DDOT is restarting the Southeast Boulevard Project's Environmental Assessment after putting it on hold in 2013 to address public concerns. The project aims to turn the east end of the old Southeast Freeway, the section from 11th Street SE to Barney Circle, into a boulevard with buildings, access to the river, underground bus parking, bike paths and, in some concepts, bike lanes.
In the last few years, DC has been studying the project. The Office of Planning carried out a planning study that resulted in 3 alternatives identified in the 2015 final report.
This was followed a year later by a feasibility study (still labeled as "DRAFT" - grrrr) , which determined that the project is feasible, but it will take many years and be expensive ($120-$190 million). Still it recommended going ahead with the EA which is where we are now.
One purpose of the EA will be to determine a preferred alternative and that will give us a better idea of what bike facilities the project will include. The first public meeting on it is scheduled for September 16th at Chamberlain Elementary School.
The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) invites the public to participate in its Saturday, September 16 meeting on the Environmental Assessment (EA) of improvements to transform Southeast Boulevard and Barney Circle, which connect 11th Street SE with Pennsylvania Avenue SE west of the John Philip Sousa Bridge. This project offers a chance to redesign the boulevard and circle while advancing the District’s larger Anacostia Waterfront Initiative (AWI) Program goals to improve transportation options for everyone and strengthen communities along the river. The purpose of the meeting is for DDOT to provide an overview of the project and seek public input on ideas and resources that should be considered in the study.
Which is a little later than planned but hopefully won't slip them from their plan to finish the EA by late 2018.
A trail along this road would connect with the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail at Barney Circle and with the soon-to-be added Virginia Avenue Trail at 11th Street.
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