WASHINGTON, DC – The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) recently kicked off data collection efforts for two federal environmental planning studies to determine preferred alternatives for both the Pennsylvania and Potomac Avenue Intersection and the Barney Circle-Southeast Boulevard projects as part of the District’s larger Anacostia Waterfront Initiative (AWI) Program.

These new studies, initiated in late October 2012, involve evaluating updated concept alternatives previously developed in the 2005 Middle Anacostia Crossings (MAC) Transportation Study and also new alternatives for each project to ensure that they account for pedestrian safety and multi-modal transportation needs, as well new or planned residential and economic development within the surrounding AWI Program area. Because of the proximity of the two projects, data collection and some interaction on the alternatives development for each study will be combined, allowing greater efficiency during the development of an Environmental Assessment (EA) for each project.

The MAC Study focused on improving the transportation network along both sides of the river between the 11th Street Bridge and RFK Stadium within Wards 6, 7 and 8. Concepts for the Barney Circle Project will involve transforming the former Southeast Expressway interstate roadway into a boulevard with plantings and streetscape amenities integrated with the adjacent neighborhoods between the new 11th Street bridges and Barney Circle. Concepts for the Pennsylvania and Potomac Avenue Intersection Project, which were initially reviewed during an EA study begun but suspended in 2009 due to requests for additional concept analysis and budget constraints, will focus on pedestrian safety for residents and multi-modal transit users.

Coordination with interested residents, businesses, community organizations and local and federal agencies will take place throughout the study with a first public meeting for the individual EA’s anticipated to be held in the first quarter of 2013. The EA reports are anticipated to be completed in the fall of 2013.

These are two in a series of transportation, environmental, economic, community and recreation projects included in the larger AWI Program. From the Tidal Basin to the city’s northeast border with Maryland, the 30-year, $10 billion AWI Program is transforming the shores of the Anacostia River into a world-class waterfront.

For more information, to follow the progress of the EAs or to join the email distribution list for either project, please visit www.anacostiawaterfront.org/Penn-Potomac and www.anacostiawaterfront.org/BarneyCircle, respectively.