In today's Post (well, in some of them, depending on which Extra you receive) is "For Commuters, A New Way to Travel Through the District," a good overview piece about the plans for a new South Capitol Street/Frederick Douglass Bridge. The article doesn't have anything new, but it brings together all the bits and pieces that have come out over the past months about the new bridge. It mentions the public meeting scheduled for May 4, and also confirms that sometime this summer two blocks of the "elevated" South Capitol Street (from O Street to Potomac Avenue) will be dismantled, allowing South Capitol Street to be "at-grade" alongside the stadium site. And it also says, as we've heard previously, that construction would not begin before 2011; the final design of the bridge will be chosen this summer, after the Environmental Impact Study is completed. Cost estimates range from $285 million to $392 million, based on the design. Make sure to go to the poll to vote for your favorite design!

Also at the ANC meeting, I found out a bit more about some of the new projects in the Near Southeast pipeline: the JPI residential project at 901 New Jersey (which was called "Jefferson at New Jersey and K" on the display boards) will have 237ish units, a pool, fitness room, conference center, etc. The Preston Partnership is the architect (fun web site, guys!). This project was before the ANC to ask for support in advance of its BZA hearing on May 16; however, its requests for a special exception for roof requirements and also a lessening of the residential recreation space were referred to the ANC's development subcommittee, and the ANC voiced its concern about the lack of an affordable housing component within the project, which will probably be something that developers coming to Near Southeast will need to address. As for the Square 743N Faison/Opus East projects along 1st Street, the alley closings brouhaha over the past few months has been settled (the city council approved the bill on its final reading April 4), the developers were back again, now asking for the ANC's support in its hearing before the Zoning Commission on May 25 for approval of the plans for the office building portion of the project, at 100 M Street. The commission voted 4-0-1 to give its support. Finally, a request for closing a portion of an alley on Square 0697 as part of Lerner Enterprises's 1000 South Capitol Street project came before the commission, and after the requisite squabbling over payments to the community for the loss of "public space", this too was referred to the development subcommittee.

DDOT will be holding a public meeting on May 4 at 6 pm to update the public on the latest South Capitol Street Corridor news, and also to allow public review and comment on the latest plans for the street and also the South Capitol Street Bridge. The South Capitol Street EIS and South Capitol Street Bridge Study web sites have more information about what's on tap.

The Post's Marc Fisher has a column today about the stadium and its environs, "South Capitol Street Will Have to Play Catch-Up": "But the plans released this week are a vision of the future, and indeed the District has an impressive concept for a new Anacostia River bridge and a reconfiguration of South Capitol Street that would replace the ugly ramp with green space. The truth, however, is that for quite some years, the stadium will come smack up against the city's befouled underside." He also was wise enough to catch the sleight-of-hand in the stadium design drawings: "[B]oth Metro riders and motorists will approach from the north, where, rather than a grand entrance, the architects offer a cramped plaza sandwiched between two boxy parking structures. But wait: Those boxes are really a political ploy and a sales pitch. The D.C. Council nixed the money for underground parking, but designers nonetheless intend to put the parking below ground, as they should. The ghastly parking towers are in the drawings to scare the Nationals' new owner and developers into coughing up the $28 million needed to dig the hole for parking; investors would then get the right to build retail, residential or offices above the garage." His Raw Fisher blog has a follow-up about the column as well. (And gives this site quite the nice shout-out, too.)

More posts: parking, South Capitol St., Douglass Bridge, Nationals Park