Prior to this evening’s stadium roundtable in Southwest, I am providing a small piece of a much larger 418 page transportation study prepared for DDOT and delivered in final on March 6, 2014 that was buried (but posted nonetheless) within the DDOT website until it was “disclosed” 48 hours ago.
It is entitled “Project End Game” and was prepared specifically “… To evaluate what is needed for transportation network in the Waterfront/ Buzzard Point area to support addition of a major sports venue for the D.C. United Soccer Team, in concert with other existing and planned development.
It presents a much more detailed reality to the scanty 69 page report – contracted in October but still in draft form – sent out yesterday by Office of the City Administrator immediately prior to this week’s Soccer Roundtables.
This more expansive study was demanded four years ago by ANC-6D, the Advisory Neighborhood Commission representing the neighborhoods of Southwest Waterfront, Ballpark and Buzzard Point. Yet this study was never sent to us. Indeed, we were never even notified that it had been undertaken. The attachment to this e-mail provides only a portion of the study which is simply too large to easily transmit. ANC-6D is still awaiting a hard copy of this report from DDOT.
However, Section Five is attached and is perhaps the most important in that it summarizes some of the potential improvements and mitigations necessary to evaluate the transportation needs in the Waterfront/Buzzard Point area. It is notable that this larger study is starkly at odds with OCA and team contentions as it firmly proclaims, “Walking distances from Green Line Metro stations are close to a mile and beyond what is considered ‘walkable.’”
Given that reality, specifically how will patrons be expected to get to and from the site, by what means, and when will that plan be made available? We are still awaiting answers.
ANC-6D has taken no formal position as yet on the United Stadium deal. However, ANC-6D continues to contend that such “special events and entertainment venues” in our neighborhoods cannot continue to be segmented from overall transportation realities south of the Expressway. These are not ‘special’ events — they are the new normal and need to be addressed openly, forthrightly and on the record, by OCA, DDOT and DC United.
ANC-6D continues to call for a formal, written transportation plan — not simply a statement of existing conditions. That plan must be developed, vetted and submitted to Council prior to any vote on the DC United Stadium deal.
Read PROJECT END GAME here:
Project_End_Game_-_DDOT’s_Needs_Evaluation_for_Buzzard_Point_&Waterfront
By: Andy Litsky, Vice Chairman, ANC-6D