THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

CAROL SCHWARTZ, CHAIR

PUBLIC OVERSIGHT HEARINGS ON

MATTERS REGARDING THE DISTRICT DEPARTMENT OF

TRANSPORTATION’S WHITEHURST FREEWAY

DECONSTRUCTION FEASIBILITY STUDY

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2006

TESTIMONY OF ALMA HARDY GATES, CHAIR ANC 3D

Good Afternoon Chairman Schwartz and members of the committee.  I am Alma Hardy Gates, Chair of ANC 3D, the area of the District that includes Spring Valley, Wesley Heights, Foxhall Village and Palisades.  My fellow Commissioner Rachel Thompson and I were active members on the Technical Advisory Committee on the Whitehurst Freeway Deconstruction Feasibility Study.

The elevated ribbon of concrete that is being discussed today is a main access road to downtown for commuters from Virginia and Maryland as well as residents living in Palisades and Foxhall Village. Its connection to the E Street leg provides a detour around Georgetown and permits drivers to access Constitution and Independence Avenues and the Mall without going through the streets of Foggy Bottom.  It is a convenience many are reluctant to abandon and traffic impact was identified as the first criterion by every respondent at the public meeting -- traffic impact or Where will all the traffic go?

When the Whitehurst was being upgraded in the 90s, it became clear where all the traffic was going – across the streets of Georgetown.  The suggestion that putting traffic onto a six lane lower K Street with a series of traffic lights is going to improve traffic flow through Georgetown seems unlikely.  It is far easier for commuters to use side streets in upper Georgetown and keep moving than to sit in traffic in lower Georgetown.  It has been suggested DDOT close the Freeway for a two week period and review commuter patterns as a snapshot of the future.  

Palisades, my home since birth, is one of the District’s gateways for commuters from Maryland and Virginia.  Residents are well aware of the level of traffic that traverses our roads everyday as drivers pass through our community on their way to and from work.  These commuters also use the Whitehurst Freeway and will continue to use Palisades’ streets regardless of the study outcome.

Two factors are missing from the study and need to be brought to the attention of the Committee are:  1)  Lower K Street often floods when hurricanes affect our area and 2) the impact of the anticipated Canal Road Entrance to Georgetown University on commuter traffic.  Both of these have the potential for serious long-range impacts on commuter patterns and need to be factored into the findings of the feasibility study.  There is also the issue of security in the event of an emergency – Whitehurst Freeway can move a lot more traffic than M Street with its many intersections.

In June of 2005, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3D passed a Resolution regarding the deconstruction feasibility study.  The Commission’s unanimous vote cited the narrowness of the study scope and its failure to examine a tunnel alternative; the fact that DDOT did not seek to improve current traffic flow onto and off the Freeway as part of the no-build option; and, that the study lacked a public transportation component for residents of the District, Maryland and Virginia.  The Commission concluded that it opposed any decision to remove the Whitehurst Freeway until such time as a) data convincingly supports the desirability and practicality of an alternative; and b) decision factors identified and ranked by ANC 3D residents in the course of public meetings held in April and May [of 2005] have been met.

This fall a second round of public meetings were held in Palisades, Georgetown and the West End.  Four alternatives, which had the greatest level of consensus were presented through a series of pretty pictures and a tunnel alternative with a prohibitive price tag was included.  Residents of Palisades at that meeting were again very vocal regarding the absence of public transportation as a viable component of any of the alternatives.  There is nothing in the draft report that identifies transportation alternatives that would encourage local residents and commuters to abandon their cars.

ANC 3D reviewed its earlier resolution at the November 2006 meeting and noted that the study process has been underway for two years; and, that at recent public meetings a vast majority of residents still expressed strong opposition to removing the Freeway.  It was agreed that a resolution would be drafted for discussion and vote at the December meeting that would a) call for a stop to the project; and, b) would oppose any further funding for the study.

We ask the Committee on Public Works and the Environment to support the position of ANC 3D and the Palisades community and stop the project now and oppose the expenditure of any further funds for the study on the feasibility of deconstructing the Whitehurst Freeway.