Anacostia River Corridor

Creating an equitable and resilient alternative to highway DC-295

Instructors

Nando Micale

Danielle Lake

TA

Anastasia Osorio

Team

Riddhi Batra

Kelly Cary

Alex Charnov

Mia Cherayil

Lynn Chong

Madeline Csere

Henry Feinstein

Robby Hoffman

Nata Kovalova

Anastasia Osorio

Yuchen Wang

Marquise Williams

Shawn Li

Nell Pearson

InFall 2022, a Studio group of a dozen students in the UPenn Masters of City & Regional Planning program focused their study on the eight-mile stretch of Anacostia River in Washington, DC from US Joint Base Andrews property at the Southeast to the District’s boundary with Maryland to the north. For the purposes of this project, the area is referred to as the Anacostia River Corridor or the River Corridor.

Running directly though the River Corridor is a 6-mile stretch of DC-295, which is D.C.’s only state highway. The highway serves as an important regional and local connector, but is also a significant barrier for nearby residents.

The premise of this studio is to look critically at the future of transit and development in the Anacostia River Corridor, with a focus on creating an equitable and resilient alternative to the highway. The materials produced for this Studio provide the D.C. Office of Planning (DCOP) and the D.C. Office of Energy and Environment (DOEE) with the preliminary materials needed to start an advocacy planning process in the Anacostia River Corridor.

The UPenn students worked closely with instructors—Nando Micale, Principal with the Philadelphia studio of LRK, and Danielle Lake, LRK architect and urban planner/designer and UPenn alumni—on developing this plan. The Studio also benefited from input from select members of the District’s Office of Planning (DCOP), Office of Energy and Environment (DOEE), and the larger Anacostia Waterfront Corridor Working Group (Working Group).

Study area

The geographic focus of this project is a portion of Washington D.C. that spans from U.S. Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in the south to the D.C.-Maryland border in the north. For the purposes of this project, the area is referred to as the Anacostia River Corridor or the River Corridor.

The Anacostia River Corridor contains multitudes. It includes the neighborhoods of Barry Farms, Anacostia, Fairlawn, Dupont Park, Greenway, Mayfair, Eastland Gardens, and Kenilworth. It also constitutes most but not all of Wards 7 and 8. The area interfaces with metro transit, freight rail, and numerous bus routes, and contains low-, medium-, and high-density residential areas as well as industrial and brownfield sites.

Running directly though the River Corridor is a 6-mile stretch of DC-295, which is D.C.’s only state highway. The highway serves as an important regional and local connector, but is also a significant barrier for residents.

Demographics

As of 2020, there are 136,653 residents living in the River Corridor, which accounts for about one-fifth of the entire District of Columbia population (701,974). Despite being a large portion of the overall population, demographics across the Anacostia River look notably different across income and race.

The median income of households in Anacostia ($37,803) is significantly lower than DC ($82,604), as is the number of people living in poverty, with 28 percent in the study area versus the District’s 15 percent. The study area is predominantly Black and African-American, accounting for about 90 percent of the total population, compared to the District’s even share of White and Black residents (roughly 45% each).

The Corridor’s history of segregation and disinvestment highlights the importance of addressing the harm I-295 has caused this long-standing D.C. community.

DC-295 Highway

DC 295 is the only state route within the District of Columbia. It measures 4.9 miles total and is mainly composed two segments - 2.3 miles of Kenilworth Avenue Freeway that runs from the Maryland state line to north of East Capitol Street, which sees an annual average daily traffic count of about 100,905 vehicles, and 2.7 miles of Anacostia Freeway that connects I-295 south to Richmond up to East Capitol Street, which sees an annual average daily traffic count of about 127,762 vehicles. 295 serves as a regional connector north to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway via Kenilworth Avenue, south on I-295 towards Richmond, and provides access to downtown Washington DC for Ward 7, Ward 8, and Prince Georges’ County MD.

Currently, improving pedestrian safety and mobility throughout the I-295/DC 295 corridor and across the Anacostia River has been the focus of DC’s Department of Transportation. The new Fredrick Douglass Bridge allows for improved bike space into Anacostia Park and for a safer crossing into the Navy Yard & Buzzard Point. MoveDC, the District’s Long-Range Multimodal Transportation Plan, identifies a number of communities with the greatest transportation needs, based on proximity to frequent transit, access to jobs and amenities, and safety risks. Many of these areas are also home to historically underserved communities of color, low-income residents, and people with disabilities. The Anacostia River Corridor calls for a greater focus in transit equity to improve options for multimodal connectivity.

River culture

Southeast residents have important cultural ties to the Anacostia River, it is high time they had ease of access as well. We’re so inspired by personal stories like that of Rodney Stotts, whose recently published memoir, Bird Brother, chronicles how when he got involved with the Anacostia River cleanup efforts at the Earth Conservation Corps, his encounters with wildlife and nature on the river completely transformed his life, moving him to reflect that “the Anacostia River still weaves its way into my dreams”1. We think this opportunity to enjoy interacting with nature and communicating with wildlife is a fundamental human need that some communities have been cut off from. This project can serve as a vehicle to address that issue.