The Dupont Current INS IDE :
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
FAL LR EA LE STA TE Vol. XVI, No. 15
Serving Dupont Circle, Kalorama, Adams Morgan & Logan Circle
City drops planned Circulator cut
STARTING GUN
■ Transit: Bus will continue
serving Wisconsin Avenue By GRACE BIRD Current Staff Writer
After neighbors rallied to protect lower Wisconsin Avenue’s DC Circulator bus service, the D.C. Department of Transportation has backed off plans to terminate its Georgetown-Union Sta-
tion route at M Street NW. But while the Circulator will continue to travel as far north as Whitehaven Parkway, the agency also announced last week a series of other proposed changes to the popular six-line bus system, which offers $1 rides and 10-minute headways. Notably, the agency has proposed removing a number of stops from the Georgetown-Union Station route, and also hopes to shift
the line’s eastern terminus outdoors from a Union Station parking garage. Additionally, it’s moving forward with long-term plans to offer Circulator service on U Street NW. Meanwhile, no changes have been proposed for the Woodley Park-Adams Morgan-McPherson Square route, and the agency said it will continue to evaluate the National Mall line’s low winter See Circulator/Page 5
ANC votes to censure one of its members By CUNEYT DIL
Current Correspondent
A member of Dupont Circle’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2B was censured by his colleagues last Wednesday for what his fellow commissioners called “discriminatory and disrespectful behavior.” In a resolution that passed 5-1, ANC 2B said that commissioner Nick DelleDonne had shown a pattern of being disrespectful to colleagues, particularly “toward female ANC Commissioners and representatives of constituent groups.” DelleDonne — who said in an interview that he plans to contest the censure — has taken particularly strong stands against a proposed alcohol license at the Corcoran Street NW Safeway, which some supporters contend is the real reason he was targeted for censure. He was not given an opportunity to respond to the allegations at last week’s meeting before the vote. The resolution, introduced by Scott Davies, states
Brian Kapur/The Current
The fourth annual Freedom 5K, a fundraiser for President Lincoln’s Cottage, featured a race through the historic Armed Forces Retirement Home campus. The event was followed by “Homecoming,” which included pony rides, DIY top hats, food vendors, a Civil War encampment and more.
Brian Kapur/Current file photo
Nick DelleDonne and his backers say his criticism of the Safeway alcohol license application led to the action, though his colleagues say otherwise.
that DelleDonne “conducted himself inappropriately, communicating disrespectfully with other commissioners in a public forum” in advance of a May transportation committee meeting, “making demands of commissioners.” It also states DelleDonne was “disreSee Censure/Page 7
Detailed debates bring Walter Reed plan to life
Beach Drive project shifts to second phase of construction
By BRADY HOLT
■ Transportation: Latest
Current Staff Writer
Ever since the Walter Reed Army Medical Center was first seriously considered for closure in 2005, D.C. officials and developers have hungrily eyed the closed-off chunk of Ward 4 as prime real estate that could accommodate a transformative project. Now, this vision is growing ever closer to reality — more than a decade after the Army first recommended closing the troubled hospital, more than six years after it actually shut down, and nearly a year after the District government took over 66 acres of the historic campus. With D.C. planning and preservation officials having already approved a general outline of the development, now the project team has reached the stage of wrangling over the specifics — the new buildings’
detour sparks traffic impacts
By GRACE BIRD Rendering courtesy of Hines-Urban Atlantic-Triden
The sprawling Parks at Walter Reed development will take an estimated 10 to 15 years to complete, but design details are emerging for some buildings.
facade materials, the best types of landscaping and whether a new apartment house should conceal its structural columns. Broadly, the Parks at Walter Reed project will take an estimated 10 to 15 years to complete construction of its full 3.1 million square feet. The project team See Walter Reed/Page 13
Current Staff Writer
Highly anticipated efforts to rehabilitate a deteriorated 6.5-mile stretch of Beach Drive NW and redo parts of Rock Creek Trail are moving forward as the work proceeds north toward the Maryland line. The National Park Service completed the first phase of the rebuilt Beach Drive and the adjacent trail — the stretch south of
Tilden Street NW — late last month and moved on to the next stage of construction, which has closed the busy thoroughfare from Tilden north to Joyce Road NW. The broader Beach Drive rehabilitation began last September, with different segments slated for closure through September 2019. The current work area is scheduled to reopen in stages, with the first segment — from Tilden to Broad Branch Road NW — expected to be completed within four to six months. The stretch from Broad Branch to Joyce Road, just south of Military Road NW, See Traffic/Page 3
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