The Palisades
News
Representing the
Greater Palisades Area
Various Notes of June, 1999
The following
notes were gathered from the website and are dated about June, 1999 (before
newsletters were placed on the site). They are gathered here for archival
reasons only.
- R.W.Thompson
With $2,000
from the Palisades Citizens Association, a coalition of citizens and civic
organizations has been formed to oppose the Federal Highway Administration's
proposal for a new four-way entrance to Georgetown University.
At an organizational meeting on June 17, SallyFallon a former PCA president,
and Janet Nash, a Palisades resident and Justice Department lawyer, were
named as co-chairs of the Canal Road Protection Coalition.
Coalition sponsors said the following associations were opposed to the planned
entrance with a new traffic light that would permit left-hand turns onto
and off the campus during morning and evening rush hours:
Palisades Citizens Association, Foxhall Community Citizens Association,
Georgetown Reservoir Citizens Association, Georgetown Residents Alliance,
Federationof Citizens Associations, Georgetown Homeowners Alliance, Columbia
Plaza Tenants, Cloisters, Burleith, Hillendale and Glover Park citizen associations.
At the PCA general membership meeting on June 1, a resolution was adopted
by voice vote authorizing the PCA executive Board to spend "up to $5,000
for legal assistance and work related to PCA opposition to the proposed
new Canal Road entrance to Georgetown with a new four-way traffic signal."
At the coalitions's organizational meeting PCA President Cary Ridder authorized
the transfer of $2,000 to the coalition to retain Jim Dougherty, an environmental
lawyer, to seek advice from a traffic engineer and to mount a publicity
campaign.
The coalition hopes to raise additional funds from other groups as well
as through individual contributions. To make a tax-deductible contribution,
make a check payable to "Georgetown Homeowners Alliance--Canal Road
Fund" and send it to the Canal Road Coalition, PO BOX 40603, Washington,
D.C. 20016.
At the June PCA meeting, the membership also adopted another resolution
authorizing the PCA Executive Board to spend up to $5,000 "for legal
assistance and work related to zoning, traffic and other issues concerning
changes to Goerge Washington University's Mt. Vernon College, plans by the
Field School to purchase the Cafritz estate on Foxhall Road and changes
planned by St. Patrick's School. jwf
If you are worried about getting to Maryland during construction on a stretch of MacArthur Boulevard, you can relax. In response to protests from the PCA, the D.C. Department of Public Works has dropped plans for a detour that would have taken outbound traffic on a detour over Dalecarlia and out Massachusetts Avenue. Instead, DPW will lay down a temporary asphalt lane that will permit two-way traffic on the stretch of MacArthur between Loughboro and the Maryland State line. The construction will resume on June 21 after a two-month hiatus, and Gary Burch, Chief Transportation Engineer at DPW, estimated the rebuilding of the road would be completed in six months. He also told a meeting of ANC3D on June 14 that work on Canal Road should be completed in August.
At the end of September, work was still underway on the stretch of MacArthur Boulevard and a supervisor estimated the job will be completed by the end of November
• The expansion of two schools and the introduction of a new school are causing potential traffic and parking problems in the sector of the Palisades that lies along Foxhall Road, a heavily travelled commuter route. The Field School, which will take over the former Cafritz estate, plans its major entrance at the north end of the property. Traffic engineers for the Field School estimated that 100 to 150 cars would approach the school from the north every morning and make left-hand turns across Foxhall to enter the school property. The congestion probably will require a police officer to control the traffic. George Washington is planning expansion of Mount Vernon Campus, prompting fears of nearby residents of an overflow of student parking on residential streets.
Meanwhile,St. Patrick Episcopal Day School is planning to expand its physical facilities on both sides of Whitehaven Parkway, which would also become the main entrance for students and staff to the Mount Vernon Campus. St. Patrick's School was permitted to take over the south side of Whitehaven Parkway for 51 diagonal parking places, reserved most of the day for school and church use,as well as to ban parking on the north side to permit better access for parent dropping and picking up students. Gary Burch, Chief Transportation Engineer of DPW, said he had given approval to St. Patricks to use the right-of-way along the road for diagonal parking for an annual fee of $5,000. At the same time he said a collective solution should be worked out for the traffic and parking problems presented by the three schools. He is proposing to install traffic lights on Foxhall at both Whitehaven Parkway and W Street. Built with federal funds, the new traffic lights are expected to go into operation in the spring of 2000.
• With a hearing on June 16 to get public views, Georgetown University has begun the environmental study that will precede construction of the new "Southwest Quadrangle" that will include an 800-bed dormitory, a 1500-seat dining facility, an underground garage for 800 cars, and a Jesuit Residence. Out of the hearing emerged two possible construction steps that may be of interest to residents of the Palisades: Excavation for the four-story underground garage obviously will require the removal of considerable dirt. Where will the trucks go? If to landfills in Maryland, it is possible the trucks will go out Foxhall or MacArthur Boulevard If the trucks go to landfills in Virginia, it is possible that Georgetown will seek a temporary break in the median strip on Canal Road so the trucks can make a left-hand turn to reach Key Bridge. Traffic would be controlled by a construction worker or a temporary traffic light. Representatives of the Palisades at the hearing made clear that their neighborhod has been beseiged by thousands of trucks on MacArthur during the nearly completed dredging of Dalecarlia Reservoir and the construction of the new assisted-living facility at Sibley Hospital and that a new fleet of trucks snorting through the Palisades would not be welcomed . As a result, Georgetown officials gave assurances that the impact of the truck traffic will be considered in the environmental impact statement. They also gave flat assurances that the new facilities would not result in an increase of traffic on to and off the academic campus. Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring of the year 2000, and it is estimated there will be three or four months of heavy excavation and truck traffic. The project is estimated to cost $120 million, to be financed largely by bonds and alumni donations. The Federal Transit Administration will provide $9.6 million for a maintenance garage for experimental, non-polluting university buses powered by fuel cells. The University welcomes written statements on what should be included in the environmental study with a deadline of June 30. The statements should be sent to Lenn Robinson, Project Management Department, New South Building Lower Lobby, 3700 O St. NW, Washington, DC 20057.
• ANC3D at its June 14th meeting adopted a resolution criticizing the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) for pemitting a private driveway to cross the old streetcar right-of-way that runs through the Palisades near Sherier. The resolution states that when WASA took over ownership in 1979 it was supposed to preserve the right-of-way "for the use and enjoyment of the entire community.The "public nature" of the right-of-way, the resolution continues, "necessarily precludes private use by vehicles for 'driveway' purpose." The resolution was prompted by the reported action of WASA granting a landowner at 5332 Sherier permission to access a private garage across the right-of-way without consulting with the ANC and in disregard of a Commission petition to the Board of Zoning Adjustment opposing such access. (For text of resolution go to ANC3D)