern segments of Washington, D.C.’s planned Inner Loop Freeway system, though substantially redesigned to minimize and mitigate impacts, would be ‘de-mapped’ as per the reasons stated byPeter S. Craig:

Quote 1973-76

This period of de-mapping, leading to a cir 1976 decision to rename inside the Beltway I-95 as I-395 with its extension alongside New York Avenue to Maryland Route 50 cancelled a few years later, culminating in I-395’s current northern truncation at New York Avenue and 4th Street with the 1986 opening of I-395’s northernmost segment with the tunnel segment between Massachusetts Avenue and K Street.

In 1996, at about the time that the Barney Circle Connector Project was under serious political attack, the D.C. Office of the Mayor (Marion Barry) released its proposal for an I-395 extension via a tunnel directly beneath New York Avenue- an idea that would displace no buildings and, upon a single level, allow as many as 7 lanes with shoulders, yet nonetheless be offered only with 4, and have a relatively tight transition radii – something to think about for a curved tunnel – essentially wrapping behind the Bibleway Church complex. The 1996 report includes two options regarding its length, a short tunnel option with its eastern portal at Florida Avenue, and a long option with its eastern portal at 6th Street NE. A 1998 revision would extend this long tunnel to Montana Avenue.


Yet later planning would subsequently go in reverse, with D.C. government planning suggesting a tunnel even shorter then the 1996 short option, with the mainline crossing over Florida Avenue, and with USNCPC even endorsing a tunnel shorter then that already in use today by closing I-395’s northernmost tunnel segment hereby truncating I-395 at Massachusetts Avenue.

Quote

Eastern SE Freeway Bastardization

Simply converting the eastern portion of the SE Freeway to a boulevard increases vehicular-pedestrian conflict, and is totally unnecessary, as evident from the cross sections in the Middle Anacostia Transportation Study, seen here [warning- PDF] at page 35 "Boulevard Typical Section #2 - Looking East towards Barney Circle".




Evidently the topography favors covering over the existing freeway, with the new boulevard atop; not shown is the idea of covering the RR nor extending the cover towards the Anacostia River with a terrace/staircase, as already done at the Lincoln Memorial. As this involves covering the existing freeway -- IOW no new depressing -- this is a comparatively cheap freeway under-grounding, unlike say this freeway to the west between the 11th Street and 1th Street Bridges.

The idea of covering the segment of this freeway between 14th and 15th Streets SE appeared in this late 1960s illustration seen here.

Continuing this cover westerly requires removing the elevated approaches to the 11th Street Bridges, something that I propose with a replacement with below grade approaches that would conflict with the existing heavy RR, though compatible if converted to vehicular traffic or lighter rail which can tolerate grade changes upwards of 5% whereas heavy RR can only tolerate a 1% grade. As with the highway, this railroad right of way is coverable.

Continuing this cover easterly to Barney Circle would be feasible with allowances for the ramps.

Likewise, the topography allows such a relatively easy under-grounding for this freeway's needed extension to RFK Stadium- East Capitol Street, and is fully compatible with planning for a slow speed waterfront boulevard atop, including the idea of a traffic circle at Massachusetts Avenue SE. Here to the railroad should also be covered.


Only those promoting a mindless ideology against urban freeways -- alas those traditionally in control of the governments -- would rather place all of this vehicular traffic upon the surface waterfront boulevard.

Barney Circle Freeway & Bridge Project

The Barney Circle Freeway project was officially planned from 1983 into 1996.

It consisted of a 6 lane eastern extension from the SE Freeway underpasses beneath Barney Circle at Pennsylvania Avenue SE to a split with a 4 lane mainline continuing over the river to connect with D.C. 295, and with 1 lane per direction on a roadway to R.F.K. Stadium and the East Capitol Street Bridge. An earlier design had that with 2 lanes per direction, which was in explicitly scaled back to serve fewer people.

PLANNING:

It was the outcome of a study that had considered 4 alternatives:

Alternative 1: A new freeway alignment connecting the SE Freeway with East Capital Street. (RFK Stadium Access Road Route)

Alternative 2: A new freeway alignment connecting the SE Freeway with a bridge across the Anacostia to connect with the Anacostia Freeway. (New Freeway Bridge)

Alternative 1/2: An incorporation of elements from Alternatives 1 and 2, with a freeway extension from the SE Freeway via the above mentioned bridge, plus a set of ramps just before this bridge, for a connection to East Capital Street. (RFK Stadium Access Road Route with New Freeway Bridge)

Alternative 3: New ramps at the Pennsylvania Avenue/Anacostia Freeway interchange to accommodate southbound Anacostia Freeway traffic to the SE Freeway, and SE Freeway traffic to the northbound Anacostia Freeway. (New fly-over ramps at Pennsylvania Avenue to Anacostia Freeway)

This evaluation by the DCDPW, the Federal Highway Authority and the Barney Circle Steering Committee eliminated the following alternatives:

Transit option: Metro rail and bus would not meet the total measure of traveling needs, nor alleviate truck traffic on local streets.

2 variations of a tunnel option, due to technical design difficulties associated with geological and hydro logic conditions, severe construction impacts, the need to accommodate existing utilities hence requiring expensive design solutions and visually obtrusive ventilation shafts.

6 variations of interchange modifications involving new ramps at the Sousa and the 11th Street Bridges because they would require either (a) taking active developed parkland and recreation areas; (b) displaced a maximum of 15 businesses and 148 residences at the Pennsylvania Avenue/Anacostia interchange; (c) substantially impact other roadways or bridges with large structures that would still not ideally handle projected traffic volumes; and (d) focus visual impacts upon residential and commercial areas next to already heavily traveled freeway sections.

This 1983 Selected Alternative was the result of a study of FEIS alternatives initiated in 1981 by the D.C. Department of Public Works.






It was the sole freeway project planned for Washington, D.C. for about a decade and a half following the wholesale freeway "de-mappings" of I-70S, I-95, I-66, Theoretical I-66/Route 50, I-295 and I-695.

LAW SUIT:

It became the object of a law suit in 1993 arguing parkland impacts including the disturbance of contaminated soil. This suit was filed by the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund against FHWA to get basic information about how this project would affect their lives, and alleging that FHWA violated the Clean Air Act, Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), and Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act (which prohibits the construction of federal highways through park land where prudent and feasible alternatives exist). According to Fern Shepard, an attorney with the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, the Barney Circle Connector was

"a proposed federally-financed freeway that will run adjacent to the Anacostia River, cutting through neighborhoods and park lands in southeast Washington, D.C. Ms. Shepard explained that southeast Washington is overwhelmingly African American and middle-to-low-income. The city's highest poverty rates are in this area. In her opinion, the construction of this freeway would have many severe environmental impacts, including:

Excavating 70,000+ tons of lead-contaminated soil adjacent to residential neighborhoods; Adding 80,000+ cars and trucks, driving at freeway speeds directly adjacent to residential neighborhoods. This will add substantial air pollution (about 170 tons a day) and noise pollution to these neighborhoods and decrease property values; Paving over 17 acres of scarce park land and adding the sixth interstate bridge over the Anacostia River, the most endangered urban river in the country; and

According to Ms. Shepard, this freeway construction was unnecessary since the missing freeway links can be supplied with low-cost, low-traffic, neighborhood- and park-protecting ramps. Ms. Shepard explained that the Barney Circle Connector would cost the federal treasury more than $200 million to construct, at a time when the District's fiscal crisis already has resulted in severe cutbacks in city bus service and increases in transit fares. With the assistance of Joseph Passonneau, recipient of the 1993 Civil Engineering Award for Most Outstanding Highway Design, an alternative plan was developed, featuring overhead ramps at the Pennsylvania Avenue SE interchange with the Anacostia Freeway to the south of the Anacostia River, which Ms. Shepard is persuaded would address the FHWA's concerns regarding missing highway links; at a fraction of the cost of the Barney Circle Connector, disturbing less than two acres (as compared to 17 acres) of park land without bisecting the park; it would not require the excavation of hazardous wastes; and it would not disturb homes or businesses (something also true with the Barney Circle Connecter). The lawsuit against the Project would receive further assistance by the Georgetown University Law Center's Institute for Public Representation, the National Resource Defense Council, and the prestigious Washington, D.C. law firm Covington and Burling."

The project had the support of D.C. Mayor Barry who submitted in October 1996, the first of several of its contracts to the City Council for its approval.

CANCELLATION

In response to Mayor Barry's submission of construction contracts, Council-member Chavous, with support from Councilmember Mason, introduced a bill to disapprove, which passed on December 3, 1996 by a Council vote of 12-1 for a $15 million contract.

By March 5, 1997 the Barney Circle Connector was declared politically dead by D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who announced her support for its cancellation and the transfer of its funding for other things.

Barney Circle Bridge underpass to R.F.K. Stadium