Southwest Waterfront redevelopment, Water St. to be closed

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  • March 8, 2014 at 6:24 pm #914963
    PotomacCyclist
    Participant

    The Wharf is a $2 billion multi-building redevelopment of the Southwest Waterfront. (Not a security officer aboard the USS Enterprise.) Groundbreaking is scheduled for March 19. Construction could continue for the next 4 years. The new development will include apartments, offices, condos, hotels, a movie theater, a jazz club, a piano bar, a country-western bar and a 6,000-seat concert hall. The developer also wants to add LED lighting to the nearby Case Bridge (I-395).

    Of particular note for cyclists is the removal of much or all of Water Street. The new buildings will be constructed up to Maine Ave. (A cycle track is planned for Maine Ave. See the next post below.)

    One of the JDLand pictures shows the Kastles team tennis stadium torn down. That was only built in 2011. I think the new development includes another Kastles stadium, but I haven’t looked at the plans recently. It shouldn’t take that long to build a new stadium. The old one wasn’t that large (maybe 1,000 capacity?) and it was made of scaffolding and bench seating for the most part. I hope they improve the drainage system. When it rained during a match last summer, the entire pedestrian area got flooded, even though it was only a typical summer rain shower.

    I’m not sure of the exact construction schedule, but expect Water Street to be closed at some point in the near future.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/southwest-waterfront-redevelopment-set-to-break-ground-but-not-without-concerns/2014/03/07/7572dd28-a53c-11e3-8466-d34c451760b9_story.html?hpid=z2

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-business/wp/2014/03/07/a-walking-tour-in-pictures-the-southwest-waterfront-on-the-eve-of-demolition/

    According to the project website, there will be 1,750 bicycle parking spaces throughout the development:

    http://www.thewharfdc.com/office/office_numbers.htm

    ======
    According to the following blog, there will be a 10-ft. wide “bike lane” and a 15-ft. wide sidewalk along Maine Ave., separated by a row of street trees. Sounds more like a cycle track to me. If so, good.

    http://southwestquadrant.blogspot.com/p/southwest-waterfront-redevelopment.html

    A wide Wharf Street will replace Water Street. A 20-ft. wide section will be reserved for seating. The middle 20 ft. will have limited vehicular travel and possibly a street car. The other 20 ft., closest to the shoreline, will be reserved for pedestrians.

    ======

    June/July 2015

    MAINE AVENUE FISH MARKET PLAN

    Hoffman-Madison Waterfront, the developer of The Wharf, also holds a 99-year lease on the Maine Avenue Fish Market. They have essentially combined the market with The Wharf in their planning.

    They have just revealed plans for an extensive renewal of the fish market. I’m not sure if I heard about this before. I thought they might skip over the fish market, but it makes sense to do some work there too. The parking lots and access lanes are in poor shape and the plot looks run-down and just plain ugly. It’s the first thing that visitors see when traveling from the Tidal Basin to the future Wharf.

    http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/breaking_ground/2015/07/here-s-the-plan-to-restore-d-c-s-historic-maine.html

    In this video, the CEO of PN Hoffman (one of the partners in Hoffman-Madison Waterfront) says that they will add a rum distillery, a pavilion, outdoor seating and a large market hall with a beer/wine shop, a restaurant, and an Italian butcher. (I don’t know why they specify an Italian butcher, but that’s what the article says.) The fish market will be retained but spruced up a bit. The CEO says that they are working with the people who live aboard the boats in the nearby marina to address concerns that they may have.

    The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts is looking at the proposal. They seem cautiously optimistic about the plans.

    The article includes a slideshow of concept renderings, plus a site plan. The text of the plan document is too small to read clearly. You can open the image in a new tab to get a slightly larger display:

    http://media.bizj.us/view/img/6382722/fish-market-site-plan.jpg

    There is no specific mention of cycling accommodations. But given that the main Wharf development will include 1,750 bicycle parking spaces, I think they may include additional bike parking near the fish market where possible. Even if they don’t add many bike racks at the new fish market development, there should be plenty of bike racks at the nearby Wharf buildings, maybe within 50 feet.

    They included cyclists in slides 4-6. They wouldn’t have done this if they were planning to keep bikes out of the new fish market area.

    [ATTACH=CONFIG]9053[/ATTACH]

    I also noticed that they will bury the overhead utility lines.

    [ATTACH=CONFIG]9054[/ATTACH]

    This is what the fish market looks like today:

    https://goo.gl/maps/rOibF

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  • March 8, 2014 at 6:45 pm #995462
    PotomacCyclist
    Participant

    According to the following blog, there will be a 10-ft. wide “bike lane” and a 15-ft. wide sidewalk along Maine Ave., separated by a row of street trees. Sounds more like a cycle track to me. If so, good.

    http://southwestquadrant.blogspot.com/p/southwest-waterfront-redevelopment.html

    A wide Wharf Street will replace Water Street. A 20-ft. wide section will be reserved for seating. The middle 20 ft. will have limited vehicular travel and possibly a street car. The other 20 ft., closest to the shoreline, will be reserved for pedestrians.

    March 10, 2014 at 11:30 am #995502
    Steve
    Participant

    @PotomacCyclist 79189 wrote:

    Of particular note for cyclists is the removal of much or all of Water Street. The new buildings will be constructed up to Maine Ave. (A cycle track is planned for Maine Ave. See the next post below.)

    Thanks for providing all the info in one place. It’s a bummer that Water St. might be closed for a long period of time (it’s on my commute route), but what can you do.

    For those looking to get to the Navy Yard/Nats Park/Annacosita area, if you don’t want to ride Maine/M St for the whole length, my suggestions is riding the Case Bridge, and then Maine –> 7th –> I St. It makes the time on Maine short.

    March 10, 2014 at 12:06 pm #995504
    rcannon100
    Participant

    Kastles stadium has already been torn down. Another restaurant just closed. They have closed some of the docks and moved boats in prep.

    Maine Ave is not a great place for cyclists. Should make for a bad few years as they rebuild. Maybe they will finally replace the poorly designed wheel-disappearing storm grates.

    March 10, 2014 at 2:12 pm #995514
    lordofthemark
    Participant

    Oh my goodness – I’ve only commuted a half dozen times, and this is on my route (pentagon-14thst bridge-water-7th-eye to Navy yard area).

    I am very excited about the new development and what it provides for bikes, but I really hope there is some temporary accommodation. I really do not want to ride on Maine Avenue.

    March 10, 2014 at 3:02 pm #995516
    rcannon100
    Participant

    @lordofthemark 79245 wrote:

    Oh my goodness – I’ve only commuted a half dozen times, and this is on my route (pentagon-14thst bridge-water-7th-eye to Navy yard area).

    I am very excited about the new development and what it provides for bikes, but I really hope there is some temporary accommodation. I really do not want to ride on Maine Avenue.

    Take
    14th St Bridge to Jefferson
    Bike south towards HP
    Halfway between the shorelines on HP, on Buckeye Dr – is an onramp to a bicycle bridge following the Southwest Frwy that will take you to L’Enfant Plaza
    From Benjamin Banneker Park at the south end of L’Enfant you can bike into SW
    Eye St SW has a bike lane

    This will bypass Maine Ave ~ Map hopefully

    March 10, 2014 at 3:56 pm #995519
    lordofthemark
    Participant

    @rcannon100 79248 wrote:

    Take
    14th St Bridge to Jefferson
    Bike south towards HP
    Halfway between the shorelines on HP, on Buckeye Dr – is an onramp to a bicycle bridge following the Southwest Frwy that will take you to L’Enfant Plaza
    From Benjamin Banneker Park at the south end of L’Enfant you can bike into SW
    Eye St SW has a bike lane

    This will bypass Maine Ave ~ Map hopefully

    thanks, I will have to try this.

    March 10, 2014 at 5:28 pm #995529
    PotomacCyclist
    Participant

    You can also avoid crossing Ohio Dr. by turning left after you ride down from the 14th St. Bridge (George Mason Bridge). Head around the small park (George Mason Memorial) and turn into East Potomac Park from there. Continue along Ohio Dr. on the west side of the park and turn left at Buckeye Dr.

    Halfway along Buckeye Dr., take a left turn onto the on ramp for I-395. You can follow the sidewalk until it connects with the bike path on the Case Bridge.

    It’s a slight detour but it avoids the tricky Ohio Dr. crossing.

    March 10, 2014 at 5:46 pm #995532
    PotomacCyclist
    Participant

    @Steve 79233 wrote:

    Thanks for providing all the info in one place. It’s a bummer that Water St. might be closed for a long period of time (it’s on my commute route), but what can you do.

    For those looking to get to the Navy Yard/Nats Park/Annacosita area, if you don’t want to ride Maine/M St for the whole length, my suggestions is riding the Case Bridge, and then Maine –> 7th –> I St. It makes the time on Maine short.

    Hopefully they work on the Maine Ave. cycle track in the first phase of the project. I haven’t seen a detailed construction schedule anywhere. The first phase runs from the fish market area to 7th St. The timeline shows a start date of 2013 and delivery between 2014 and 2016. It’s already 2014, so that schedule will be pushed back at least half a year, maybe more. The road improvements shouldn’t take that long to build. It’s a lot easier to build a bike path than a building.

    March 12, 2014 at 11:43 pm #995735
    Oldtowner
    Participant

    @rcannon100 79248 wrote:

    Take
    14th St Bridge to Jefferson
    Bike south towards HP
    Halfway between the shorelines on HP, on Buckeye Dr – is an onramp to a bicycle bridge following the Southwest Frwy that will take you to L’Enfant Plaza
    From Benjamin Banneker Park at the south end of L’Enfant you can bike into SW
    Eye St SW has a bike lane

    This will bypass Maine Ave ~ Map hopefully

    This is awesome! How have I never discovered this in all my years of riding around here?

    March 13, 2014 at 1:19 am #995743
    Arlingtonrider
    Participant

    Part of this looks like it might be a good workaround for avoiding the crowds at the Tidal Basin area during cherry blossom season as well. Thanks for posting the detailed info and map!

    May 8, 2014 at 11:23 am #1000588
    Steve
    Participant

    Update on Water St.:

    Yesterday a sign went up stating that starting on or around yesterday (I’m not totally sure if it’s happened yet) that there were new traffic patters and no parking on Water St. It appears that this might just be a change for the northern part of Water. Anyways, it appears that they are trying to keep Water St. open, and just taking away parking while construction starts. This is a very good thing for now.

    As a side note, yesterday that had moving trucks pulling all of the furniture out of Phillips. Seems like work is going quickly.

    May 8, 2014 at 3:13 pm #1000607
    creadinger
    Participant

    @Steve 79233 wrote:

    Thanks for providing all the info in one place. It’s a bummer that Water St. might be closed for a long period of time (it’s on my commute route), but what can you do.

    For those looking to get to the Navy Yard/Nats Park/Annacosita area, if you don’t want to ride Maine/M St for the whole length, my suggestions is riding the Case Bridge, and then Maine –> 7th –> I St. It makes the time on Maine short.

    I rode Maine Ave today for the first time in a while. It’s not so bad at 7am. I’ve never ridden it in the afternoon though. Ugh… I hate detours. The workaround the 4MT bridge removal is already adding a mile+ to my commute. Can we do 1 big detour at a time please?

    Additional question – I see that the fishmarket has been left out of these plans, which I’m happy to see… but at the same time maybe a little disappointed. That area needs some upgrades to the facilities. And will there be a better way to deal with the stench that flows out of there? Wow. Some mornings, it can be BAD! I don’t see residents of the brand new nearby, swanky condos tolerating that.

    May 8, 2014 at 4:45 pm #1000623
    Brendan von Buckingham
    Participant

    Maine Ave has been my regular commute for a few years now. Inbound: Memorial Bridge, Independence, Maine. Outbound: Maine, 12th ever so briefly, back to Maine, merge with the traffic off of 395, to Independence. Never had a problem inbound (except for a black Porshe, VA tags “Army 77,”). Outbound takes a bit to get the hang of, but usually jammed with traffic that I just split.

    May 9, 2014 at 1:16 pm #1000703
    lordofthemark
    Participant

    @Steve 84633 wrote:

    Update on Water St.:

    Yesterday a sign went up stating that starting on or around yesterday (I’m not totally sure if it’s happened yet) that there were new traffic patters and no parking on Water St. It appears that this might just be a change for the northern part of Water. Anyways, it appears that they are trying to keep Water St. open, and just taking away parking while construction starts. This is a very good thing for now.

    As a side note, yesterday that had moving trucks pulling all of the furniture out of Phillips. Seems like work is going quickly.

    The construction is starting to add just a tad bit annoyance to what had been the easiest bit of street cycliing on my route, the ride on Water Street from the fish market to 7th. The closed sidewalks mean pedestrians are out in the street, and one of the large tracked thingies next to Phillips was stuck far enough into Water Street to require me to ride further left than I prefer.

    May 9, 2014 at 1:47 pm #1000705
    creadinger
    Participant

    @lordofthemark 84761 wrote:

    The construction is starting to add just a tad bit annoyance to what had been the easiest bit of street cycliing on my route, the ride on Water Street from the fish market to 7th. The closed sidewalks mean pedestrians are out in the street, and one of the large tracked thingies next to Phillips was stuck far enough into Water Street to require me to ride further left than I prefer.

    There was a large crane parked across Water St. in front of Philips this morning. They had closed the street down to two total lanes.

    On Water st, you should not feel bad about taking the lane, or claiming your space farther to the left. It’s not much of a through street, and drivers can simply wait a few seconds to get where they’re going.

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