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'Nationals Park' Added to Scoreboard
If you haven't checked the Stadium Web Cam in the past few days (or sneaked a peek through the gap on South Capitol Street), you haven't seen the fun "Nationals Park" lettering now added across the top of the scoreboard. There are also red seats now being installed below the outfield restaurant.
I'm also hearing that this is the week that the traffic and parking plans for Opening Day are going to be released, so watch this space for the latest on that.
UPDATE: Looks like one of Channel 9's staffers got a ballpark tour on Friday--he's posted a few pictures.
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Bike Route to Ballpark Signs Seen on the Hill
Saw one of these signs pointing cyclists to the ballpark for the first time today--I think they've only gone up in the past week or so. (This was on Fourth St., SE, just north of Pennsylvania Ave.) Sorry for the lousy quality--it was dusk and my camera phone wasn't cooperating. But you get the idea. (UPDATED with a better photo, finally.)
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Gray: United Stadium Could Help Nats Parking
From the WashTimes: "D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray yesterday said a new soccer stadium at Poplar Point would help alleviate parking problems across the Anacostia River at the Nationals new ballpark. 'We have a horrific parking problem with the Nationals stadium,' Gray said. 'I'm not sure people know how close Poplar Point is. If we coordinate schedules, we could actually have parking for D.C. United used for the Nationals as well.' [...] Conceivably, Gray said, fans heading to Nationals game could walk from Poplar Point across a pedestrian walkway on one of the bridges crossing the Anacostia."
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South Capitol Street Draft EIS Available
The Draft Environmental Impact Statement that describes two alternatives for reconfiguring South Capitol Street from just south of Firth Sterling Avenue north to I-395 has now been released, and is available online: there's the compact executive summary for folks who just want the basics, or the full shebang, with 80-plus chapters, appendices, and reports. Note that this draft EIS does not include a final choice for the design of the new Douglass Bridge that would be built to the southwest of the current bridge, though that decision will be made with the final EIS. (I'm a fan of the arched bascule design, because I'm old school.) There's no way I'm going to try to provide a comprehensive overview of what this project is envisioning, so here's some bullet points:
* For Near Southeast, both build alternatives would reconfigure the intersection with the SE/SW Freeway, replacing the existing ramp that begins at I Street with an at-grade intersection underneath the freeway that would have two left-turn lanes to a new ramp. With the removal of the existing ramp to I-395, the intersection and South Capitol and I would also be reconfigured. Also included in this project would be streetscape improvements to New Jersey Avenue, with two travel lanes and two parking lanes and much wider tree-lined sidewalks.
* The main differences between the alternatives for this northern stretch of South Capitol Street are the intersections with Potomac Avenue and with M Street. At Potomac Avenue, there would be either a reconfigured signalized intersection or a large traffic oval connecting South Capitol, Potomac, Q Street, and the new Douglass Bridge. At M Street, a decision will be made between keeping the current underpass for north/south traffic or replacing it with an at-grade intersection. And, in the second build alternative, the K and L street intersections would be opened to cross traffic. There are also many changes planned for South Capitol Street and the Suitland Parkway south of the Douglass Bridge, which are spelled out in the Alternatives section if you're interested. (I'm waiting for a reply from DDOT about whether portions of each build alternative can be chosen a la carte to create a final alternative. UPDATE: As was the case with the 11th Street Bridges EIS, the final plans can indeed take some portions of one alternative and some from the other. So it's possible, as an example, that the traffic oval from alternative #2 could be chosen, but the unchanged M Street intersection from alternative #1 could be chosen, too.
* Depending on which alternatives and which bridge design is chosen, the Draft EIS puts the estimated costs for this project at anywhere between $508 million and $781 million. Flyers given out at the Anacostia Waterfront Community Fair last month indicated that construction on the new Douglass Bridge could begin in 2010, with completion in 2015. The Draft EIS doesn't seem to lay out any timeline for completion of the entire South Capitol Street project.
There are two public meetings planned to discuss the Draft EIS: on March 4 at Birney Elementary School, 2501 Martin Luther King Jr., Ave., SE, and on March 5 at Amidon Elementary School, 401 I St., SW. Both will run from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. The public comment period ends on March 31, and methods for submitting your comments are spelled out on the report site. You can also see print versions of the Draft EIS at a number of local libraries in the area.
 

Vending Carts Near the Ballpark
Today's Washington Business Journal has a long piece about legislation making its way through the city council that would require site-specific permits for street vendors and that would create "development zones", "essentially specific geographic areas with a uniform design standard that would be established through a partnership of DCRA, neighborhoods and their business improvement districts." The Capitol Riverfront BID plans on applying to make the area around the ballpark such a zone. The article has quotes from the Nationals and the BID about what sort of vending they'd like to see. Gregory McCarthy of the Nationals says that the team thinks "it's in the city's interest to have a good fan experience and to have vending around the ballpark be regulated in a reasonable manner -- but also be of sufficient quality." Michael Stevens of the BID says that vendors shouldn't sell items that compete with those inside the ballpark: "I want to see a variety of vending food options, drink options. I'd like better-looking carts, [although] I don't know what that means yet." If the bill is not passed by Opening Day, "licensed vendors could set up shop at any site that meets current regulations for vendors -- which include such requirements as not obstructing the right of way for pedestrians. Near the stadium that could include spots along M, N, Half and First streets SE."
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Feb 14, 2008 5:12 PM
WMATA Gives Initial Approval to N22 Bus Expansion, Southeastern Bus Garage Closure
A bit on the run this afternoon, so I have to be brief: today Metro's Finance, Administration, and Oversight committee gave approval to two items I wrote about earlier this week: the plans to expand to nights and weekends the N22 bus service that shuttles between Union Station, Eastern Market, and the Navy Yard Metro station (the Post says until 10:30 on weeknights--hope that's late enough for baseball), and to move around some money to allow for the closure of the Southeastern Bus Garage at Half and M. Here's the WMATA press release on the garage closure, and do read my previous entry for additional details and links to WMATA documents. These two items are expected to be given final approval by the full WMATA board on Feb. 28.
Stadium parking aficianados should note that the closure of the bus garage--in addition to lessening the chance for "encounters" between buses and pedestrians--will open up two existing lots in the "Red Zone" just north of the ballpark, as well as space within the garage itself and just to its south. Also, WMATA has been using a surface parking lot at Buzzards Point that would be vacated with this move. There's no word at this point on when exactly the garage will be vacated, and if the space will be used for parking this season.
 

Feb 14, 2008 5:04 PM
Fenty: No Deal Yet on Soccer Stadium
Since I posted that NBC4 story crowing about a deal, I feel it necessary to follow up with this from the Post this afternoon: "Mayor Adrian M. Fenty said today that no deal has been struck to use public funds to build a professional soccer stadium in Southeast Washington. He also said his talks with D.C. United about a partnership do not represent a drastic departure from his stance against public financing of the Nationals baseball stadium." Read the rest of the article for details, including discussions of Fenty's stand on public financing of sports venues. [Will. Not. Get. Sucked. In. Must. Resist.]
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Feb 14, 2008 9:58 AM
Ballpark and Beyond This Week - Yards Park
This week's Ballpark and Beyond column in the Post's District Extra is about the new Waterfront Park at The Yards: "Although Nationals Park is getting the lion's share of attention these days as Near Southeast's biggest development, the 42-acre site two blocks to the east known as the Yards is starting its transformation away from its former life as the barren walled-off Southeast Federal Center. And we're now getting our first peeks at early designs for the development's 5.8-acre park on the banks of the Anacostia River. Designed by M. Paul Friedberg and Partners, the park will have "passive and active" recreation spaces, along with retail and entertainment offerings that Yards developer Forest City Washington believes will make it a lively year-round destination for residents and tourists in the daytime and at night." And it'll be right across from the soccer stadium!
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Feb 13, 2008 9:11 PM
NBC4 Says Poplar Point to Get Soccer Stadium
Looking outside my boundaries long enough to pass along this: "News4 has learned that Mayor Adrian Fenty plans to propose building a $200 million soccer stadium on the banks of the Anacostia River across from the city's new Nationals ballpark. Sources told News4's Tom Sherwood that the soccer stadium would be part of a $1 billion development deal on about 40 acres of land at Poplar Point along the river. The sources said the mayor will announce as early as Thursday that he has selected Clark Construction to develop the land." As for the cost? "Under the mayor's proposal, which must be approved by the D.C. Council, the city would spend about $200 million on the soccer stadium. Funds to pay for the soccer stadium bonds would come from taxes and revenue that already are being generated by the new baseball stadium, which opens in late March."
UPDATE: I'm not going to be tracking this (yet {ahem}), but here's a more complete article, along with the more correct name of the winning bidder, Clark Realty Capital. Mayor Fenty is announcing the winner this morning at 10:30.
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Feb 13, 2008 2:35 PM
Zoning Amendment for Parking Lots in SW; Residents Not Happy
At Monday's ANC 6D meeting (which I missed because I had three meetings on my calendar for that night and the ANC never released an agenda for me to know whether I should go or not), there was apparently a big discussion of Zoning Case 07-08A, scheduled to be heard on Feb. 21, which seeks to allow temporary surface parking lots for no more than five years on a series of blocks in Southwest, mainly in Buzzards Point (squares 603, 605, 658, 661, 662, 662E, 664, 664E, and Square 658, Lot 7 for those of you with tax parcel maps handy, or look on the last page of this). A temporary emergency version of this text amendment passed with no discussion back in October; the Feb. 21 hearing is to make the amendment good for five years.
When the original case (07-08) establishing the ability to build temporary lots on a number of blocks in Near Southeast was passed, parking lots did not automatically appear on every block covered in the amendment. However, ANC 6D and residents of Southwest are apparently viewing this new amendment as the city going back on a promise to not build any parking lots in Southwest. Here is the ANC 6D resolution.
I've been at meetings over the past few months where city and team officials have said that there would be no ballpark parking offered in Buzzards Point this season because of the lack of sidewalks, streetlamps, and other improvements; the Office of Planning report for Case 07-08A says: "The Nationals have advised OP that, to date, no agreements with owners of individual lots have been reached so it is not likely that any of the temporary parking will be located on these sites prior to opening day in 2008[.]" I'm checking with the Nationals to see if this has changed. But certainly Buzzards Point would be still be viewed as a prime location for additional surface parking, if it's needed.
It's anticipated that the need for temporary surface lots will lessen as new buildings go up near the ballpark; in the next two years or so, underground garages that could potentially offer additional stadium parking will open at Monument Half Street, 100 M, 1015 Half, Onyx, 70/100 I, Velocity, and 909 New Jersey.
 

Feb 12, 2008 12:19 PM
Metro: Proposals to Expand the N22 Bus Line and Vacate the Southeastern Bus Garage
The agenda is now out for Thursday's meeting of Metro's Finance, Administration and Oversight Committee, with votes on two items of interest to Near Southeast and to ballpark-goers:
* WMATA is proposing to expand the weeknight and weekend service of the N22 bus that currently shuttles between Union Station (and its Red Line Metro stop) and the Navy Yard station at New Jersey and M via Eastern Market (and its Orange/Blue Line stop) and the Washington Navy Yard. The buses would run every 10 minutes, and on nights and weekends the route would eliminate the loop to 12th and M streets, SE (see the map on page 2 of the current timetable), in order "to provide a shorter and faster route to the ballpark." The District of Columbia is apparently going to pay $432,000 to cover the cost of the additional service from March through August. If approved, the expanded service would begin in March. The agenda documentation doesn't say what times the expanded service would end on weeknights or operate on weekends. Read the agenda packet for more.
* The city is also apparently offering to cover the costs of relocating the buses out of the Southeastern Bus Garage at Half and M (one block north of the ballpark), as part of a $1.39 million monetary shuffling that WMATA is proposing to undertake because the $69.25 million sale of the site to Akridge still has not been finalized. DC would cover the relocation costs until the sale is completed, and presumably by doing this the buses can get out of the garage by March 30. Read the agenda packet for more details. The city is extremely interested in getting the buses out of the way, not only because trying to operate that garage with hordes of pedestrians on their way to and from games would be a disaster waiting to happen, but also because the Nats might be able to squeeze a couple hundred more $35 Red Zone parking spaces out of the garage land and the two lots adjoining it across Van Street (one to the north and one to the south of the Public Storage building).
These are just preliminary votes; if approved on the 14th, they would then go in front of the full WMATA board for final approval on March 28.
 

Feb 12, 2008 11:50 AM
Single-Game Nats Tickets To Go On Sale March 4
Word is out that single-game Nationals tickets will go on sale March 4 at 9 am. Barry has all the details.
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Feb 12, 2008 10:24 AM
Pay-to-Park Signs: No Specifics Yet
The new "Pay-to-Park" signs that have popped up around Near Southeast in the past few days (many without the accompanying multispace kiosks where one would actually *pay* to park) were brought up last night at a meeting last night with Tommy Wells and residents of Capitol Hill Tower. Rick Rybeck of DDOT seemed surprised that the signs were up already, and equally surprised to hear some residents reporting that they're getting ticketed for "expired meters" when parking by the signs, even though there's not as yet any meters to pay at. Neha Bhatt of Tommy's office said that the meter prices for parking still have not been determined, and that discussions are still ongoing as to whether high-cost meter parking will be allowed on I, K, L, First, and Half between New Jersey and South Capitol during ballgames.
But the main issue of the evening was that CHT residents are not as of now eligible for Residential Parking Permit stickers for their cars, which will leave them with no free on-street parking when the streets around their building are metered. (The plan is that everyone will have to pay to park on commercial streets, such as New Jersey, but on streets zoned residential, RPP-stickered cars will be able to park free but non-RPP cars will have to pay.) At first Tommy said that his impression was that trying to get RPP stickers for residents of a multi-unit building was not going to happen, but Rybeck said that it should be doable. By the end of the evening, it did appear that Rybeck and Bhatt had a bit more of an understanding as to the Catch-22 that CHT parkers could find themselves caught in if the Performance Parking plan is rolled in as currently envisioned. (The building does have an underground parking garage, but there is a long-simmering battle about garage parking between some residents and the building's owner that I'm way too chicken to try to characterize here, and so many residents park on the surrounding streets.)
 

Feb 11, 2008 9:51 PM
Whole Lotta Photos From First and Half Streets
While hopefully you've already wandered through the pile of new stadium exterior photos I posted over the weekend, those aren't the only new pictures I grabbed during my camera time on Saturday and Sunday. Get your clicking finger going:
* The Velocity condo phase 1 building on L Street west of First is now one floor out of the ground, so that will now be added to my regular rotation of photo updates. For those who haven't been following along, this is a 200-unit condo building that will eventually be joined by a twin on the north side of the block (running along K Street). However, they decided to dig the entire parking garage and below-ground structures for both buildings at once, which is why only half the block is now rising above ground level. The other portion will be landscaped over until Phase 2 begins. (Phase 3, which will run along Half Street where the sales center is now located, could be either an office building or a hotel--I haven't heard of any decision being announced.)
* The Normandie-less corner at First and M has now been immortalized in digital imagery, and goodness gracious, has that spot changed. (Ditto for the other end of the block, at First and N.) This stretch is on its way to becoming temporary surface parking until Willco Construction moves forward with its reported office/residential/retail project on that site (no timeline).
* The road work on First Street continues, and on Saturday they put down the first asphalt between L and M (in front of Onyx and 100 M). Looking south and north you can see how much wider the street has now become. You can also see the windows starting to be hung at Onyx and at 100 M. Meanwhile, First north of L continues to be a war zone. They *say* it'll all be done (I Street, too) by Opening Day. First Street and Potomac Avenue appear to be pretty much done except for the striping.
* 55 M is almost topped out. As we heard a few days ago, they say the Metro entrance in 55 M's ground floor will be ready by Opening Day, too.
* How much has M Street changed in five years? Take a look. (This should be one of those list-the-differences-in-the-pictures contests.)
* Or you can just look at all the photos from Saturday and Sunday on one page (including the ballpark shots), though I cannot be held responsible for any sensory overload you may experience. Imagine how I feel, especially considering that what I've posted is probably only about a third of the photos I actually took....
 

Feb 11, 2008 1:49 PM
'Pay to Park' Signs and Kiosk Meters Going Up
Late last week DDOT began installing "Pay to Park" signs and the green multispace kiosk meters on certain streets in Near Southeast--I've seen either the signs or the meters or both on K, L, M, N, First, and Potomac, but I didn't do a full-scale reconnaissance mission (I'm also seeing them around Garfield Park and I hear they're showing up on Barracks Row). These are indeed the beginnings of Tommy Wells's Performance Parking plan that is eventually going to regulate parking around the ballpark and in Southwest and on Capitol Hill. Right now I haven't heard any of the details like hours and prices, and whatnot, but hope to get some specifics soon. And yes, for a lot of you, this may mean your days of cheap on-street all-day parking could be coming to an end. More as I get it.
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Feb 11, 2008 10:12 AM
Yards Park Design Approved by NCPC
Last Thursday the National Capital Planning Commission gave unanimous approval to the early designs of the Waterfront Park at The Yards, which was not a surprise given the nice things said about it in the Staff Recommendation. According to the NCPC web site (I wasn't at the meeting), the commission "commended the applicant, the General Services Administration; the developer, Forest City Washington; and the team's designers for the quality of the design, the range of activities the park will support, its visual and physical connections, and for creatively adapting the design to the site's ground elevation constraints." The design was also endorsed by the Commission on Fine Arts last month.
I've now received a pretty fabulous aerial-view rendering of the park, which I've added to my newly rejiggered page for the project (I've finally separated out the five phase I projects at the Yards onto their own pages), where you can also see a few additional renderings of the design, keeping in mind that these are still preliminary plans--and the NCPC staff recommendation document has even more drawings and detail. Forest City's plan is to complete the first phase of the park in summer 2009, with the retail buildings and the piers and marinas to follow.
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Feb 11, 2008 9:06 AM
South Capitol Draft EIS Now Scheduled for Friday
At the Anacostia Waterfront Community Fair a few weeks back, I picked up a card that indicated South Capitol Street Draft Environmental Impact Statement (which is centered around the construction of a new Douglass Bridge) would be released on Feb. 8. So, all last week, I kept checking in at southcapitoleis.com just to see if the site had been updated or if there were any "Coming Soon" announcements. Nada. Imagine my surprise, then, when on Saturday I received a brochure via snail mail (how wonderfully old school!) announcing the the EIS would be released on Feb. 15, with the two public meetings pushed to March 4 and 5, and the deadline for public comment moved to March 31. The web site still makes no mention of the impending release, though you can see the two build alternatives being evaluated. More about this when the draft is actually released.
 

Feb 10, 2008 2:30 PM
New Ballpark Exterior Photos, Pt. 2
As promised, I've now updated the rest of the Stadium Exterior Construction Gallery, where in addition to the usual spots you'll see some photos of the touches that are now being added to the ballpark, such as the directional signs, gates, the grand staircase, and even (if you have good eyes) the gold pendant lighting in the club lounge. There's also a shot or two of the outfield restaurant and the N Street Plaza, though the light still stinks for taking photos there. If you want more before-and-afters, there's also the First Street, Potomac Avenue, and N Street expanded galleries (as well as the South Capitol Street photos, which were updated yesterday), though be sure to look for the icon to make sure you're seeing the most recent images. (And don't forget to click on the Click to see all available photos of this location. icon to see every photo in the archive for angles you're interested in.)
Speaking of the ballpark, the Post says the first of the two job fairs for part-time and seasonal positions at the stadium drew 2,500 hopeful applicants. The second fair is on Feb. 21.
As for photo updates of the rest of the construction going on in the Hood, I'm going to string you along for another day or so. There's an awful lot of intersections to cover....
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Feb 9, 2008 6:34 PM
New Ballpark Exterior Photos, Pt. 1
Thanks to some unexpectedly good weather this afternoon, I ventured down South Capitol Street and took a slew of updated photos of the ballpark's western facades. (I even walked about halfway across the Douglass Bridge, which is always an adventure for a white-knuckler like myself.)
You can all today's new shots on my main Stadium Exterior Gallery (where you'll want to look for the icon, since the new photos are sprinkled throughout the page) as well as additional images in the Expanded Gallery. Come back Sunday evening when I'll have another batch of photos, from the eastern and southern sides of the ballpark.
Of course, these days I'm far from the only blogger trooping around down at the stadium--Screech's Best Friend has a pile of new photos, inside and out. (My own Interior Gallery will be updated soon, I promise.)
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Feb 8, 2008 2:28 PM
WTDW: DPW's 900 New Jersey Ave. Site
In our latest edition of What's the Deal With...., reader JD of JDLand.com asks: "WTDW with the old trash transfer site at 900 New Jersey Avenue, that place with the smokestack and all the Department of Public Works operations?"
At Wednesday's marathon capital budget hearing (no, I'm still not done watching it) the agency's director mentioned both the New Jersey Avenue site and the maintenance yard on O Street beneath the 11th Street Bridges as DPW locations that will eventually be moving to make way for development associated with the city's Anacostia Waterfront initiatives. I e-mailed DPW to get some clarification on his remarks, and have been told that the street sweepers that currently operate out of 900 New Jersey will be relocating in November to DPW's Bryant Street, NW, facility, but that other DPW functions are going to remain at New Jersey and K until the Office of Property Management can find them a new home.
This site is eventually supposed to be redeveloped as a mixed-income apartment building under the Capper/Carrollsburg Hope VI plan, but no timeline has been announced. And William C. Smith's plans for a 1-million-square-foot project on the block just to DPW's north, which include reopening I Street between New Jersey and Canal, would seem to need DPW to move out before they can get started.
As I wrote about over the summer, neighbors have been wanting that building closed for a long, LONG time.
 
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