ANC Report: It’s All About Traffic

The March 4 meeting of the Georgetown-Burleith Advisory Neighborhood Commission was standing room only, its biggest of several agenda items a discussion of the traffic changes on Wisconsin Avenue in Glover Park. These changes have gone beyond mere “traffic calming” to produce cars waiting in one lane for longer than planned through the neighborhood north of Georgetown.

Along with the commissioners at the table were Councilmembers Jack Evans (Ward 2) and Mary Cheh (Ward 3) along Terry Bellamy, director of D.C. Department of Transportation. Evans repeatedly said he wants two lanes going north on Wisconsin Avenue and got applause from the crowd, when he said the revisions needed to come sooner than one year. Cheh plans a May 1 roundtable on the traffic issue. Bellamy brought his DDOT team to the meeting and said it could make some changes and added that 37th Street and Tunlaw Road was the next traffic project to tackle.

Others used the phrase “terrible idea” to describe the changes. Commissioner Tom Birch said he disliked the “needless left turn” lanes, commission Bill Starrels said he did not go to Whole Foods in Glover Park but rather one in Foggy Bottom and commissioner Ed Solomon expressed concern about the traffic’s “ripple effects” through Burleith. Calling Georgetown “traffic-challenged,” Joe Sternlieb, CEO of the Georgetown Business Improvement District, said he was worried that fewer people might come to town.

On the other hand, Glover Park commissioner Jackie Blumenthal said, “People are generally pleased.”