Roads by Anacostia Metro among worst in DC for pedestrians
Street in front of Anacostia Metro. Photo by Old Anacostia on Flickr.
Narrow sidewalks, a 5-way intersection, and missing median strips and crosswalks are just some of the problems around the Anacostia Metro. A project funded by several federal agencies aims to find solutions to what EPA officials called the city’s most dangerous intersections for pedestrians.
The Anacostia Metro opened in December 1991 as the southernmost Green Line Station, bunched between I-295 and Suitland Parkway. Designers expected it to be a park-and-ride commuter station. But subsequent stations in Prince George’s County quickly undercut the demand for parking at Anacostia.
Meanwhile, nearly 70% of Ward 8 households don’t own a car, making the design incompatible with surrounding communities.
The original design made pedestrian access an afterthought. In the two decades since, few improvements have been made to increase pedestrian safety around the station. Coming and going is perilous for the large swaths of schoolchildren and seniors in the area.
Anacostia was selected as one of 5 capital city communities across the country to participate in Greening America’s Capitals, a project between the Environmental Protection Agency, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and US Department of Transportation.
The program will “produce schematic designs and exciting illustrations intended to catalyze or complement a larger planning process for the pilot neighborhood.”
The station is “badly in need of attention,” according to Harriet Tregoning, Director of the DC Office of Planning, who reiterated that improvements would “complement other [ongoing] projects” in the neighborhood. The station lacks a distinctive character and, although, within short walking distance of the Anacostia River, there are no direct access paths to the waterfront.
Top: Current dangerous condition of Firth Sterling Avenue SE and Howard Road Suitland Parkway SE. Bottom: Rendering of a possible safer configuration with a refuge median. Photos by the author showing slides presented at the meeting.