Anacostia Transformed
8 08 2008When we heard about the complete transformation of downtown Anacostia by Four Points LLC and the Curtis Companies there was only one think we could think of… what’s going to happen to Anacostia’s big chair? Well have no fear, as you can see below… the chair will stay!
The 1.5 million sq-ft of new development along eight blocks of MLK Ave will include housing, retail, a grocery store, as well as a movie theater. AnacostiaNow has some great comparison shots of what the area looks like currently compared to future developments from the PUD application. [Rendering: Four Points]
I like the idea the only thing is that i hope they widen the streets, Good Hope Road, MLK Ave and Minn. Ave need to really be widened there without a doubt.
All the streets after the anacostia freeway need to be wider they can’t accomidate the amount of traffic they have now, and adding a couple hundred new residents and lots of new workers will only make things worst, and don’t say metro because we all know that everybody that will be working there wont be going to anacosta station, most will be coming from the anacostia freeway
Well I don’t know about “most”, but widening the streets really isn’t the answer. It is about two blocks from the station, so I bet that most of the new residents will be using some form of transit to get to work. It’s all about what is easier, and with gas prices constantly rising, traffic congestion, and people thinking about the environment, more and more are turning to transit.
The neighborhood just needs to be walkable and have amenities for pedestrians and cyclists. Mixed-use projects like these are steps in the right direction. Why not widen the sidewalks and build separated bike lanes (cycle tracks)?
@justin
have you ever actually drove or rode on a metro bus over on MLK, Good Hope RD or Minnesota Ave during rush hour those streets are completely crowded, they need to widen the streets especally around the entrance and exit from the 11th & 13th street bridges.
MLK is supposed to be an avenue but when you get toward Good Hope RD it doesnt look like it, it feels like a small neighborhood street; all streets that lead to and from the exit , entrances of the 11th & 13th street bridges need to be wider or maybe have another exit to the 11th street bridge somewhere.
Maybe they should widen the street as much as they possibly can and place bus only lanes in the middle all the way up to the station and up to GoodHope rd , Alabama ave & Naylor Road and the next best option would be building a transit center where the gas station presently is at Good Hope & Naylor Rd’s oh yeah an actually enforce the bus only lanes. You can go on Good Hope RD or MLK ave any day any see a bunch of 90’s, B2’s P6’s U2’s & 92’s all meet up at Good Hope & MLK ave which then slows down traffic because they all seam to stop at every stop from there to Anacostia and they take up a whole lane so why not just give them there own lane.
Focusing on transit when your on directly infront of a freeway will not work unless they do a serious upgrade of the bus routes around there have more going on each route from the station, every damn bus from there leaves or arrives at the station full adding more people and expecting them to use the same transit is just ludicrous. Sometimes its just quicker to drive than to use transitand everybody wont walk depending on exactly how far they are from a station most people in this country wont even walk half a mile.
Lets say everything is built where will the people that live and work around there be going. Anacostia, Maryland and on the other side of the River.
How many buses go to
Anacostia : all
Maryland : give or take 5 from Anacostia.
Over the River : 3 regularly 2 more during rush hour all are crowded
Walkability only goes so far, you cant walk across the river and thats where a huge amount of volume of traffic comes from over there.
So there is no way they could be new giant mass of people in the area, without
a Upgrade Roads
b Upgrade Tranist (mostly bus routes & maybe eventually a lightrail)
c Wide sidewalks
d Use a combination of all of the above.
It’s not what is easier; its what is cheap for everybody involved in the project.
If someone wanted you could build a community based on tranist but nobody wants to spend the money to do it right ; it would be several hundred million dollars to upgrade roads with transit lanes better streets,sidewalks, more buses to easy the congestion that occurs on the bus routes, enforcing bus only lanes etc.
Gas prices are going up now, what happens when they go down, or when everybody uses transit you will just get congestion on the transit and thats already happening on the bus over there so thats void.
[…] work is being done to modernize and expand the facilities to meet enrollment demands. Considering all the growth planned along MLK blvd in the coming years, this will be vital to prevent […]