As we noted here, the sidewalk in front of Park Van Ness, at 4455 Connecticut Avenue, will not open until March 4th, five days after Clark Construction’s already-revised completion date.
The first time Saul Centers and Clark pushed back the sidewalk opening, they had faced unexpected repair work on Pepco infrastructure on the north end of the sidewalk site. This time, it was the weather.
The Capital Weather Gang reported in the Washington Post: “Through February 16, D.C. has received 21.9 inches of snow, more than five inches above average…. January and February have both been slightly cooler than normal.”
Not exactly conducive to sidewalk construction.
Noting the inconvenience to pedestrians, ANC 3F Commissioner Sally Gresham worked with Metro officials to get them to coordinate the closing of the western stairway at the Van Ness station with the reopening of this sidewalk. She had some success. WMATA and its contractor had planned to close the entrance on Monday, February 22nd. Instead, it will close on the 29th.
Ann Chisholm, Cedric Watson and Lonnie Mason of WMATA will be at the ANC 3F meeting tonight (7:30 p.m., Forest Hills of DC, 4901 Connecticut Avenue) to provide details about the five-month installation of the second new elevator. The first elevator, now operating, provides a great ride and is well lit.
