Please note that JDLand is no longer being updated.
peek >>
Near Southeast DC Past News Items
In the Pipeline
25 M
Yards/Parcel I
Chiller Site Condos
Yards/Parcel A
1333 M St.
More Capper Apts.
Yards/DC Water site
New Marine Barracks
Nat'l Community Church
Factory 202/Yards
SC1100
Completed
Thompson Hotel ('20)
West Half ('19)
Novel South Capitol ('19)
Yards/Guild Apts. ('19)
Capper/The Harlow ('19)
New DC Water HQ ('19)
Yards/Bower Condos ('19)
Virginia Ave. Tunnel ('19)
99 M ('18)
Agora ('18)
1221 Van ('18)
District Winery ('17)
Insignia on M ('17)
F1rst/Residence Inn ('17)
One Hill South ('17)
Homewood Suites ('16)
ORE 82 ('16)
The Bixby ('16)
Dock 79 ('16)
Community Center ('16)
The Brig ('16)
Park Chelsea ('16)
Yards/Arris ('16)
Hampton Inn ('15)
Southeast Blvd. ('15)
11th St. Bridges ('15)
Parc Riverside ('14)
Twelve12/Yards ('14)
Lumber Shed ('13)
Boilermaker Shops ('13)
Camden South Cap. ('13)
Canal Park ('12)
Capitol Quarter ('12)
225 Virginia/200 I ('12)
Foundry Lofts ('12)
1015 Half Street ('10)
Yards Park ('10)
Velocity Condos ('09)
Teague Park ('09)
909 New Jersey Ave. ('09)
55 M ('09)
100 M ('08)
Onyx ('08)
70/100 I ('08)
Nationals Park ('08)
Seniors Bldg Demo ('07)
400 M ('07)
Douglass Bridge Fix ('07)
US DOT HQ ('07)
20 M ('07)
Capper Seniors 1 ('06)
Capitol Hill Tower ('06)
Courtyard/Marriott ('06)
Marine Barracks ('04)
 
Go to Full Blog Archive


1560 Blog Posts Since 2003
Go to Page: 1 | ... 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 ... 156
Search JDLand Blog Posts by Date or Category

* I mentioned this a few days back, but why not pass along another reminder that Monday at 7 pm is the ANC 6D monthly meeting, with presentations and votes on 401 M Street, the ballpark traffic management plan, and the South Capitol Street Draft EIS, plus a briefing by the Nats on the Opening Day "Fan Fest" activities. To get in on the fun, go to St. Augustine's Episcopal Church at 6th and M St., SW, starting at 7 pm.
* If the ANC isn't your bag, you can watch the Zoning Commission take up again the Capitol Gateway Overlay Review for Donohoe's planned office building at 1111 New Jersey. It's a continuation of the last hearing, which revolved mostly around whether the garage access would be from New Jersey or from the alley. The hearing starts at 6:00 pm, and 1111 is also on the public meeting agenda at 6:30 pm, which perhaps is a display of optimism that Donohoe and DDOT will have the garage issue straightened out and the review ruling can be made. Watch the webcast, if you're so inclined. (I'm going to be missing both of these meetings, so it might be a few days before I can get the scoop on them.)
* The new Enhanced Residential Parking Permit signs, which allow non-Zone 6 parking only on one side of the street in certain areas near the ballpark, continue to get installed. They came to my street north of the freeway within the past day or so.
* I thought I did good with last week's find of a November 2006 satellite photo of the neighborhood, but reader JK has upped the ante with the "Bird's-Eye View" option at Microsoft Live Search, showing not-real-high-up images from March 2007. But be careful when you're scrolling around--if you go to fast, the images flip back to shots from early 2003. (Which is festive in its own fun-house kind of way.)
 

Metro has posted some information about how it plans to handle Opening Day at Nationals Park on March 30, and the Mass by Pope Benedict XVI on April 17. (This document comes from the agenda for its March 13 Customer Service, Operations, and Safety Committee meeting.) Some highlights, above and beyond the we've-put-up-a-web-site-and-printed-brochures bullet points:
* Metro is expecting 24,000 fans to come via Metro for Opening Day (21,000 of them via the Navy Yard station), and 26,000 Mass attendees. They also expect 60 percent of baseball fans to arrive via Metro during the season.
* The Opening Day plan includes the newly enhanced N22 bus service, 18 extra pre-and post-game trains (mainly on the Green line), extra eight-car trains (perhaps up to every third train), and converting the Navy Yard Station to "one-way" traffic. (I presume this means for pedestrians, though I'm not sure if this means that *no one* can enter/exit the station against the flow before and after the game.) The fact that this first game is on a Sunday night is allowing Metro and the city to avoid a possible complete meltdown of the transportation network that might happen if it occurred during an evening rush-hour.
* Because Mass attendees must be through security and into the park by 9 a.m., Metro expects the largest crushes of travel to be between 5 and 8 am (the height of the morning rush hour) and again post-Mass. All available extra trains will be used when the Metrorail system opens at 5 am, and there will be 18 extra trains after the Mass ends. And, again, the document says that the Navy Yard Station will be converted to "one-way," which ought to be interesting for the commuters trying to use the station to get to and from work during this Thursday event. And the dreaded phrase "Rolling Street Closures" is mentioned for Pope Day, in that it might affect bus routes coming into the neighborhood. If there were ever a day for Near Southeast residents and workers to telecommute....
With the uncertainties about how fans and the transportation network will handle the crush of getting to the new ballpark for the first time, and with the president expected to throw out the first pitch, the Nationals are opening the gates at 3:30 pm on the 30th, 4 1/2 hours before the 8:05 pm start time. I've been told that they've acquired more than 50 magnetometers to try to lessen the burden of passing 41,000-plus fans through security, but if you're going to the game, you might not want to show up at 7:55.
UPDATE: For more, see this Tuesday entry on additional news on Metro's plans.
 

Just a bunch of tiny items worth highlighting on a dreary Saturday (no new photos today in this muck):
* A building permit has been approved to build a surface parking lot along First Street between M and N, where Normandie Liquors and its brethren were demolished last month. And the Archdiocese of Washington has applied for a public space permit for the 1300 block of First Street, SE--does the Popemobile need special parking permits?
* As plans at The Yards continue to move forward, there's now official names for the first-phase projects. Say hello to The Boilermaker Shop, The Pattern Shop Lofts, and Factory 202. (And 401 M and 400 Tingey, but those aren't anywhere near as catchy.)
* The 55 M web cam is no longer available to the public. Perhaps they want the Opening Day vista to be a big surprise. Or they don't want people watching the last-minute work on the Navy Yard Metro station. (I wonder if the gas main hit on Thursday was caught by this camera.)
* Some commenters are discussing the idea that's been floated of someday demolishing the Southeast-Southwest Freeway. Getting rid of this Berlin Wall that separates Capitol Hill and Near Southeast (and splits Southwest) was brought up in the National Capital Planning Commission's 1997 Extending the Legacy framework plan, if you want to see it actually on paper. (Apparently an updated NCPC framework plan is scheduled to come out this spring, which looks like it continues to have Virginia Avenue marked where the freeway currently is.) As to whether I'll see this done in my lifetime, well, it would be a nice surprise.
If you really want to go high-concept, you can read DDOT's 2003 South Capitol Street Gateway and Improvement Study to see their ideas for a tunnel that would link I-295 and the SE/SW Freeway for through traffic, leaving South Capitol Street to become the grand urban gateway boulevard planners envision. At Wednesday's public meeting on the South Capitol Street Draft Environmental Impact Statement, DDOT said that the tunnel isn't totally off the table, but they decided that a new Douglass Bridge and other South Capitol Street improvements could move forward separately. But could a tunnel still work if the dream of dismantling the SE/SW Freeway were realized?
* I've tried to remain (mostly) unopinionated on various projects during the five years I've run this site. But sometimes, it's necessary to take a stand, to come out from behind the cloak of neutrality and crusade for what you believe in. So I'm going to take advantage of this bully pulpit and fight for one thing: Arched Bascule!
 

* Tommy Wells's web site has the details on the new times and routes for the N22 bus that runs between Union Station and New Jersey and M. The expanded hours and route changes start on March 30. I've added them to my Take Metro! page.
* After the recent columns that have caused some gnashing of teeth with their representations of the area around the ballpark, readers might enjoy Marc Fisher's "Scenes from a Changing City" posts this morning: "But it was the walk from the Metro station to the stadium that taught me something about how cities change. The Metro entrance closest to the stadium isn't open yet--it will be done by Opening Day, we're assured--so I walked the extra couple of blocks from New Jersey Avenue. Any walk around the ballpark area these days is a bit treacherous, as the area is cluttered with construction materials and work crews. But it's possible to see that what two years ago was an industrial and nightclub zone in which only the brave dared walk alone is on its way to becoming another piece of the grid. What was a collection of rutted roads, empty lots, warehouses and fringy businesses is becoming an extension of downtown in which walking around is as routine as on Seventh Street in the East End, K Street downtown or M Street NW in Georgetown." (And thanks for the shout out, Marc.)
 

Beginning the trek through the approvals process are the first new-construction buildings planned for The Yards--a 320,000-square-foot office building at 401 M Street and a 170ish-unit apartment building to its south at 400 Tingey Street. They would both have ground-floor retail, but it's what's planned for 401 M that will probably have everyone's attention, because a grocery store is proposed for that space, just inside the historic wall and sentry tower on the southeast corner of Fourth and M. (No, which grocery store it could be hasn't been announced yet.) Recent documents have said that 401 M could begin construction in late 2008, with delivery in 2010; the residential building's start depends on "market conditions." (Uh-oh.) A few more early renderings are on my 401 M/400 Tingey page. (See my Yards First Phase page for information on the retail and residential projects that are getting underway this year.)
There's a Zoning Commission Southeast Federal Center Overlay Review of the plans scheduled for April 17, and ANC 6D will be voting on whether to support the project at its March 10 meeting.
Also at Monday's ANC 6D meeting will be presentations and votes on plans for the Opening Day Fan Fest at the ballpark, the ballpark Transportation and Residential Curbside Management Plan (formerly known as the TOPP), and the South Capitol Street Draft Environmental Impact Statement. I attended Wednesday night's public meeting on the Draft EIS, and while the slides from the meeting haven't yet been posted on its web site, the DEIS's executive summary is a good substitute for the information that was available at the meeting--you can read my summary of the plans as well. There wasn't much public comment (maybe seven or eight speakers), and the concerns seemed to be more about making sure DDOT does a good job of handling the inconveniences and resident issues as a result of the planned changes, rather than any real opposition to the plans themselves. The public comment period ends March 31, and the Final EIS is expected to come out late this year.
Alas, I won't be able to attend this ANC meeting that's so chock full of Near Southeast goodness. But I'm guessing that spending that evening watching the Roger Federer-Pete Sampras exhibition at Madison Square Garden might be a bit more enjoyable.
 

* The WashTimes has a getting-ready-for-the-baseball-crowds piece, surveying what Metro and DDOT are planning, and also talking about the Transportation and Residential Curbside Management Plan (formerly the TOPP) that I've been writing about extensively. (Read it already, would you?) Metro is planning 14 extra trains for Opening Night, and will be presenting its plan for handling ballpark traffic to its board on March 13. Central to this piece--and to many conversations I've had with city and team officials--is that residents and fans need to know that The Powers That Be will be watching Opening Day very closely (DDOT plans to be watching from the air) to see what works and what doesn't, and will be tweaking the initial plans as necessary. In fact, there's probably going to be an entire season's worth of responding to initial problems, not only in terms of getting to the ballpark but at the stadium as well. Patience is counseled, though of course that's never been a strong suit in this city. And it's worth a reminder that there's a public meeting on the transportation plan on March 12 from 6 to 8:30 pm at 20 M St., SE.
* Commenters yesterday were quick with the news about the gas leak that closed the Navy Yard and Waterfront Metro stations yesterday afternoon, thanks to construction workers at Half and M hitting a gas main. Considering all the work that is being done in the area (not just on new buildings but with a lot of digging in the streets lately), it's kind of surprising that something like this hasn't happened sooner.
 

This morning the Usual Suspects re-assembled at the ballpark to plant one of the 14 cherry blossom trees being installed along the centerfield concourse and at the Center Field Gate plaza. And the sun was out! That never happens! Here are some quick photos of the event itself, and check back later today for an update to my Stadium Interior Gallery with a bunch of new photos from centerfield and the plaza. (If you're a fan of my large panoramas, here's one from today taken from the Red Porch restaurant, to whet your appetite for the photos coming later.)
UPDATE: More new photos from today now posted in the Stadium Interior Gallery, mixed in with others I've posted in the past two weeks. So you have a wide range of hideously-dreary-to-fabulously-sunny vistas to look at.
And I'll keep updating this section with links to any media coverage, starting with Dan Steinberg's Sports Bog report. And, as a commenter noted elsewhere, today officials announced that peak cherry blossom time is expected to be March 27 through April 3. With Opening Day smack in the middle. Tim Lemke has a blog entry about the ceremony today as well.
Comments (0)
More posts: Nationals Park
 

* The Mayor took some Congressional bigwigs around the ballpark yesterday. Today, the cherry blossom trees are being planted along the concourse in left-center field. Check back later today for photos. (And the sun will be out in them! How revolutionary!)
* Tony Knott of the WashTimes gets snarky about traveling to the ballpark.
* If you want to see what the new Enhanced Residential Parking Permit signs look like, drive along I Street SW between Third and Fourth--on the north side of the street you'll see new red signs saying Zone 6 Permit Holders Only, 7 AM - Midnight, Monday - Sunday"; on the south side of the street are the more familiar green signs that say "Two Hour Parking Only - Zone 6 Permit Holders Exempted", but they now have new stickers slapped on that say "7 AM - Midnight, Monday thru Sunday". DDOT must have hit the streets the second the bill passed on Tuesday! And, of course, the kiosk parking meters are cropping up in more locations.
* I've been meaning to post about this when there was a lull (HAH!)--Mapquest has updated its satellite image of Near Southeast to November 2006, showing the steelwork underway at the ballpark. I've added it to the bottom of my Satellite Photos page, even though it's only a few weeks later than the last "newest" image (from Live Search). You'll see that I've tweaked this page a bit so that you can now pick and choose which photos to display (since it's getting to be a huge page)--for instance, maybe you want to see just the 2002 and late 2006 photos.
UPDATE: I knew there was something else I meant to mention. The stadium web cam shows that advertising banners are going up on the eastern parking garage.
Comments (0)
More posts: parking, Nationals Park
 

(I'm having so much fun with posts on home plate's arrival at the ballpark, ballpark food, and raze permits that I hate to kill the buzz with a post on parking, but alas it must be done.)
Yesterday the city council passed an emergency version of Tommy Wells's Performance Parking pilot plan, which will be used to regulate curbside parking on streets near the ballpark (as well as in Columbia Heights, along with a new taxicab zone pilot in Adams Morgan and a Visitor Pass pilot in Mount Pleasant). I've got the text of the bill as passed, and there's much more detail than was in the draft version of the bill (though not the detail that everyone really wants, namely the rates and fines), so definitely look at it if you're looking for additional information. A few items that jump out at me (though I'm hoping that Tommy's office sends out a release soon with more info):
* The pilot is only for two years.
* The mayor gets to set the rules, fees, and fines for the zones, but the council gets to set the zones themselves.
* Parking fees cannot be increased by more than 50 cents in any one-month period (or more than once per month).
* Councilmembers and ANCs must be notified of any fee changes at least 10 days in advance.
* "The Mayor shall publish a web site that includes the following: pilot zone boundaries, rules/regulations, information about how to use new parking fee technologies, and a parking pilot project manger's name and contact information." (Until then, you can look at my page on the curbside parking regulations around the ballpark.)
* DDOT has to submit a plan to the council and the ANCs with zone-specific parking management targets and with details on parking charges.
* DDOT has to conduct quarterly public meetings to provide updates on the parking management targets and to receive public comments on the program.
* The mayor has to submit an annual report on the parking pilots with all sorts of statistics.
Speaking of parking, the March Hill Rag has a roundup on the parking plans for the area (similar to my page). And I've been very remiss in not reporting that Feb. 21 Zoning Commission hearing on allowing additional temporary surfacing parking lots in Southwest was continued to March 24 after representatives of DDOT were not in attendance to discuss traffic management plans for the new lots. The Hill Rag has a summary of the Feb. 11 ANC meeting where there was much unhappiness about these potential new lots.
UPDATE: Bad link to bill text fixed.
UPDATE II: DDOT is now announcing a public meeting on March 12 from 6 to 8:30 pm at 20 M St., SE, for "residents and business owners and operators to review and comment on the most recent version of the Transportation and Residential Curbside Management Plan (often referred to as the Transportation Operations and Parking Plan (TOPP)). DDOT will also offer their appreciation to the area residents and business owners for their support and patience during the recent street upgrades in the South Capitol corridor. The meeting is an open workshop that will highlight the numerous parts of the overall transportation and parking operations that will be in effect during events at the new stadium. The TOPP was originally drafted to address concerns by residents on the expected increase in vehicular movement during stadium events in the southeast and southwest neighborhoods surrounding the ballpark. Representatives from the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission (DCSEC) and the Nationals will also be available to address concerns and answer questions." (This is the meeting that was described in testimony at the city council last week as being "at the ballpark." I guess they used "at the ballpark" in the same literary way one could say that the Navy Yard Metro station is "at the ballpark." Ah well.)
 

A press release just out from the mayor's office announces that National Public Radio will be building its new headquarters at 1111 North Capitol Street--a disappointment to the buildings in Near Southeast that had been courting the company during its search for 400,000 square feet of available space. (The city may be disappointed as well, given that rumors abounded last fall that they were trying to have NPR take over the lease at the old Post Plant at 225 Virginia Avenue.)
UPDATE: Here's the Washington Business Journal article on the move.
 

Last week we had the announcement of the local eateries that will be selling food at the ballpark (including Ben's Chili Bowl, Hard Times Cafe, Cantina Marina, and others). Today's Food section in the Post folows up with a story on the offerings, along with a pretty cool map showing where the various concessions will be located in the ballpark. There are nearly 80 more concession "points of sale" at the new ballpark compared to RFK, and there will be just over 64,000 square feet of restaurant square footage on South Capitol Street, up from a mere 8,900 at RFK. And of course 41,222 more cupholders at the seats than at RFK.
UPDATE: I'm adding all this to my Stadium FAQ section on food offerings, but I might as well post it here as well (gleaned from one of the handouts at yesterday's home plate ceremony):
There will be 49 concession stands at the ballpark, and nearly 200 "points of sale." In addition to the local vendors listed above, the usual fare will be available: hot dogs, sausages, hamburgers, pizza, nachos, popcorn, pretzels, Cracker Jacks, candy, peanuts, and sunflower seeds. There will also be specialty items available, including vegetarian burgers, hot dogs and chili, caesar salads, crab cake sandwiches, crab pretzels, Buffalo chicken sandwiches, burritos and tacos, corned beef, pastrami, turkey, and roast beef sandwiches, fish and chips, Old Bay fries, and soft serve sundaes.
There will also be additional specialty items from "around the National League." Some will be available at every game, such as Philly cheesesteaks (Phillies), Sheboygan brats (Brewers), BBQ pulled pork sandwiches (Braves), and garlic fries (Giants). Others will be available when certain teams come to town: SW Loaded Nachos for the Diamondbacks, Chicago Style Dogs for the Cubs, chili cheese dogs for the Reds, Buffalo burgers for the Rockies, Cuban sandwiches for the Marlins, Texas brisket for the Astros, California sushi rolls for the Dodgers, Knishes for the Mets, pierogies for the Pirates, fried ravioli for the Cardinals, and fish tacos for the Padres.
The concession stand in the family Strike Zone will offer kids meals, a build-your-own peanut butter and jelly sandwich bar, and other food for kids.
Comments (0)
More posts: Retail, Nationals Park
 

Raze permits have now been filed for the Wendy's at 23 I Street and its little gray neighbor at 901 Half Street on the corner of Half and I. These two lots totaling about 47,300 square feet were purchased in late July for $28.625 million by JPI, and the company is planning "23 Eye at Capitol Yards," a 421-unit residential building with up to 35,000 square feet of retail space. Late last year JPI was saying that 23 I would start construction this August--I haven't seen anything lately on whether that's still the case. I haven't had a chance to swing by Wendy's to see if they have a closing date, so if anyone thinks to ask while they're at the drive-through window, let me know. This project would be the youngest of the four Capitol Yards siblings, joining 70/100 I arriving later this year just across the street and 909 New Jersey coming in 2009 one block to the east.
 

It's been a wild day for me, and with my needing to watch election results late into the night for my real job I figure I'd better squeeze in this link roundup now. Most stories cover both the ticket sales this morning (Opening Day sold out in minutes, though there's still plenty of tickets for the other 80 home games this season) and this afternoon's scoreboard unveiling together, so I'm just going to give you the big pile o'links to plow through.
NBC 4 has video of the scoreboard in action, while The Post goes into detail on the difficulties fans had getting into the ticket systems by phone and online. Channel 9's report also included some coverage of traffic and parking issues (plan ahead!). WTOP posted separate stories on the tickets and on the scoreboard. The WashTimes has both video (including the departure from RFK) and photos. You can also see the opening video played on the scoreboard on this YouTube clip (there was talk that the Nats would post it online, but I haven't found it yet).
MLB.com has coverage of the scoreboard and the latest progress at the ballpark, and a separate roundup of ballpark-related items, including confirmation of the longtime rumor that President Bush has been invited to throw out the Opening Day pitch. It also talk about the tours of the ballpark that will be available later in the season, and the family entertainment area known as the Strike Zone in the ground floor of the eastern parking garage that will have pitching and batting cages, a Playstation station, karaoke, and the Build-a-Bear outlet. (There's more on this stuff in the fact sheet handouts from today, which I'll try to get to soon.)
Is that enough for you? :-)
And, of course, there's my photos from the unveiling. And I've also now added more photos from today to my main Stadium Interior Gallery, although alas today's weather wasn't really much better than the last time I was there. (But at least the tarp is gone!) And if you're a fan of the mega panoramas I've been posting, there's three new ones of those, too.
UPDATE: According to Tom Boswell, Nats players are just as obsessively refreshing the Stadium Web Cam as the rest of us, counting the minutes until they get to take the field at their new home (and banish the not-so-great memories of RFK).
UPDATE II: More than 40,000 tickets were sold yesterday, far above the 10,000 sold on the first day of individual ticket sales last year, for RFK.
Comments (0)
More posts: Nationals Park
 

I've slapped together a pile of photos from today's ceremonial installation of home plate and the unveiling of the scoreboard--there'll be a ton of media coverage to come as well. I'll still be posting other photos from today in my Ballpark Interior Photo gallery, but that might have to wait a day or two and so hopefully this can tide you over.
Comments (0)
More posts: Nationals Park
 

One quick outbound link this morning, to The Post's piece on the scoreboard at Nationals Park, in advance of today's official unveiling.
Plus, here's a few links for recent items that you might have missed in the flurry of posts around here these days:
* I posted new photos of the ballpark exterior, including the Center Field Gate at Half and N. (I'll probably have new interior photos later today, though the weather doesn't look to be that much better than the last time I was inside, on that icky dreary day.)
* Read the damn Ballpark Traffic Management Plan already. And my pages on on-street parking and taking Metro. And the new pages by Metro and the Nationals about getting to the games. (And listen for the radio ads that debuted yesterday urging fans to take Metro.)
* Monument Realty has won a preliminary injunction preventing WMATA from selling the Southeastern Bus Garage to Akridge.
* Watch for announcements of a community meeting about Opening Day on March 12, at the ballpark.
And, a reminder: the parking garages that look so stark in photos from inside the ballpark will have big banners draped on them by Opening Day. So what you see now is not what you're going to see in four weeks.
 

Yesterday I posted a whole batch of updated photos of the ballpark's exterior; today you can check out the project pages for the residential projects 70/100 I Street, Onyx (both opening later this year) and Velocity (2009) along with the office projects 100 M (2008) and 55 M (2009) for lots of new shots of those projects, or you can look at alllllll the photos from yesterday on a single page (ballpark shots, too). Don't forget the icon if you want to look at how an intersection has changed over the past few years.
Items of note from my wanderings:
* The south side of I Street is now paved between New Jersey Avenue and Half Street, and I've been told that I Street will be "driveable" by Opening Day;
* First Street is now paved south of K, and paving up to I doesn't look far off;
* The Merritt Cab garage at First and K now has a "Moving March 31, 2008" sign on it; and
* JPI's 909 New Jersey Avenue residential building (between I and K) is not far from reaching ground level, so be prepared for the arrival of another skeleton in the skyline before long.
If *I'm* finding it all hard to comprehend and harder to keep up with, I can only imagine how non-obsessive observers must feel. I'm kind of looking forward to the pace slowing back down a bit come May....
 

* The tarp is coming off the field today--look at that pretty turf! It's probably being done today because Tuesday the Nats are holding a ceremony to install home plate and officially unveil the HD scoreboard (not open to the public).
* The Examiner reports that Metro is tamping down expectations a bit for performance along the Green line for weeknight ballgames: "The transit agency expects the number of riders on the Green Line, which serves the Navy Yard station near the ballpark, to more than triple on game days. But Metro can't add more cars to that section of the system during the week because all of its 820 railcars are committed to rush hour service, officials said." So, perhaps that notion of walking from Capitol South is looking more attractive--I've added to my Take Metro! page a map of the JDLand Suggested Route between Capitol South and the stadium, along with a few photos showing the current state of New Jersey Avenue (which certainly isn't as scary as it used to be).
And, Tuesday is just chock full of Near Southeast-related activities. In addition to the ceremony mentioned above, there's also these items to remember:
* Single-game ticket sales open at 9 am (yes, including Opening Day).
* The City Council will be meeting at 10 am for its monthly legislative meeting, and the agenda includes emergency legislation to enact the "Performance Parking Pilot Zone Emergency Act of 2008", B17-0644, the "Ballpark Safety Emergency Amendment Act of 2008", and B17-0608, the "Vending Regulation Emergency Act of 2008". It's in Room 500 of the Wilson Building, beginning at 10 am, and will be broadcast on DC cable 13 and live webcast.
* The first of two public meetings on the South Capitol Street Draft Environmental Impact Statement is at 6:30 pm at Birney Elementary School, 2501 Martin Luther King Jr., Ave., SE, from 6:30-8:30 pm. The second one is Wednesday night (March 5) at Amidon Elementary School, 401 I St., SW, also from 6:30-8:30 pm.
 

I made the trek down to the ballpark today to update my Exterior Photo Gallery (it makes me a bit wistful to think that I might not be doing this too many more times!). This is not a complete update (let the be your guide); with the morning sunlight, I stuck mainly to the southern and eastern sides of the stadium, though I did also get some shots of the work being done at the Center Field Gate at Half and N, including the bitchin' Team Store sign that's now hung on the corner of the western parking garage. Other items worth noting:
* The southern parking lot is now blacktopped, and blue fences now separate it from Potomac Avenue.
* The Walk of Fame from the Potomac/South Capitol intersection up to the Home Plate Gate is moving along.
* The Grand Staircase now has lamps and handrails.
* The stadium's address has now been hung (1500 South Capitol Street, SE)--except that it was hung on the entrance to the loading dock on First Street south of N.
* Some workers were picking up trash along Potomac Avenue.
* They're still not letting "civilians" onto First Street, Potomac Avenue, or N Street. So if you want to do a drive-by (as a bunch of people were attempting to do this morning), you're going to get turned back at First and N.
If you want a more complete batch of before-and-afters, check out the First, Potomac, and N Street expanded galleries.
Tomorrow I'll be posting new photos of all the other activity near the ballpark, including the paving of one lane of I Street (yay!) and the near-completion of First Street's widening and repaving (yay!). And of course the latest views of Onyx, 100 M, 70 I, and Velocity.
Comments (0)
More posts: Nationals Park
 

The Post today has a long-ish summary on the current status of the ballpark's construction and the parking issues in "No Time to Rest in the Home Stretch." Nothing in it is really news for anyone who follows things around here (especially if you've looked at my photos of the interior of the ballpark taken last week), except for the news that the certificate of occupancy could come within a week and that cherry blossom trees on the outfield concourse will be planted soon....
Comments (0)
More posts: Nationals Park
 

At the end of Thursday's council roundtable on ballpark traffic operations and parking issues, a representative of the office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development told the council members that there will be a community meeting to provide stadium-related information to residents on March 12, to be held at the ballpark. An announcement flyer should be going out soon, they said.
Other items from the later portion of the meeting, which I've now finished watching (and which you can now watch via on-demand video):
* There are indeed "hundreds" of spaces in the parking lots surrounding the ballpark that were not purchased by season ticket holders, and the Nationals are looking at making those available for gameday purchase, but probably only via the Internet, and only in lots farther away from the ballpark. This is to avoid congestion in the area near the stadium, and also to prevent fans from driving to the area without a parking space already in hand.
* It appears that monthly parking contracts will be offered in the garages on the north end of the ballpark footprint, though that is still being worked out. (The city would receive 2/3 of the revenue from those contracts.)
* Tommy Wells asked a number of questions about vending carts around the ballpark, interested not so much in the economics but more about "more eyes on the streets", especially along New Jersey Avenue for fans walking to and from the stadium from the Capitol South subway station. There are apparently new regulations that Jim Graham said will most likely will pass at the March 4 council meeting that would require site-specific permits for street vendors and that would create "development zones", "essentially specific geographic areas with a uniform design standard that would be established through a partnership of DCRA, neighborhoods and their business improvement districts" (quoting myself quoting a February WBJ article--read the bill for more information). So it sounds like any planning for vending in the ballpark area is going to come down to the wire.
And, if you haven't looked at the Ballpark Traffic Management slides from the hearing that I posted yesterday, please do. There really is a wealth of information on traffic flow, where traffic officers will be posted, signal timing, routes to parking lots, and much more. It answers a lot of questions that fans and residents may have, but only if you look at it.
UPDATE, 3/5: Okay, so maybe "at the ballpark" was spoken by city officials in a literary sense, the same way that the Navy Yard Metro station is "at the ballpark". (Ahem.) The meeting is going to be held on March 12 from 6 to 8:30 pm on the 10th floor of 20 M Street, SE.
Comments (0)
More posts: parking, Nationals Park
 
1560 Posts:
Go to Page: 1 | ... 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 ... 156
Search JDLand Blog Posts by Date or Category




                  © Copyright 2024 JD.