Serving Foggy Bottom & the West End
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Vol. X, No. 1
The Foggy BoTTom CurrenT
Zoo shouldn’t change hours, neighbors say
Design panel approves Franklin Park proposal
SWEDISH CHRISTMAS
■ Recreation: $18 million
By KELSEY KNORP
set aside for downtown site
Current Correspondent
Neighbors to the National Zoo protested an upcoming change in hours last Wednesday, when Zoo director Dennis Kelly appeared before the Woodley Park Community Association to address complaints. The most contested of a series of changes is the opening time for the Zoo grounds, which is poised to shift from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. at the start of the new year. Many nearby residents, some of whom have lived in the area for decades, described how early grounds access has become an integral part of their lifestyles, whether for exercise, commuting shortcuts or general recreation. Despite substantial backlash — often both personal and emotional — Kelly stood his ground, citing safety concerns as the primary reason for the shift. “We are the only zoo in America that opens its gates to the public when it’s dark,” he said. “In fact, we’re the only place in Washington, D.C., that invites people to come in the dark to a federal facility.” Beyond the lack of daylight, Kelly noted hazards posed to pedestrians by the “dozens” of vehicles that travel throughout the Zoo in the early morning hours to provide care to the animals and prepare the exhibits to open. “We haven’t had an incident with a vehicle yet, but almost every month the police report on their rounds, my keepers report that we have near-misses,” he said. “I’m not going to wait for a tragedy to make a change.” For Myra Marshall, a Mount Pleasant resident and Friends of the National Zoo member, the Zoo is a sanctuary. She tearfully shared her objections to the later opening, saying she had walked through the grounds every morning, starting promptly at 6:15 a.m., for the past 20 years. See Zoo/Page 5
NEWS
By KELSEY KNORP Current Correspondent
Brian Kapur/The Current
On Saturday the Swedish Women’s Educational Association hosted its annual Swedish Christmas Bazaar, which featured Swedish crystal, textiles, artwork, traditional food and more at the House of Sweden along the Georgetown waterfront.
Preliminary plans to transform Franklin Park received unanimous approval and considerable praise at last week’s meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission. Four major components make up the proposed renovation: a pedestrian mall and cafe, a central plaza, a children’s garden and upgraded landscaping across the park. The $18 million plan for the downtown park’s five acres, bordered by 14th, 13th, K and I streets NW, is the product of a collaboration among the National Park Service, the Downtown DC Business Improvement District and the D.C. Office of Planning that began in 2012. The agencies have commissioned architecture firm OLIN to steer the design. Franklin Park, originally established in 1819, “has been underresourced, undermanaged and underdeveloped for half a century,” said Ellen Jones, director of infra-
Brian Kapur/Current file photo
Stakeholders have said for years that the historic park has been neglected and needs an upgrade.
structure and sustainability for the Business Improvement District. The fountain that currently stands at the park’s center no longer functions but would be restored during the project as the centerpiece of the plaza. The “pedestrian mall,” a promenade of sorts, would be built along the park’s south side, bordered by I Street, while the children’s garden would be installed to the east, near the 13th Street park border. A 1914 statue of Commodore John Barry on the west side would remain, along with the symmetrical network of pathways across the park. The 35-foot-wide mall would serve as a venue for community See Franklin/Page 15
Agency to debut plan for 16th Street bus service upgrades Current Staff Report The D.C. Department of Transportation plans to present a detailed proposal to improve transit on 16th Street NW between H Street and Arkansas Avenue to a citizen advisory group on Dec. 15, culminating months of studying the corridor’s bus service. The final proposal will combine elements of three distinct approaches the agency presented in January, project manager Megan Kanagy said at recent community meetings. The key elements of these approaches were to: ■ set aside curb lanes exclusively for buses from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. while reconfiguring the intersection of Harvard and Mount Pleasant streets and Columbia Road NW; ■ set aside the curb lanes only during rush hours (7 to 10 a.m. southbound, and 4 to 7:30 p.m. northbound); and ■ speed up boarding by having passengers pay at bus stop kiosks and enter through both the front
HOLIDAYS
Jewish Community Center receives $6.5 million donation
Segways offer novel way to take in D.C.’s many holiday sites
— Page 7
— Page 17
Brian Kapur/Current file photo
The D.C. Department of Transportation has studied various options for the busy corridor.
and rear doors. Another concept under consideration from all three approaches would have traffic signal lights offer early or extended green lights when a bus arrives if more than two minutes has elapsed since a bus passed through the intersection. According to Kanagy, 16th Street carries as many weekday bus passengers as automobiles —
about 20,000 daily. But the corridor’s bus service has been faulted for overcrowding and unreliability. The buses spend only about half their time in motion, with the rest spent stopped for passengers, red lights or illegally parked cars, she said. The agency’s goal for the upcoming proposal is to have rush-hour buses run two minutes apart. “There is the possibility of having more buses on the corridor,” she said. Bus-only lanes, though, have faced some resistance over concerns about their impact on parking, loading zones and automobile traffic. Kanagy said two exclusive bus lanes would eliminate about 500 parking spaces, and that a rush-houronly bus lane would eliminate 100 to 150. With one bus-only lane, cars would likely take just one additional minute — 17 total — to travel 16th Street between H Street and Arkansas Avenue, but that would slow to 25 minutes with two exclusive bus lanes, she said. Kanagy added that See Buses/Page 15
INDEX
EVENTS
National Gallery to present exhibit on Hellenistic world — Page 19
Calendar/18 Classifieds/25 District Digest/3 Exhibits/19 Foggy Bottom News/9 In Your Neighborhood/14
Opinion/6 Police Report/4 Real Estate/13 School Dispatches/12 Service Directory/23 Week Ahead/3
Tips? Contact us at newsdesk@currentnewspapers.com