June 3 and 4 community meetings: DDOT’s new Connecticut Ave. plan, DC Water’s Soapstone project street closures

It’s been nearly 18 months since DDOT’s most recent public presentation about the Connecticut Avenue Multimodal Safety Improvement Project. At a January 2023 ANC 3C committee meeting DDOT hinted at new concept designs that we may never see.

The reason: On April 11th of this year, DDOT’s acting director announced that the safety project would proceed without bike lanes.

Now, DDOT has another new concept to present to the community, and it will do so at a virtual meeting on Monday, June 3rd at 6:30 p.m.

We’ll be able to connect via WebEx or phone. The meeting announcement has all the information you should need.

The Soapstone sewer project enters the home stretch

The relining of the century-old sewer running through the Soapstone Valley is nearly complete. The last remaining section of unlined pipe is a 350-foot segment that starts behind Park Van Ness, runs parallel to Connecticut Avenue, and ends at Albemarle Street. While the work is under way, DC Water will, at times, close Albemarle to vehicle traffic.

At ANC 3F’s special meeting on Tuesday, June 4th, DC Water will go over its plan to reline the final sewer line segment, and discuss its traffic control plan. The commissioners will also vote on a resolution concerning this phase of the project.

The Zoom meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Here’s the link: bit.ly/anc3fmeet

And here’s a draft of the resolution:

Resolution Regarding DC Water Main and Trunk Sewer Lines Relining Project in Soapstone Valley: Modification of Manhole at Albemarle Ave and 32nd Street to Conduct CIPP Operations for Sewer Line between the Intersection and A Manhole Located Behind Park Van Ness Apartment Building

Whereas DC Water has been performing operations relining the main and connecting trunk sewer lines within the Soapstone Valley since March 2022,

Whereas DC Water has completed all relining work except for a 300-foot section of sewer pipe from a manhole at the intersection of Albemarle and 32nd Street, NW to a manhole located behind the Park Van Ness apartment building,

Whereas DC Water will be using the UV curing method for this relining work,

Whereas DC Water will have to enlarge the existing manhole to complete this relining
work,

Whereas this work will require the closure of Albemarle Ave from Connecticut Ave and to a point east of the intersection for an extent amount of time to enlarge the manhole diameter, conduct the relining operation, and bring the surface aspects of the current manhole back to its current appearance,

Whereas these closures may be temporary (daily) or longer-term (weeks),

Whereas this work will force the detour of traffic near the intersection, have considerable noise and possible air quality impacts on the community, and disrupt traffic flow in the Forest Hills community;

Whereas DDOT has directed DC Water to brief Councilmember Frumin’s office and the ANC 3F, and the community concerning this work and to seek concurrence from these two entities,

Be it resolved that ANC 3F concurs with the plans presented by DC Water and recommends DDOT approval of these operations, with the following stipulations that DDOT must incorporate into the permit and which must be signed by DC Water management:

1. An onsite DC Water staff will oversee all operations.
2. Notification of these operations will extend to the Avalon apartment building, Park Van Ness apartment building, the Montessori school, restaurants, other commercial establishments, and offices in the commercial building located on the southeast corner block of Albemarle and Connecticut Ave, NW. Notifications will be 14-day, 7-day and 24-hour notices including formal letters and door hangers, as appropriate. Notification will also be done through the Forest Hills Connection.
3. Air quality monitoring will be conducted similar to that conducted for prior relining operations for the Soapstone Project.
4. A schedule will be submitted to the community at least 14 days before operations commence and updated on a daily basis to reflect changing conditions, posted on the Soapstone web page on the DC Water web site.
5. A Traffic Control Plan will be included in the permit application submitted by DC Water to DDOT and will be distributed as part of the notification process. Access to the parking area behind the commercial stores on the eastern side of Connecticut Ave and south of Albemarle Ave by suppliers, owners, staffs, and other deliveries, as well as garbage collection services will be maintained. The
Traffic Control Plan be submitted to the ANC for a short review, as it is filed with DDOT. The permit application submitted to DDOT by DC Water will also submitted to the ANC.
6. Status of the project will be updated daily on the DC Water Soapstone Project web page.
7. Hours of operations will be included in the notification process and will be strictly adhered to by DC Water contractors. 24-hour per day operations will occur for a continuous period of two weeks when the existing manhole is dissembled, thus nighttime operations are permitted and notice will be given the community.
8. Access to Albemarle from the parking lot located behind the commercial building referenced in Note 2, above, will not be impaired for intermittent use.

Be it resolved, by a vote of ___ yeas and ___ nays of the ANC 3F at a special meeting on June 4, 2024, that ANC 3F approves this resolution.

Signature/date of ANC 3F Chair

Signature/date of DC Water representative