* The Washington Times has "Parking a National Crisis", detailing what it considers to be the daunting challenges of getting to Nationals Park this year: "[The Nationals reported] that there barely will be enough parking spots (5,000) to accommodate season-ticket holders and that holders of single-game tickets probably won't find any spots in the neighborhood at all. That leaves walk-up fans and holders of single-game tickets with two choices: take the Metro or park at RFK Stadium and hop on the free shuttle. Now, neither of those options sounds all that terrible. But it's easy to envision thousands of stubborn (or clueless) fans driving to Southeast in their cars only to end up circulating around like Chevy Chase in 'National Lampoon's European Vacation.' "

You might want to read my detailed post on Friday's hearing as well as my Stadium FAQ's sections on transit and parking, for more information on the current state of ballpark-related transportation and parking issues. Also, I've posted a shiny new map showing the four zones where the Nationals are offering season-ticket-holder parking, along with the lots that may or may not end up being ones that the team has contracted with. Not an official map, just showing what's out there.

And, two items outside my purview from the past few days, but big enough to worth noting:

* Financing plans to move the redevelopment of the Southwest Waterfront have emerged, with the mayor seeking to provide up to $200 million in TIF and PILOT financing; the city also has agreed to lease 15 acres of land along the waterfront to developers (Hoffman-Struever Waterfront LLC). Here's the Post on the news and concerns about so much public financing as the real estate market appears to be teetering, as well as article by the Washington Business Journal and the city's press release.

* Last week the city dropped the group led by Mid-City Urban from the short list of developers who could be awarded Poplar Point, leaving three teams in the running, two of which include a soccer stadium as an optional part of their designs. (Mid-City's design was the one that included the "aerial tram" across the Anacostia to carry passengers to Near Southeast.) The city issued a press release about the narrowing of the short list last week, and Post wrote about the status of the competition on Monday. The city could name the development partner next week. Near Southeast behemoth Forest City (of The Yards and the Capper redevelopment, as well as the Waterside Mall project in SW) is one of the remaining three teams. You can see more about the proposals at And Now, Anacostia (which also got mentioned in the Post article).

Also, the parking information for season ticket holders is starting to arrive in mailboxes around the area today. I'll link to the Nats' web site with the information once they've got it up, but until then, here's the map of the four parking zones and the prices per game that ticket holders will have to pay. (Note, none of the zones are in Southwest.)

I'll be updating my Ballpark FAQ and Stadium Parking/ Transportation pages with this new information as soon as I find the 25th hour in the day.

If you look at the Half Street web cam, you can see that the station entrance at lower center does look like it's getting cleaned up somewhat. Monument's initial Half Street project--office, hotel, residential, retail--is not scheduled to be completed until the end of 2009, but the Metro station is expected to be reopened in time for the beginning of baseball. The 55 M Street office building is currently being built on top of the Metro entrance; the southern half of the block, which is currently a big hole but where a hotel and residential units will be offered, should see construction begin soon. Retail will line the ground floor (and some second-floor spaces) all along Half. No tenants have been announced yet for the retail spaces, and, as I mentioned this morning, Monument appears to be looking for a new chain to operate the 200-room hotel.

As for what Half Street will look like during the inaugural season of the ballpark while construction continues, the Office of Planning report on Monument's request for some minor modifications to their Half Street designs has a description: "As part of the original proposal, the applicant showed a covered walkway on the east side of Half Street as a temporary condition during construction. Present plans call for pedestrian traffic to be directed to the other side of Half Street on non-game days, and for the entire street to be opened to pedestrian traffic on game days. Therefore there is no need for a covered walkway. The applicant has committed, however, to maintain a decorative fence at the edge of their construction zone as generally shown in the original plans."