Where were those people walking?

I’m Gordon Chaffin, a community volunteer and advocate who nerds out on infrastructure policy. This is my newsletter with local news and researched opinions.

Back to Basics: No Excuses for Sidewalk Gaps

On March 14th, I was on a dog walk using sidewalks on the south side of Irving St NW near Washington Hospital Center and the North Capitol St cloverleaf. I noticed several people in scrubs cross Irving to the north side, where there isn’t a sidewalk, and start walking up — or northbound — on the southbound exit from North Cap to Irving to head to westbound Irving. It was the 5 o’clock hour, and I passed a dozen other folks in scrubs there around that time. However, those other people were on bikes accessing the Crosstown Cycletrack, or walking east on the south, sidewalk side of Irving — probably toward the Brookland CUA Metro Stop. So, where were those people walking up the de-facto highway ramp going? I was not aware of any pedestrian-accessible location on North Cap from this location up to the Harewood/Fort Drive intersection.

Well, as best I can tell, those three staffers were walking up toward a VA Hospital parking lot tucked into the trees within the Old Soldier’s Home Defense Department complex. There’s only service roads, with no street lighting, no sidewalks, and cars probably zooming off and on North Capitol. See below:

I share this observation because it is one more reminder that, yes, people walk everywhere in our community — and it is irresponsible infrastructure planning to omit sidewalks just because “I don’t think anyone walks here.” No, they do walk here — and especially in cases where working-class neighborhoods abut fast-and-dangerous roads where sidewalks are often omitted.

The entire area of North Cap and Irving cloverleaf — the “Irving Expressway” — is a historic and vestigial mark of a time when highways could’ve torn up much of D.C., where now tens of thousands of people live. Many of our neighbors, some still alive today, fought back most of that urban highway construction — but there are still giant scars that endanger today’s Washingtonians.

I advocate in this newsletter for local leaders to return to a focus on the fundamentals of municipal good government — a back-to-basics approach. And I think the sidewalk network is one of those basic amenities — especially around such large employers and community service points as the Washington Hospital Center.

Advocacy opportunities on D.C. local issues - Week of March 24, 2024

• It’s time again to ask our neighbors out of state to call their representatives in the U.S. House and ask them to pass the Senate bill fixing D.C.’s local budget…and other items in GGWash’s “Do Something” roundup of public input points for D.C., MD, and VA residents. [THIS IS IMPORTANT. HOUSE REPUBLICANS ARE DRAGGING THEIR FEET.]

• Lots of good stuff to do in the “Do Something” post last week from Greater Greater Washington

• Complete this Georgia Avenue Revitalization Survey for Ward 4 CM Janeese Lewis George (read more about her effort and apply for Advisory Group)

• Complete this Rhode Island Avenue Reimagined Survey from Ward 5 CM Zachary Parker, focused on safer street designs in Langdon/Woodridge neighborhoods.

Check out this nonprofit supporting our neighbors

DISCLAIMER: All opinions and analyses in this newsletter are those solely of Gordon Chaffin and do not represent his employer or community groups with which he’s affiliated.