The Usual ANC Suspects: DDOT, Jelleff, Traffic
By • May 6, 2024 0 1092
How much is going on in Georgetown this spring? So much that it took an entire two-hour-plus Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting on May 1 just to catch everyone up and vote on a few resolutions addressed to the District Council and various government agencies. In sum, almost everything is moving ahead, but slowly and with some rethinking.
Routing the Circulator
For instance, rethinking the Council’s April decision to end the DC Circulator bus services. Maybe they didn’t understand that the big red buses fill a need for workers and visitors traveling to and from Georgetown. Perhaps it is not as easy as the Council budgeters had thought to get WMATA to tack portions of the Circulator routes onto existing Metrobus routes. According to representatives of Mayor Muriel Bowser and Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto, at least parts of the Circulator services may be retained. Input is invited.
Other long-term projects are coming along. Complaints about the years it takes to fix loose bricks and holes in Georgetown’s historic sidewalks are supposedly being heard. The ANC and the District Departments of Public Works and Transportation are discussing how to speed up turnaround times. Given the potential liabilities resulting from broken legs, ankles and the like, it makes sense to prioritize sidewalk repair.
DDOT Finally?
That issue turns up among the 22 recommendations, give or take, in the final DDOT Georgetown Transportation Access and Circulation Study, to be presented publicly on May 20 at a virtual meeting and on May 21 at an in-person meeting in the parish hall of St. John’s Church.
Jelleff, on and on …
On May 2, final plans for the renovation and expansion of Jelleff Recreation Center — another project going back more than five years — were presented in a public meeting at the Georgetown Public Library. [Editor’s note: See online news story about this meeting.]
Of course, there are always other issues to cover, such as alleyway maintenance, including the replacement of city trash buckets. “Damaged ones could be replaced by the city if due to rats,” according to Council member Pinto’s liaison officer. “But some 50 percent of the residences in Burleith are rentals,” commented Eric Langenbacher, president of the Burleith Citizens Association. “They won’t replace city garbage pails.”
More Traffic Cops
Possibly in the final budget: Enhancement of security at historic Mt. Zion Cemetery to stop the ongoing nighttime vandalism. Also announced was the hiring of police and traffic officers to be on-duty in the late afternoon and evening hours at key points of traffic congestion in Georgetown, to be implemented this week.
Metropolitan Police Officer Preston Proctor has been hired — “his experience is invaluable,” one commissioner noted. The new hires will also keep watch on illegal parking, especially that of food trucks. The commission asked to tighten up parking enforcement overall. The new Georgetown bike patrol is now established and riding. Other concerns, such as shutting down illegal cannabis gift shops, will get increased attention.
Fête de la Musique, June 21
A new Georgetown event was announced. “Fête de la Musique,” co-sponsored by the Georgetown Business Improvement District, will feature performances around town on June 21. The international tradition, also known as “World Music Day,” began in 1982 in Paris.
The new MacArthur High School is set to double in size from 200 (mainly ninth graders) to some 400 next fall. Commissioner Kishan Putta urged that funding for the final renovations to the school, which will have more than 800 students in a few years, be secured, along with funds for an auditorium.
