The Washington Business Journal reported yesterday that D.C. Department of Transportation officials are in discussions with the Anacostia Economic Development Corp. over a proposed Circulator route between Barracks Row in Capitol Hill and the Anacostia and Congress Heights Metro stations.

Two weeks ago, a D.C. Council committee voted to expand Circulator service across the Potomac into Arlington, Va., while rejecting the idea of a route into Southeast, as proposed in an amendment by Councilmember Kwame Brown. Brown said he would continue to push for such a route.

John Lisle, spokesman for DDOT, told the Washington Business Journal that the department's plans have nothing to do with Brown's amendment and that a proposal to bring the Circulator into Southeast has been in the works.

If plans progress—so far, it's unclear where the funding would come from—the "East of the River" route would be the sixth in the bus system.

Photo by Krossbow, Creative Commons Attribution License

Speed Up: ANC Commissioner David Engel says, "The humps are massive, and a huge traffic diversion. You can't go more than five miles an hour." He is also irked that an invited DDOT official shunned a recent ANC meeting at which the issue came up. He maintains that it's mainly the "rich and powerful on the block" that want the speed bumps, rather than the whole community. "Certain people want their own urban village," he says.

Slow Down: John Lisle, spokesman for DDOT, says that speed humps must be approved by 75 percent of the block—and that happened—but the process has been streamlined and no longer requires a traffic report. In terms of construction, he said, "ANC approval is not required." Also, it is unclear whether the ANC provided opposition early enough in the process.

Next Step: In that recent meeting, the ANC requested the speed humps be removed pending the collection of data; it also wants an oversight hearing on the entire process.

The Issue

Don't Build Them: Residents of more than two dozen properties on the street signed and submitted a no-sidewalks petition to the D.C. Department of Transportation last month. Some people maintained the sidewalks were unnecessary because no one really walks there; plus, they'd ruin front yards. "People are opposed to the whole idea of sidewalks," Gordon Kit told the Dupont Current last month. "I don't think there's any one primary reason why people are against them....They just don't have any real purpose."

Build Them: Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh has been pro-sidewalk. She says it's city policy to install sidewalks in the course of any street reconstruction; it's a matter of public safety. Plus, some residents say people actually do walk on University Terrace, including children, en route to Key Elementary.

Next Step: The project was supposed to have begun by now, sidewalks and all, but John Lisle, a DDOT spokesman, confirms that the work has been postponed—yes, at least in part because there "wasn't a clear consensus." The city will continue to "study the issues" surrounding the reconstruction and will get more input from the community, he said. Look for more meetings.