A roundup of recent and ongoing DC work in the neighborhood

by Marlene Berlin

At times in recent days, it has seemed like there’s a DC government project on every street in the neighborhood. Here’s a list of the work we’ve spotted over the past two weeks, and you’re welcome to add your own sightings in the comments section below.

Early last week, the DDOT started an alley repaving project behind the Parker House (4700 Connecticut Avenue).

On Thursday, November 13th and Monday, November 17th, DC Water closed sections of Chesapeake Street west of Connecticut for its water main and lead pipe replacement project.

DC Water at work on Chesapeake Street on November 13th.

On Saturday, November 15th, we saw a DPW leaf collection crew on Albemarle Street. A neighbor had told me (and DPW’s leaf collection site confirms) that we can put out paper bags of leaves and other yard waste as well. That was evident in the pile on the street:

Also on Saturday, DC contractors were adding plantings to the new bioretention (stormwater control) areas alongside the new sidewalk on the 2900 block of Davenport Street.

This week, workers installed new curb ramps at Connecticut Avenue and Chesapeake Street in preparation for a new traffic signal at the intersection.

And on Albemarle Street east of Connecticut, we saw signs that DC Water is preparing to wrap up its long-running Soapstone Valley sewer rehabilitation project. On November 10th, the agency announced that the installation of a new manhole was complete – an important step toward reopening the street to vehicle traffic. On Monday, November 17th, workers were dismantling a bypass sewage line at the site and preparing the street for repaving and reopening.

The truck is loaded with sewer bypass pipes.

The repaving work should include reconstructing the raised crosswalk at Albemarle and 32nd Streets “that the community fought hard to get,” said Paul Harrison, the chair of ANC 3F’s Streets and Sidewalks Committee. “We have made sure that DC Water has the right diagrams” for the crosswalk, Harrison said at the ANC’s November 18th meeting.