MPR realty has proposed redeveloping the Rhode Island Center shopping center into seven residential buildings totaling 1,555 units with ground floor retail. This is located adjacent to the Metropolitan Branch Trail at the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station pedestrian bridge (as is visible in the bottom half of the rendering above. I suspect the pedestrian bridge and trail played a part in making this site more appealing to developers.
For trail users, this is an opportunity to improve the trail's connection to Rhode Island avenue, which for now involves riding through a shopping center parking lot and up or down a steep ramp. Getting to 4th Street, which is a little less unpleasant than that could also be improved. Density along the trail should also increase its use and its safety.
If you go to the IZIS case search and look for case 15-16, you can find the plans for this PUD.
https://app.dcoz.dc.gov/content/search/Search.aspx
You have to download the various architectural plan PDFs; it's kinda a pain, they're not labled well. The first one does have a table of contents that might help guess which section has the circulation diagrams.
It looks like the plans call for a new protected bike lane through the development to 4th St NE; a curbless shared street environment for the area closest to the MBT; and a realigment of the MBT under the existing staircase, expanding the stairs to be a grand entrance to the development but also avoiding bike/ped conflicts with through-riding cyclists.
Posted by: Alex B. | July 20, 2015 at 05:45 PM