Reader submitted post.  Thanks John!

The Columbia Heights Public Realm Plan is getting closer to implementation. After YEARS of planning and community meetings (since 2003), the city is almost ready to start work on the central area of Columbia Heights.

It will include new and distintive trees lining 14th Street from Newton Street to Columbia Road, as well as new pavement on 14th Street. The main focus will be a pedestrian plaza in front of the Triangle Apartments / Tivoli square -- which will include a lighted fountain (that can be shut off on weekends for a farmer's market). A second, though smaller, pedestrian-focused area will be at the Columbia Heights metro entrance on the southwest corner of Irving and 14th Streets. The plan also includes expanding some sidewalks and pedestrian areas, a bike lane on the roadway, permanent benches for sitting, lots of areas to lock up bikes, and new automated parking meter stands (like the ones in Georgetown) along 14th Street in front of the storefronts, which allow more parking spaces and the fares and allowable parking times can be adjusted for different times of day. DDOT will also be updating its traffic study conducted several years to make sure that the traffic flows are planned for properly (I still have many doubts about this, especially with the increased traffic that will accompany the Target opening). DDOT is also planning adjustments to the traffic flows in some of the intersections, such as 14th and Park Road.

The implementation will begin in the coming weeks and will be finished at some point in 2009 - contact the Office of Planning for more details on the timeline (they distributed a handout with the details but I don't have it anymore). This process has taken a very long time, and it's still long from over, but once it's finished I think it will give a nice and distinctive feel to the central area of Columbia Heights.

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