SAVE THE DATE: #w7moves Transportation Summit

The Second Annual Ward 7 Transportation Summit is a citizen-led and organized initiative bringing attention to the transportation needs and wants of the Ward. This summit is a follow-up to a transportation summit convened last year around the theme "rediscover the bus."

Organized by Veronica O. Davis, an engineer and partner in sustainability consulting firm Nspiregreen, the transportation summits aim to give stakeholders an opportunity to have an open and honest dialogue with key government agencies and elected officials. Davis says, "Transportation is a key link in economic development and growth. Too often Ward 7 has been studied with limited action after the studies."

A common thread found in those studies is the Ward's limited connectivity--within the ward, within the East of the River community, and throughout the District. Some of the topics for discussion include, the WMATA W4 study, fully funding the East of the River Circulator, bus and rail safety, coordinating transportation demand management between Ward 7 and Ward 8 development projects, and getting more ward representation on transportation-related boards and commissions.

Davis continues, "One of the unique ways we plan to engage neighbors and key influencers is by hosting a tweet chat. In addition to word-of-mouth and flyering, social media has come to be such a vital communications link. Listserves, Facebook and Twitter are the modern-day conversation over the back fence."

This second summit is another thread in the conversation about advocating for the needs and wants of Ward 7 and its residents. 
W7Transpo Summit Flyer Update

TONIGHT: W4 WMATA COMMUNITY MEETING #eotr

Metro seeks input on W4 Route

Riders are encouraged to attend one of the following public meetings to provide your input on the services that are being evaluated:

• Thursday, December 8: 5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Contee AME Zion Church, 903 Division Avenue NE.
• Tuesday, December 13: 5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Petey Greene Center, 2907 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE.

The meetings will take place in an “open house” format where participants can stop by any time between the beginning and end of the meeting to offer their input. 

If you cannot attend the sessions you can provide your input and feedback through WMATA's online survey.

WMATA Begins North-South EOTR Bus Line Study

Metro seeks input on W4 Route Service

Join neighbors and WMATA at the community forum on December 8, 2011, 5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Contee AME Zion Church, 903 Division Avenue NE. The W4 route (Deanwood-Alabama Avenue) is the only north-south, one-seat ride connecting Ward 7 and Ward 8. 

In early spring neighbor Veronica Davis convened an east of the river transportation summit.  At the summit, WMATA bus planner James Hamre shared the agency was considering changes to the W4 line that included,

• Improve frequency of weekday off-peak service from 33 minutes to 22 minutes
• Improve Saturday frequency of service from 31 minutes to 25 minutes
• Reduce crowding and waiting time
• Annual operating cost=$0.5 million
• No fleet change

WMATA wants to hear from stakeholders, like you, about these proposed enhancements.  Are they spot-on?  Does the agency need to go back to the drawing board?  Does the agency need to add more enhancements?  Some of the changes I'd like to see include moving from a schedule to a headway, putting fare boxes at stores (e.g., 7-11, Uncle Lee's or Jock's), and requiring Wal-Mart/A&R Development to pay for improvements.

Bring your kudos, criticisms, needs, and wants for better transit service for Deanwood and East of the River.

Ward 7 residents define "livability" for their streets

A cross-section of residents in north Ward 7 gathered recently to help the District Department of Transportation and its consultants put a pin in the oft-used term "livability" at the second meeting of the Far Northeast Livability Study.


In transit and smart growth circles, livability means multimodal transportation, transit-oriented development, and a Complete Streets policy.


Many attendees weren't versed in the new terms entering the community development lexicon, but they do know their neighborhood and the ward can be better with more sidewalks, improved crosswalk markings and pedestrian signaling, slowing speeding traffic on narrow neighborhood streets and thoroughfares, and improving bus service.


The Far Northeast Livability Study area encompasses all of north Ward 7, between East Capitol Street, the Anacostia River, and the District line. A unique feature of the study process is an advisory council made of community members which shapes the meeting format, engages neighbors, and gives insight on key points.

This advisory council is especially important because the area has already been the focus of numerous studies in the past. Residents want to see action, not just a study that sits on the shelf.

DDOT Director Gabe Klein Photo Courtesy SBrown

Fortunately, DDOT Chief Gabe Klein agrees. At the monthly general meeting of the DC Federation of Citizens Associations, Klein pointed out the agency has $3 million invested in the DDOT Livability Program, including "money in the obligation plan to put solutions in place." The funds to implement the Livability Program are also included in the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government's five-year Transportation Improvement Program. Klein pledged to attend the next huddle.

The gathering discussed tools that transportation engineers use to deal with speeding and cut-through traffic, and to integrate biking connections. The toolbox includes simple, low-cost methods like painted medians, high visibility crosswalks, and in-street pedestrian yield signs. At the other end of the spectrum, there are high impact, mid- to high-cost solutions like chicanes, roundabouts, landscaped medians, and raised crosswalks.

Residents discussed these options and weighed the pros and cons of each along problem corridors like Sheriff Road, 49th Street, East Capitol Street, the Minnesota Avenue-Benning Road intersection, and the Nannie Helen Burroughs-Minnesota intersection.

The next steps in the process include a review of the meeting comments in December and a follow-up in January. With a population of nearly 30,000 people, it is critically important for north Ward 7 residents and stakeholders to be on the ball and make sure the "study" gets implemented.

Crossposted at Greater Greater Washington.

Live, work, play, shop, worship...New age livability

District Department of Transportation will be a busy bee in Ward 7 this weekend.  The agency is sponsoring the DC Circulator study at Benning Road Library (which has been renamed the Dorothy Irene Height Memorial Library) at 1:30 p.m.  In the morning the transportation team and its consultants are hosting the second Far Northeast Livability Study. 

The Far Northeast Livability Study covers all of north Ward 7.  Saturday's meeting will cover the Solutions Tool Boxes that transportation engineers grapple with when faced with speeding, cut-through traffic, etc.  Residents will have these tools at their fingertips and be able to weigh the good and the bad with implementation along problem corridors like Sheriff Road, 49th Street, East Capitol, Nannie Helen Burroughs-Minnesota intersection, etc.  With a population of nearly 30,000 people it is critically important for north Ward 7 residents and stakeholders to be on the ball and make sure the "study" GETS IMPLEMENTED. 

Livability Flyer

WMATA SERVICE CUTS IMPACT DEANWOOD: ALL HANDS ON DECK

Deanwood Friend and Supporter, as a part of its budget balancing efforts the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has proposed closing the Deanwood Metro Station.  The Deanwood station is in Ward 7 and is the only station in the District proposed to be closed.  We need as many people as possible to email public-hearing-testimony@wmata.com by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 6, 2010 with the following message.

Office of the Secretary
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
600 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20001
ATTN: Docket B10-2
public-hearing-testimony@wmata.com
F: 202-962-1133
www.wmata.com/survey.cfm
cc: mbrown@dccouncil.us, jim@grahamwone.com, yalexander@dccouncil.us, neil.albert@dc.gov

I oppose the WMATA proposal to close the Deanwood Metro Station, the ONLY station in Ward 7 and the District slated for closing. This shortsighted move will harm the neighborhood and the neighborhood's riders who rely on the station to get to jobs in downtown DC and in outer Maryland.

As WMATA searches for new revenue, I urge WMATA’s new joint development director Steve Goldin to move aggressively to implement the Deanwood Metro Station's transit-oriented development as proposed in the Deanwood Strategic Development Plan.  Please contact Gizachew Andargeh, Ward 7 Neighborhood Planner in the District Office of Planning, at (202) 442-7600 or email gizachew.andargeh@dc.gov.


My neighbors and I stand ready to work with Mr. Goldin and the Board to move the Deanwood Metro Station's transit-oriented development forward. Thank you.

Signature
Address
(Ward/Neighborhood)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is my hope that this proposed closing will spur WMATA, Valerie Santos, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, and Harriet Tregoning, the Director of the Office of Planning, to move AGGRESSIVELY with the transit-oriented development proposed in the Deanwood Strategic Development Plan.

UPDATE:  WASHINGTON CITY PAPER WROTE UP A QUICKIE ON THE "COST-SAVING" (hmmm) PROPOSAL.  WMATA's board meeting on the proposals will be Thurs., April 22.