1) Memo regarding the current situation in Georgetown (See Attached
Tab 1).
2) Georgetown Partnership/Gorove Slade Transportation Improvement Plan
- easibility of 1 less lane of traffic and wider sidewalks (see page
1 of report attached in Tab 2).
3) Gorove Slade memo concerning conversation with Operations Chief
of the District of Columbia’s Fire and Emergency Medical Service Department
(see attached Tab 3).
4) Copies of Roger Lewis articles concerning the need for proper sidewalks
(i.e. “safe, shaded & commodious”) originally featured in the Washington Post
Real Estate section (see attached Tab 4).
5) Copy of a petition on which 16 signatures were collected in half
an hour, indicating the ease of gaining support from Georgetown residents.
Also, a copy of a recent Georgetown Current article endorsing the study
of wider sidewalks along M Street (see attached Tab 5).
6) Photos of main streets with trees (see attached Tab 6). Is it possible
that Georgetown is the only major neighborhood without main street trees?
7) Whole books have been written about the proper relationships between
cars, pedestrians, trees & buildings (i.e., Great Streets) and most, if
not all, recommend trees and wider sidewalks (see attached Tab 7). Even
the Old Georgetown Board Commissioners unequivocally state that Georgetown’s
sidewalks need further study and deserve to be widened.
8) Professional firms such as Project for Public Spaces (now working
with the Downtown BID) currently are working with many communities throughout the United States to rework streets and sidewalks so as to give more
emphasis to a pedestrian friendly environment (see attached Tab 8).
9) Other communities in the DC area already are picking up on the trend
to enhance the pedestrian environment in retail areas (see attached Tab 9).
a) Bethesda has widened sidewalks, taken away parking on Wisconsin Avenue,
added a central landscaped median, and planted more closely spaced trees.
b) Arlington County has redone the sidewalks in Rosslyn making them
wider and added more lighting, as they have done elsewhere in the county.
c) Alexandria has made trees a priority on the main retail streets and
has narrowed many intersections to accommodate pedestrian flows. It
has also added a central landscaped median to its main thoroughfare.
d) Middleburg recently has received federal funding for a “traffic-calming”
experiment to retro-fit Route 50 with bricks, cobblestones, raised intersections
tree-lined medians, etc. in an effort to prevent their main street from
becoming a humming highway.
10) To date, the principal reasons given for not moving forward with
plans for trees and wider sidewalks have included the following:
1) Time
2) Cost
3) Disruption
4) Impact on commuter traffic, parking and loading
5) Lack of complete community consensus
In reality, none of these issues should be driving the decision process.
For example:
1) The time for the utility project has already doubled and now is up
to three years, so there is plenty of time to deal with the streetscape
design by working with phases and addendums to contracts (see attached
Tab 10).
2) The additional cost for wider sidewalks would include, at most, moving
some traffic lights and maybe some catch basins plus a few extra trees
at costs estimated in the $2 – 3 million range – a drop in the bucket
(or just the contingency line item) in an overall utility project which
must be over $50 million now. Also there must be funds elsewhere for
dealing with such important issues … perhaps the Casey Tree fund alone
would help out.
3) Disruption is going to occur regardless. The key is to maintaining
efficient and fluid temporary access. How long this temporary access
is in place should not be as important as keeping access to stores open
at all times.
4) Commuter traffic, parking and loading are on-going issues in Georgetown,
but the Gorove Slade report demonstrates that the impact of wider sidewalks
will be negligible, if the following changes are implemented simultaneously:
a) Recalibrate/coordinate all traffic signals with the addition of several
more left turn signals.
b) Add several more traffic signals at key points.
c) Rework the traffic patterns at the entry points to Georgetown at
both the Key Bridge and Pennsylvania Avenue.
d) Convert certain streets to one-way operation.
e) Shorten parking meter times on Wisconsin Avenue and M Street and
add certain time restrictions to further accommodate/control loading/unloading
activities.
f) Explore other longer-term improvements/solutions such as valet parking,
public parking facilities, etc.
5) Once the issues are explained properly to residents and businesses,
almost all agree more study is needed. Who wouldn’t want a better walking
environment for Georgetown? Of course, not everyone will agree on everything
and meanwhile, it’s always the naysayers who are the vocal ones. Leadership
is what is needed here.
11) Like it or not, Georgetown is one of the few really viable retail
areas in Washington, and the District cannot afford to let Georgetown fall behind
the competition when it comes to a pedestrian friendly environment.
12) Why is it that the District Government is starting to address street
trees everywhere else in D.C. but refuses to deal with the issue in
Georgetown (see attached Tab 11)?
