Georgia-NH Ave improvements

[from Joseph Martin, ANC 4C Chair]

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will begin the traffic safety improvements at the intersection of Georgia Ave and New Hampshire Ave on or about May 19th, 2008. Construction is expected to be completed by September 9th, 2008. The contractor will work during the hours of 7:00am-7:00pm, Monday through Friday.

The work will involve the removal and replacement of the existing roadway surface as required. The work will also include the realignment of curb lines to reduce crosswalk distance, replace broken sidewalk, as well as install new curb and gutter where necessary.

DDOT will upgrade the street lighting in the entire work area, as well as facilitate the relocation of existing traffic signals. New trees will be planted, and some existing trees will be relocated. Existing fire hydrants will be relocated or converted.

New wheelchair/bicycle ramps will be installed in order to adhere to current standards. Permanent signs and lane markings will be placed. Medians will be installed on New Hampshire Avenue north and south of the intersection. During rush hour, all lanes will be maintained for traffic on Georgia Avenue, and on New Hampshire Avenue. However, the contractor may have lane closures during non-rush hours.

Thank you for your patience and understanding during the upgrading of traffic safety measures in your community. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact William Lester at (202) 741-5358 or Alfred Strange at (202) 671-4597.

Comments

[Garrett]

Yep, the medians are only going to Otis for now. DDOT originally said they would take them to Park Road. During the design phase, they cut back the medians to Spring Rd. I was able to convince the extend them to Otis, but no further. The transition between the new & existing is going to look pretty bad. It's unfortunate that DDOT wasn't able to coordinate between their Ward 1 & Ward 4 project managers to get a continuous design from Grant Circle to Park Rd.

However, DDOT has promised that there will be a major redesign/reconstruction of Sherman Ave in 2009 that will include medians. Hopefully they will close in the missing planted medians between Otis & Park at that time.

[E-girl]

Is Otis the absolute Southern extension of this project? I thought it extended further.

[Viipottaja]

Fantastic news!!! Should be finished (as I expected all along) more or less in sync with the (hopefully still) condo on top of the metro.

[Garrett]

Here is the response from DDOT:

Although the median is not shown in plan, rest assured it will be extended where possible up to Grant Circle. The pay items are in the contract for the work. Trees are also in the contract for the median shown in the plan.

[Joseph Martin]

Garret, in a meeting Thursday afternoon I had with DDOT's Muhammed Khalid, project manager for Wards 3 and 4, he referenced the additional plans for New Hampshire Avenue and the Great Streets project. Both are still in play. More information about both will be forthcoming from DDOT. J.M.

[Garrett]

While the improvements to the intersection are very welcome & long overdue, the plans I received from DDOT last week do not show the medians extending to Grant Circle/Park Rd. as we've been discussing for the last six years. They only go from Otis to Quincy. Once I get clarification of the scope, I will post my findings.

[AJS]

Hurray! Thanks to all those who helped make this happen.