The Bike Estate – Foulger-Pratt Unveils its Plans for Eckington Park

Artist rendering of R St NE / MBT trail
Image: Foulger-Pratt

The Bike Estate scours local blogs and government websites for information about bike facilities in new, recently opened, or planned residential or commercial buildings. The following is recently-filed development applications with the Zoning Commission.

As reported by Urban Turf and the Washington Business Journal (WBJ), Foulger-Pratt submitted to the Office of Zoning preliminary plans for its new residential and retail property, Eckington Park.

The development will be adjacent to NoMa Green, a proposed park supported by the NoMa Parks Foundation, The project also improves the orientation of the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT) and lies just north of New York Avenue, NE, west of Metro’s Rhode Island rail yard and east of Harry Thomas Way. The preliminary plans show general building designs as well as describes how the project will integrate with NoMa Green, the MBT and the community.

According to Karen Goff, Staff Reporter for the WBJ, Eckington Park will be a 328-unit rental residential building that features nine, two-story artists’ lofts, a more pedestrian-friendly environment on Harry Thomas Way, and continuity with the nearby Eckington Yards project. Foulger-Pratt purchased the 1.8 acres that are within the NoMa Business Improvement District from Pepco for $12.6 million and gave 23,000 square feet back to NoMa Parks Foundation to add to the planned park space.

Amenities

The application to the Office of Zoning for highlights the project’s amenities including its proximity to NoMa Green and the addition of the “East Park” that contains a dog park and realigns the MBT. Discussed at the NoMa Green public meeting, the plan calls for modifying the current “Z curve” along the MBT at  R Street by creating an “S curve. The developers will also fund improvements for the “South Park”, the park space directly south of the building, in the amount up to $350,000 and may include food service kiosks, public art, or a performance amphitheater for the benefit of the general public.

Site ground floor plan includes an elevator for residents using bike to “South Park”
Image: Foulger-Pratt

The project includes 174 long-term bicycle parking spaces in an enclosed bike storage area in the below-grade garage and will include 30 short-term bicycle parking spaces in the public space adjacent to the site. This amount of bicycle parking exceeds the 111 bicycle parking spaces and 20 short-term bicycle parking spaces required. The plan also adds a sidewalk on R Street, which will contain a 6-foot wide continuous tree amenity zone, a 7.5-foot sidewalk, and a 14-foot wide building zone.

The site plan also calls for bike and pedestrian access shuttle elevators connecting to the below-grade parking garage and a walkway adjacent to those elevators, which abut the South Park. The developer states that it will work closely with the the NoMa Parks Foundation to integrate this walkway with the overall design of the South Park.

Vehicular Access

All vehicular traffic enters through R Street NE
Image: Foulger-Pratt

Plans for R Street NE, a connector to the downtown and the U Street corridor, maintain some clearance for users of the MBT by designing a loading berth that accommodates front-in/front-out loading access with two 30 feet and two 100 square foot platforms. Preliminary site plans suggest the vehicular movement on R Street could use the entire width of the street, potentially reducing the likelihood of bike infrastructure that provides protection to bicyclists. The Penn Center, a D.C. Department of General Services facility, and an industrial site will also continue to share R Street for vehicular access.

Site parking contains 2700 sq ft dedicated for bike parking
Image: Foulger-Pratt

All access to the development’s 124 parking spaces, which exceeds the 60 required spaces, is also through R Street. Residential vehicle parking totals 110 spaces and 14 retail spaces. Residential bike parking totals 2700 square feet and is located near the garage entrance.

Below are addition images of the project from the plan.

Looking north along Harry Thomas Way, NE

Looking west from the WMATA tracks

Looking South from R Street NE

Looking North from “South Park”

Project overview

NoMa Bicycle Network Study Public Workshop

Untitled
Leaving Los NoMa
Image: Author

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will host its first public workshop for the NoMa Bicycle Network Study, Thursday, May 4 between 6 pm and 8 pm.

The purpose of this workshop is for participants to provide feedback on existing conditions for cycling through and from the study area. The workshop will be held at 1200 First Street NE, main lobby.

The project study area is approximately 2.9 miles in length, from 6th Street NW to 6th Street NE as limits on the west and east sides, respectively, with N Street NW to K Street NW as the northern and southern boundaries respectively.

Priority corridors within the study area for consideration include K, L, and M Streets; 4th and 6th Streets NW/NE; and New Jersey Avenue. These streets provide connections to current, as well as links to planned bike infrastructure.

The map below contains information about the priority corridors by clicking on streets.


The NoMa Bicycle Network Study will include two public workshops, the first in Spring 2017 and the second in late Summer 2017.

The study has three primary objectives:

  • Examine the recommendations for the NoMa area in moveDC 
  • Create a new refined and feasible bicycle facility plan for NoMa provide schematic options for a separated bicycle network facilitating direct, low-stress travel between NoMa and the eastern part of downtown DC 
  • Identify logical connections between current and future planned bicycle projects, both inside and outside the study are.

For more information about the study, please contact DDOT Project Manager, Darren Buck.

A version of this post originally ran on DDOT’s website.

Pennsylvania/Minnesota Avenue SE Intersection Improvement Project Public Meeting

Image: Google

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will hold a public meeting this Thursday, April 27, 2017, to provide details on the Pennsylvania Avenue and Minnesota Avenue, SE, Intersection Improvement Project.

The meeting will be held at the Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library, 3660 Alabama Avenue, SE from 6:30 pm – 8 pm.


One of the more complicated and yet underrated intersections in the District, travel through this area for bicyclists and pedestrians is complicated due to the width of Pennsylvania Avenue, it’s proximity to the Anacostia Freeway, and its use as a peak hour interstate for Maryland drivers. This is further complicated by the dozen or so bus lines that traverse Minnesota and Pennsylvania Avenues.

The Preferred Alternative
Image: DDOT

The project planning, which began ages ago, is designed to enhance safety at the intersection for pedestrians and transit users. It also provides a consolidated green space at Twining Square by reconfiguring the existing split roadway system, which comprises two complex intersections into a conventional intersection.

The project was identified through the District of Columbia’s Great Streets Initiative. Great Streets is a multi‐agency program that strategically uses public investments to improve local quality of life and attract private investments to communities.

A version of this post originally ran on DDOT’s website.

“NoMa Green” Creates a New Space at its Community Meeting

Rendering of MBT Connector at NoMa Green Park
Image: Nelson Byrd Woltz

The NoMa Parks Foundation held a community meeting on the planned “NoMa Green” park. The meeting was held at the Hilton Garden Inn at 1225 First Street NE and presented updated concept designs that reflected comments received on the design presented at the October 2016 meeting.

The meeting was the first opportunity for the winning design firm, Nelson Byrd Woltz, to publicly display its “100 percent design” of the NoMa Green project. The presentation didn’t contain the specific details of all park areas but represented the overall direction of the park, its structure, potential programming, and how they hope the park will develop from the initial opening through the next 20 years.

Concept Design, Current Site Plan for “NoMa Green” Park
R Street is left, Harry Thomas Way is top,
New York Avenue is bottom right
Image: Nelson Byrd Woltz

Participants listened to the initial presentation and then broke out into three smaller groups to discuss certain park elements. The design team expanded the centerpiece of the park, the open lawn, by 30 percent. To accommodate this, the meadow, which acts as a natural buffer and contains plantings that help remediate contaminated soil, was reduced.

The plan also called for an expanded boardwalk over the meadow to create additional programming and recreational space. For dog owners, the plan slightly expands the dog park, creates separate access points for large and small dogs and adds other play features, and the addition of a fountain, among other improvements.

Proposed markings to aid in wayfinding, trail identification
will retain its current appearance
Image: Author

For bicycling, initial park plans called for the realignment of the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT) for improved travel and the elimination of the infamous “z curve” that effectively bring bicyclist to a halt. The plan creates an “s curve” that travels past a future commercial and residential development that abuts R Street NE, past a dog park and through the parks meadow and south plaza. 

To accommodate all park users, changes to the original presentation include the widening of park entry points. This includes the expanding of the MBT connector, a paved multi-use stretch that links the trail to Harry Thomas Way NE, from 15 to 18 feet. The connector, which runs past a stage and a small café, also contains directional pavement markings to clearly identify bike travel. The presenters noted that the park contains 40 bike locking posts that provide space for over 80 bikes.

To help reduce interactions between park and trail users, this section of the MBT is expanded from 11 to 15 feet. Presenters noted that the trees and other vegetation would not obscure sight lines, helping to reduce the possibility of crashes. The trail and certain paths that lead to it are illuminated with recessed lighting.

Looking from R Street, at the MBT and the dog park.
Image: Nelson Byrd Woltz

Many participants voiced support for the park and the modifications made. There were certain concerns about bicycle interaction on MBT as these improvements would likely force cyclists to reduce speeds on the popular commuter route.

However, Katie Harris of the Washington area bicyclist association explained that the Metropolitan Branch Trail is more than just a bicycle trail, but is a public amenity that everyone should use. She suggested that while bicyclists may need to slow down, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Jeanie Osburn, Facilities Committee Co-Chair of the D.C. Bicycle Advisory Council also noted that the addition of a high-quality park along the trail also makes people who use the trail feel safer as more people would use it more frequently.

Below are additional images from the meeting.

Concept art
Image: Nelson Byrd Woltz
Potential trail and connector cross-sections
Image: Nelson Byrd Woltz
Cafe and MBT Connector Concept Art
Image Nelson Byrd Woltz

Construction could begin in next two years, but no firm date was announced.

DDOT Accepting Applications for 2018 Transportation Alternatives Projects

Getting Money from the TAP
Image: Author

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) began accepting applications for the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP), which is a federal program under the 2015 FAST Act through the Federal Highway Administration that provides funding to projects considered “alternative” to traditional highway construction.

Approximately $1.1 million in funding will be available through a District-wide competitive process.

Transportation Alternative projects categories are geared towards bicycle and pedestrian activities, community improvements, environmental mitigation, and recreational trails. The projects must be consistent with the District initiatives like MOVE DC, Sustainable DC, and other plans.

The District’s Delegate to Congress, Elenor Holmes Norton, held a public meeting last October to discuss how TAP funds could be used in the District.

TAP program participants can include local governments, regional transportation authorities, transit agencies, natural resource or public land agencies, school districts, Tribal governments and other appropriate local or regional governmental entities. While non-profits are not eligible to be direct grant recipients of TAP funds they may partner with eligible participants such as a government agency as a co-sponsor.

According to the DDOT website, projects will be reviewed through a competitive process and selected based upon a number of criteria including the project’s expected benefits to the community, feasibility and project readiness, consistency with agency plans and missions, and the sponsor’s demonstrated ability to manage a federal-aid project.

TAP projects may support the following:

  • Facilities for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other non-motorized forms of transportation
    This includes the planning, design, and construction of on-road or off-road facilities. Projects may include sidewalks, bicycle infrastructure, bicycle parking, pedestrian and bicycle signals, traffic calming techniques, lighting and other safety infrastructure, and upgrading facilities for compliance with ADA requirements.
  • Recreational Trails
    Eligible projects include the provision and maintenance of recreational trails for both motorized and non-motorized use. This includes pedestrian uses (hiking, running, wheelchair use), bicycling, in-line skating, skateboarding, equestrian use, off-road motorcycling, or all-terrain vehicle riding. This includes the maintenance and restoration of existing trails, the development of trailside and trailhead facilities, the purchase of construction of maintenance equipment, the construction of new trails, the acquisition of easements, and trail condition assessments.
  • Safe routes for non-drivers
    Eligible cost include the construction, planning, and design of infrastructure-related projects and systems that will provide safe routes for non-drivers, including children, older adults, and individuals with disabilities to access daily needs.
  • Conversion and use of abandoned railroad corridors for trails
    This activity provides for the acquisition of abandoned railway corridors for the development of pedestrian or bicycle trails. Intent must be shown that a pedestrian and bicycle trail will be built within ten years of the acquisition of the corridor. Projects in this category must serve as a mode of transportation and cannot be solely for recreational users.
  • Community Improvements
    This includes vegetation management, environmental mitigation or pollution prevention, streetscape improvements and historic preservation
  • Safe Routes to School (SRTS)
    Eligible projects for SRTS sidewalk improvements, traffic calming, pedestrian and bicycle crossing improvements, on-street bicycle facilities, off-street bicycle and pedestrian facilities, secure bicycle parking facilities, and traffic diversion improvements in the vicinity of schools.

Applications will be accepted starting April 17, 2017, through May 15, 2017. In June 2017, a selection panel will review submitted projects. An official announcement of selected projects will be made in August.

A version of this post originally ran on DDOT’s website.