WHEREAS, in June 2010, the Commission passed a resolution asking the District (including the Office of Planning and the Department of Transportation) to study the feasibility of covering the Connecticut Avenue underpass north of Dupont Circle with park space;
WHEREAS, for many years, residents and other stakeholders in Dupont Circle have advocated for such a project, which would have an extremely positive impact on the community and take advantage of an underutilized piece of public space;
WHEREAS, over the past two years, an ad hoc group of Commissioners, business community representatives, and representatives from the Office of Planning, the Department of Transportation, and the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Engagement have held a series of productive meetings to develop the project more concretely;
WHEREAS, the working group has developed an initial rendering of the park space (designed by a local volunteer architect) and an initial budget estimate for the work (developed by a local construction contracting company);
WHEREAS, the proposed project would cover the 1500 block of Connecticut Ave NW (between the Circle and Q Street NW) and a portion of the 1600 block of Connecticut Ave NW (just north of Q Street NW);
WHEREAS, Ward 2 Council Member Jack Evans has endorsed the project at budget town hall meetings and other public fora and has requested that it be added to the capital improvement budget for FY 2015;
Therefore, be it resolved that ANC 2B continues its support for the Dupont Circle Underpass Project;
Be it further resolved that ANC 2B recommends that the City Council fully fund the project by allocating sufficient funds in Fiscal Year 2015 to allow for the project to move forward;
Be it further resolved that Commissioners Mike Feldstein (Mike.feldstein@dupontcircleanc.net) and Will Stephens (will.stephens@dupontcircleanc.net) be the Commission’s designated representatives in this matter, and that the matter be delegated to the Commission’s Transportation and Public Infrastructure Committee for further follow-up and development.
