TUESDAY: Community Meeting on Union Station Expansion and Burnham Place Projects
Mark Kazmierczak
Community Meeting on the Union Station Expansion and Burnham Place Projects
ANC 6C Commissioners Jay Adelstein, Drew Courtney and I are sponsoring a community meeting on the Washington Union Station Expansion and Burnham Place Projects at 7 pm on Tuesday, October 29, in the downstairs conference
room at the Northeast Public Library, 330 7th St NE. The Union Station Expansion Project will significantly alter the Capitol Hill/NoMa neighborhood, and while it will bring many benefits, we must ensure it proceeds thoughtfully so as to minimize potential
negative impacts. Please attend this community meeting whether you want to learn something about the projects or want to share your views.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is leading the effort to expand Union Station to support its current uses and meet increasing demand. (Find the project website
here.) This massive project involves not just new tracks, platforms and concourses for rail passengers but also traffic-generating elements such as loading/unloading zones for intercity, charter, and sight-seeing buses; pick-up/drop-off areas for private
and for-hire vehicles; and short and long-term parking.
ANC 6C has been extremely concerned that the alternatives being studied by the FRA will significantly and needlessly harm the Capitol Hill Historic District and the neighborhoods north of H Street NE. In May 2019, we
objected to an FRA draft report that determined there would be "no adverse effect" on the Capitol Hill Historic District because this determination was reached without any traffic analysis of the Capitol Hill streets. In July 2018 we
raised our concerns that there had not been adequate coordination of the Union Station Expansion Project, the District's H Street Bridge Replacement, and the plans of real estate developer Akridge to develop “Burnham Place” above the Amtrak rail lines north
and south of H Street NE. In May 2018, we
objected that the design options for the expansion project would create a dangerous ring of traffic around the station, preventing easy access for pedestrians and cyclists and diminishing the overall Union Station experience.
This October 29 community meeting will be a chance to see 3-D models created by representatives of Akridge of the options proposed by the FRA and to hear Akridge’s analysis of those options including how they relate to Burnham Place. It will also be an opportunity for you to raise your questions and concerns about the Union Station expansion project with ANC 6C commissioners. Hope to see you then.