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Residents, commissioner press DDOT on outreach, traffic diversion and potential business impacts
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Summary
During DDOT’s presentation on the Pennsylvania–Minnesota improvements, multiple residents and an ANC commissioner criticized the timing and scope of outreach, requested crash and bus-test data, and warned that traffic diversion and parking changes could harm local businesses and narrow streets not built for heavy buses.
Residents, neighborhood representatives and an ANC commissioner pressed DDOT staff on community outreach, data transparency and the likely effects of traffic diversion from the Pennsylvania and Minnesota Avenue redesign.
Miss Marsh told the meeting she felt the agency was presenting a "done deal" and demanded the feasibility study and dates for crash data collection. Christine Mayer, DDOT associate director for multimodal safety engineering, said the MPD crash data shown covered February 2021 through February 2026 and that DDOT would post a dashboard with detailed crash records; she also said WMATA had run bus tests in January to verify turning movements.
Several residents said that earlier input—going back to 2018 ANC and neighborhood meetings—was not reflected in the current design. Commissioner Aaron Harris called the process “closed” in practice and asked when the community would be part of major decision‑making; DDOT staff said the project is in the Notice of Intent comment period and that only small tweaks are typical at that stage because procurement and the final design are largely complete.
Neighbors and longtime participants raised operational concerns: several speakers said local side streets (White Place, Nicholson, 27th Street) are narrow and already constrained; they worried rerouted commuter traffic and a relocated D10 bus could increase noise, vibration and road damage and suggested DDOT provide traffic‑impact and vibration studies. Dr. Patricia Howard Chittums corrected DDOT’s earlier public remark about the BP crash date, saying the child fatality at the gas station occurred in January 2024, and asked for documented dates; DDOT staff agreed to post the crash dashboard for verification.
DDOT deputy director Neelima Gantz acknowledged that closing medians will reduce the volume of cut‑through customers to nearby businesses such as the BP and said, "Would it reduce the amount of total revenue for the gas station? Absolutely. But that's okay. We'd rather not have people die." The remark underscored the tension between safety goals and local economic concerns raised repeatedly by residents.
Staff encouraged residents to submit formal comments via the Notice of Intent, attend the in‑person meeting at Boone Elementary, and complete the Title VI survey. DDOT also said it will perform post‑construction before/after evaluations of crashes, ridership and traffic operations to determine whether further operational adjustments are necessary.
