A SMARTER, MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS WAY, OFF 295...HOME TO EAST O'THE RIVER!

by Edgar Miraculous Dyer

Ward Seven and the Pennsylvania Avenue Corridor (region between Capitol Hill and Anacostia) needs an off-ramp, from 295 South onto East Capitol Street - East.

Presently, folks travelling on 295 South, heading (or returning) to our Corridor neighborhoods, have TWO wasteful, environmentally destructive options. One: get off 295 and take pothole-ridden East Capitol, over the Anacostia River, a mile around RFK Stadium and back over the river, to get to a tiny loop that spits you out, a block from Minnesota Avenue, ..in Fort Dupont. The other: stay on 295 South and ride it [God help you, in rush hour traffic!], all the way, nearly two, potholey miles, ..down to Pennsylvania Ave. The resulting air pollution, clutter of traffic, wasted time, commuter stress and wear and tear on East Capitol Street (East and West) and that mile-plus on 295 South ..is utterly ridiculous.

It's an environmentally wasteful, mile-plus haul on 295, from East Capitol South, down to our Pennsylvania Avenue Corridor.

Still another option, ..which I consider a non-option, if only because it's so literally backward and insane: take a ramp off 295 and onto a backstreet (the very, very back) of East River Park ..and wiggle and troubleshoot through several quiet, narrow, nondescript streets, until you accidentally come out onto Benning Road, near the PEPCO plant, ..after which you cross a decrepit, potholey bridge, over a railroad ..and down into so-called [Are you serious?] ..Downtown Ward Seven, which is a mess. The resulting noise, traffic and wear and tear on East River Park is entirely disruptive, socially unjust (if we have to go there) ..and just plain wrong - a non-option, when a little smart planning, from District Department of Transportation (DDOT) can make this, so much better.

Hard-working, hump-busting East River Park - Southeast, folks - deserves its well-earned peace and quiet. Nobody came to East River Park, from a country club ..or wearing a tiara. East River Park folks work! They deserve better.

We can do better, than this. We can do so much better ..and smarter.

One smart loop from 295 onto East Capitol Street revolutionizes our brutal, fossil fuel-burning, traffic jam-causing commute to the Pennsylvania Avenue Corridor ('Capicostia') ..and surrounding Penn Branch, Hillcrest, Fort Dupont, Fairfax Village, Twining City, Dupont Park, Pope Creek and Greenway. Yes - that is half the Corridor! As I said, "Revolutionary!" Furthermore, a 295-to-East Capitol loop displaces no area wildlife. [Join the discussion, on Twitter.]

Let me tell you ..I am a proud Brancher. We of Penn Branch, Dupont Park and Hillcrest ..LOVE our opossum, deer, groundhogs, hawk, rabbits, coyote, fox, bobcat and (not so much) seasonal mountain lion, ..all hopping in and out of our yards, all hours of the day and night! We wouldn't advocate something that would further displace or harm our wildlife, from their natural habitats, ..for all the money in the world.

Without this ramp, from from 295 South onto East Capitol Street - East, ..the so-called Downtown Ward Seven, with its one way in and one way out, ..is a joke and an insult to our intelligence. We need this, and the District Department of Transportation can make it happen. Go, DDOT!

Champ the Ramp, my friends!

Edgar Miraculous (Mel) Dyer, without his fine, coyote-hatin' Goldiweiler, Kirby (now moved on to that big, coyote-hatin' hate group in the Sky) continues a somewhat bleaker, dogless existence in the Capitol Hill area of Washington, DC. He has been an active member of the Latino Culture Council of the Capitol Area (El Consejo de Cultura Latina – La Zona del Capitolio) and the Kiwanis Club of Capitol Hill.