Neighborhood Notes - Foxhall: 2 May 2001
Common sense has finally prevailed, and DC
Parks & Rec'n have backed off rushing newly-sodded Hardy Field back into
service for Youth Soccer. When consulted, neighboring jurisdictions confirmed
that a minimum of six months is necessary for root structure establishment –
otherwise vigorous play just shears sod from underlying soil. Now DPR
knows who the knowledgeable turf management professionals are out in suburbia,
then perhaps all DC’s fields will
become better managed.
This week NCPC
will hold a hearing on the design details of the already conceptually approved
four-way entrance to and from Canal Rd into GU. The lower Foxhall/lower
Palisades community will be offering testimony requesting common-sense safety
conditions for the design:
-
Widen the sidewalk between GU entrance
and Whitehurst freeway entrance so that residents and students can safely
walk and bike along it – right now it is too narrow to safely pass.
Install globe streetlights all along this
sidewalk.
-
Move median street lights up onto the
canal wall (so drunks won’t hit them) and help illuminate the canal
towpath.
-
Install plain language signs starting
right back at Canal Road/Foxhall intersection indicating to use the right
lane to Whitehurst as a
Georgetown bypass, i.e. minimize through traffic down M St.
-
Also similar signage repeated closer to
Key Bridge that lets visitors know that‘s how they get to Virginia and
I-66. (signs that only say 29N and 29S are not helpful!)
-
Ask C&O Canal to look at other
options for vehicle maintenance access so that the additional new lane onto
Whitehurst could be long enough to be useful – what about an overhanging
lane like the award-winning Cara Barton parkway?
-
Commit to smart adaptive traffic light
synchronization and public internet web-cam monitoring to ensure proper
operation of this driveway that is serving a private academic institution
with public dollars.
© Bob Andrew, Foxhall
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