C Street, NE Project: Redesign, Redirect & Reclassify

This is the first post in a long-term RCA Blog Series, with a post at least once a month.


C Street, NE @ 17TH Place looking East @ 7:30AM Weekday (apology for poor picture quality)

For over 2 years, RCA's Transportation Committee (RCATC) has been collaborating with DDOT, MPD, CM Wells and ANC6A to transform C Street, NE from a minor arterial commuter & commercial corridor into a green, residential, multi-modal gateway for the Greater Capitol Hill Community.

Currently, about 20,000 motorists travel west-bound on C Street, NE daily! Nearly 90% of these vehicles are out-of-district commuter and commercial vehicles.


Project Objectives

Decrease -
1. Commercial & Commuter Vehicle Traffic Volumes
2. Noise Pollution
3. Airborne Particulate Pollution
4. Heat-island Effects
5. Storm-water Runoff

Increase -
1. Residents’ Quality-of-Life
2. Pedestrian, Student & Cyclist Safety
3. Pedestrian/Cyclist-friendly Connections Between Rosedale, Kingman Park, Historic Capitol Hill, the Anacostia River, Lincoln & Stanton Parks and Stadium/Armory Metro Station
4. Streetscape Vegetation & Tree Canopy


Project Problems

There are 3 major reasons out-of-District motorists use C Street, NE and the subsequent Greater Capitol Hill neighborhood street grid:

1. Downtown Connection - traveling into and out of downtown from/to points east of the Anacostia River and from/to I-295 (Kenilworth Ave)
2. Regional Connection - connecting between I-295 (Kenilworth Ave) and I-395 (East-West Freeway)
3. Alternative Connection - avoiding Benning Road & H Street roadway/streetscape construction.


Project Solutions(Goals)

Redesign – create a residential greenway with proportional street-geometry to the existing residential neighborhood, include traffic calming features, vegetation and multi-modal median pathway (extend the Anacostia River Trail toward Lincoln Park)

Redirect - direct commuter and commercial traffic from the Greater Capitol Hill residential street grid to existing east-west principal arterial commercial corridors

Reclassify – designate C street as residential oriented collector to prohibit commercial vehicles and restrict commuter "cut-through"


RCA believes this project not only impacts C Street, NE residents, but affects all of the Greater Capitol Hill Community. C Street, NE's current configuration creates an unbridled gateway for commuter and commercial vehicles to use the neighborhood grid as a path-of-least-resistance at great expense of safety and quality-of-life of Greater Capitol Hill residents.


If you or your organization is interested in helping convert C Street, NE into a green, residential, multi-modal gateway for the Greater Capitol Hill Community, contact Ken Granata, RCA Transportation Committee Chair, space-creator@hotmail.com or 202.557.9902.