Status Report on the Canal Road Entrance to Georgetown Campus

March 14, 2000 -- A status report on the Canal Road Entrance to Georgetown Campus as provided at a March 11 meeting held by the Federal Highway Administration:
-- Construction is expected to begin early in 2001 and take six to nine months to complete.
-- A conduit will be laid along the sidewalk side of Canal road to carry wires linking the traffic lights at Canal and Foxhall, the new light at the Georgetown entrance, the light at Whitehurst Freeway and the light at Key Bridge. This will permit coordination of the lights. Work on the conduit is expected to be restricted to nights and weekends.
-- The existing traffic patterns for east-bound traffic will be maintained. Thus at about 790 feet from the entrance to Whitehurst Freeway, signs will restrict the right hand lane to cars turning right onto Whitehurst Freeway. During the morning rush hour, the new traffic light will not apply to the two lanes of east-bound traffic. An additional lane of about 190 feet, capable of handling nine cars, will be built at the intersection with Whitehurst Freeway for cars heading straight ahead to M Street or Key Bridge. For east-bound cars wanting to turn left on to the Georgetown campus, there will be a stacking lane long enough for 16 cars.
-- FHA traffic figures are based on 1993 traffic counts, with a 1.2 percent annual growth rate projected by the D.C. Department of Public Works.
-- Six months after the project is completed, a traffic survey will be conducted to see if the projections were accurate and to determine if any changes should be made in the four-way access to the Georgetown campus.
-- Cost estimates are being withheld until contractor bids are received, but in the past FHA has talked of the project costing around $2 million.
-- John W. Finney