IMAGINE A BOULEVARD

Proposed boulevard segments

Proposed Bus Rapid Transit

Existing bike lane

Existing bike share station

Existing Metro station

How can a boulevard conversion catalyze development — specifically, equitable development?

Existing conditions at the PEPCO site

Proposed development at the PEPCO site

Boulevards can take many forms from pedestrian-oriented main streets to higher capacity downtown thoroughfares. Some, like State Street in Madison, WI function as pedestrian-oriented main streets with bicycles, transit, and vehicles sharing lanes and traveling at low speeds. Downtown boulevards like the Bonaventure Expressway in Montreal have a dedicated right-ofway for transit and wide medians that host parks and bike share stations. Regardless of their context, boulevards have a few important things in common that prioritize people over cars:

• Multimodal travel lanes

• Wide range of vehicle capacity

• Frequent crossings to maximize connections

• Traffic calming measures like crossing islands and curb extensions

• Mixed commercial and residential development on one or both sides

While this project is mainly about the highway conversion, it is useful to imagine how a lot of these ideas could play out at a smaller scale through one specific site. example, namely, the PEPCO site at the north, where Benning Road and DC-295 intersect. Within this, we wanted to achieve certain outcomes that align with the connectivity, ecology, and development frameworks, including creating new river connections, increasing accessibility to amenities, and increasing the corridor’s housing supply through a mixed-income neighborhood model.

Why this site?

Interfacing directly with the boulevard, the site allows us to explore how the boulevard could affect future development.

Hosting non-renewable energy production and a trash-processing facility without proper environmental controls, the site has a history of environmental injustice and is a brownfield, which can be transformed into a community asset.

The PEPCO site is a good location to explore how highway removal and equitable development can improve access to the river and river trail.

The site is adjacent to varying residential and commercial typologies, providing an opportunity to develop with existing neighborhood characters.

How does this address the plan’s goals?

Connectivity: Plans for a multi-modal future of mobility, increases access to existing amenities, and strengthens connectivity between existing land uses.

Ecology: Forefronts the river as a community asset, initiates environmental reparations, and creates a constellation of green networks.

Development: Knits together existing land uses through compact, mixed-use development, increases mixed-income housing supply with zoning overlays to protect affordability, and creates a hub of transit-oriented development.

1. Won’t removing the highway make traffic in neighborhoods worse?

It is true that this project will substantially alter the flow of transportation generally in this area. However, congestion is by no means inevitable. Traffic is ultimately a question not only of road capacity, but the decision-making of travelers and the alternatives available to them. In Providence, Rhode Island, the relocation of I-195 out of the city center actually improved travel times in the region by 20%11. Although this project differs rom the conversion of DC-295 into a boulevard in that it retained the presence of a high-capacity road, this dramatic reduction shows how much the right design choices can impact outcomes positively.

2. What is Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)? Why chose this over other options?

Because of cost, time, and performance, a BRT system would be a significant upgrade from the existing conventional buses servicing Wards 7 and 8 that could bring connectivity, air quality, and congestion improvements to the surrounding communities. a BRT system offers the benefits of high-capacity transit for a fraction of the cost and construction time 12. Compared to a regular bus, a Bus Rapid Transit, or BRT, system is considered high-capacity transit in that it has more frequent service, fewer stops, and faster travel speeds. Other characteristics of BRT often include dedicated lanes, stations with shelter and seating, and off-board fare collection which makes quick, all-door boarding possible.

3. How will this plan be inclusive of existing community?

There are several interventions that can be undertaken to ensure that the interests of residents and small businesses are represented in the development process. There are already a wealth of resources in DC including government initiatives and nonprofit organizations addressing community development and housing equity.

Some potential partnerships and models that the River Corridor might consider in the future include a Business Incubator and Ghost Kitchen, and partnerships with CDFIs to support businesses in economically-disadvantaged communities. Residential neighborhoods could benefit from a Special Zoning Overlay to ensure affordability and preserve neighborhood characteristics through the development of the PEPCO site, establish a Community Land Trust to build inter-generational wealth, and subsidize neighborhood developments through a Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF).

4. Won’t the whole demolition and construction process be disruptive?

Remediation efforts such as streamlining design–construction phasing, advancing envrionmental remediation best practices, managing traffic through project phasing and rerouting, and keeping neighborhood fabric remediations net-affirmative could help reduce impacts of the construction process on surrounding neighborhoods.

The materials prepared over the course of this studio can be used to begin a community-led advocacy campaign around the future of DC-295, which would:

• Engage with River Corridor residents unlikely to participate in planning processes.

• Collaborate with existing advocacy networks and NGOs.

• Center community expertise to ensure meaningful community representation in discussions surrounding the future of DC-295.

In order to build and sustain the momentum of this effort, we believe that an advisory council should be formed. Advisory council members should live, work, worship, or play within the Anacostia River Corridor and be interested in seeing improvements in the area. This group could legitimize advocacy efforts, persuade local and citywide officials, and further educate area residents on the possibilities that arise with removing DC-295.

Endnotes

1. Stotts, Rodney, and Kate Pipkin. Bird Brother: A Falconer’s Journey and the Healing Power of Wildlife. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2022.

2. District of Columbia Department of Health. “Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA).” Vol. 2, March 5, 2013.

3. ARUP. “Future of Highways.” Arup Foresight + Research + Innovation, November 2014.

4. U.S. Department of Transportation. “Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program – Planning Grants and Capital Construction Grants,” October 14, 2022.

5. Wang, Claire. “Federal Highway Removal Program Raises Hopes in California.” The American Prospect, May 16, 2022.

6. U.S. Census Bureau; 2020 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Retrieved from data.census.gov (October 2022).

7. U.S. Census Bureau; 2020 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Retrieved from data. census.gov (October 2022).

8. District of Columbia, Office of Planning. “Anacostia Waterfront Framework Plan,” November 2003.

9. Perry-Brown, Nena. “The 17 Developments in the Works Between Anacostia and Buena Vista.” Urban Turf, May 12, 2022.

10. U.S. Census Bureau; 2020 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Prepared by Social Explorer (October 2022).

11. Sommer, Mark, “Is tearing down an elevated highway a good idea? Just ask Providence.” The Buffalo News, September 20, 2020,

12. Cervero, Robert. “Bus Rapid Transit (BRT): An Efficient and Competitive Mode of Public Transport.” Berkeley Institute of Urban Development, August 2013.