New Arboretum Bridge and Trail Project brings mixed reactions from potential users above and below

A proposed pedestrian and bike bridge that would link the U.S. National Arboretum and Kenilworth Park North, slated to be completed by 2022, is generating excitement among those who welcome a more convenient connection over the Anacostia River but concerns from some river users who fear a slower and more hazardous pass.

The scenic 390-foot bridge — stretching over the river between the Arboretum at 3501 New York Ave. NE and the park at 1550 Anacostia Ave. NE in Kenilworth — is part of a larger project that includes a floating dock and kayak launch on the river, new landscaping and trail links, and removal of invasive species.

The project is one of 15 initiatives in the broader 30-year effort to transform the Anacostia waterfront. Additionally, the changes are designed as part of the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail (ART) network, which stretches from the Tidal Basin to DC’s Northeast border with Maryland. When complete, the ART will be 28 miles total.

The bridge project, situated primarily on National Park Service land, would create new connections for the Ward 7 neighborhoods around Kenilworth Park North, including Mayfair, Kenilworth Parkside and River Terrace.

The DC Department of Transportation (DDOT) held public meetings on May 21 and May 22 in wards 5 and 7, respectively, to present a “30% design concept” of the bridge and trail project and to gather feedback from the communities. The agency recently extended the period for public feedback through July 31; comments can be sent to stacee@tbaconnects.com.

At the meetings, officials explained that the design of the bridge —  low-profile to blend with the existing environment, and with open railings to offer unobstructed views — was selected in line with recommendations from a 2011-12 environmental assessment and input from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts.

Joe Spadea, project manager for Pennoni Associates, the engineering firm consulting on the bridge, demonstrated in the presentation how the bridge design changed over time to account for concerns from the rowing community about maintaining adequate width for rowing lanes in both directions. The current design has one bridge pillar in the water rather than the two formerly proposed.

Cindy Cole, owner of Washington Rowing School, acknowledged the changes made based on rowers’ feedback, but told The DC Line after the Ward 5 meeting that officials took “way too long” to consult the local rowing community, which still has major concerns even with the revised design. Cole said she is disappointed officials didn’t take a trip down the river as part of the initial environmental assessment, and called that early failure a “complete disregard” for rowers’ safety.

Cole suggested planners identify a different location or come up with a design that avoids the need for a pillar in the water.

“If there is a pole in the water, someone is going to run into it,” Cole said of the current design, explaining that the bridge support would create an obstruction that would interfere with rowers’ competitive training, since coaching time would be diverted to navigation. She added that rowing boats, which cost thousands of dollars, could sustain costly damage. 

Cole handed out invitations to a free rowing lesson to officials at the meeting, inviting them to see how disruptive the bridge could be to river users and to verify her claims that the river is shallower at the project site than officials are accounting for. 

Tonya Johnson, park naturalist with the Prince George’s County Department of Parks and Recreation, also expressed concerns about the river’s depth at the project site and the ability of tour boats to pass under the bridge. Johnson said she’s glad officials decided to move the columns, but is concerned that construction sediment will reduce the river’s depth absent mitigation efforts.

“You’ve got to deal with what’s below,” Johnson said in an interview, suggesting that authorities would need to dredge the sediment after construction.

Cole and other representatives from the rowing community asked why the bridge couldn’t be a “clear span bridge” — with pillars on either end and none in the waterway — but officials said that option isn’t feasible due to price and design constraints. In particular, a clear span bridge would require digging that could disrupt buried toxins in the former Kenilworth Landfill, on the east side of the bridge. Officials said the location of the bridge was also determined by a gap in the treeline that would reduce the need for tree removal. 

In a memo following an August 2018 planning meeting on the project, representatives from the Anacostia Watershed Community Advisory Committee likewise suggested a clear span bridge in the interest of boater safety and urged that the project’s construction, including plans for boating docks, swimming and the like be done “in consideration of the ecology and function of the river.” All projects around the Anacostia River, the memo said, should improve the river environment, not compromise it.

Above the river, Katie Harris, Washington Area Bicyclist Association trail coalition manager, said a broad group of advocates for restoring the river is needed. Projects like the Arboretum bridge, she said, can help by giving more people access to the river so that it’s not just those in the water who can enjoy the natural environment.

WABA is in support of the plan, hailing it as a recognition of the need for more safe biking routes. “The city has a responsibility to provide safe trails,” Harris said.

Describing the project as “way more” than a bridge, Harris noted that its benefits include connecting communities on either side of the Anacostia and facilitating transportation, recreation, health, and access to economic opportunities.

The project, Harris said, is a central component of the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail, which WABA has supported since its conception. She said the bridge is a long time coming, having been written into plans as far back as 2003. “There are so many people who are hungry for it,” Harris said. “We’ve waited over a decade. We can’t wait anymore.”

Many community members from wards 5 and 7 at the meetings expressed excitement over the location of the project and the additional access and safe transportation it could provide.

Carmen Winston, a Ward 5 resident, said in an interview the project is “fantastic” and “another means of providing access to more communities.” 

She said she looks forward to residents having new opportunities to visit the Anacostia River and adjoining parkland on foot or bicycle, particularly given the lack of protected bike routes in many areas.  

Winston and others are also excited that the project could help increase local support for, and use of, the Arboretum.

Ward 5 resident Phillip Parson sees the bridge as valuable for residents to learn about and access a “wonderful” and “underutilized” DC space. “There is so much potential — I just can’t get to it,” he said in an interview about the accessibility of the river and the Arboretum. 

Attendees of both meetings asked about the feasibility of adding more connections to the Arboretum and increasing access to the grounds there beyond the current hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. While officials and proponents tout enhanced access to the Arboretum as a key rationale for the new bridge, critics such as Cole say the time limitations make the proposed structure “like a bridge to nowhere” and bolster the rationale for a different location. 

DDOT plans to hold more public meetings in 2020 at the 60% and 90% percent design concept phases, with specifications and cost estimates coming at the later stage. Construction is expected to begin by summer 2021.