Norton Says Any Closure of Vital I-395 Segment Requires Full Member and Public Consultation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today said she could not understand how the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT) could have exchanged alternatives for closure of the vital I-395 highway between New York Avenue and D Street NW without notice to her and to neighboring Members of Congress whose constituents would be seriously affected. The possible plan to shut down a portion of the highway to allow development over I-395, which would displace 90,000 cars each day, became known to most Members of Congress through news reports. Norton, who is the ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure's Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, said no major change affecting transportation can be made without full and timely consultation with the region and public participation.

"We are demanding a meeting between regional Members, FHWA, and DDOT as soon as possible," Norton said. "Not even my office received notice or copies of the correspondence between DDOT and FHWA, regarding the alternatives for possible partial or full closure of this D.C. section of I-395 and the implications. Impacts of a closure would fall directly not only on the District, whose streets in the area are already saturated, but equally on regional and D.C. residents, who need participation, time and planning before a major highway is closed."

Norton said that Capitol Crossing – a $1.5 billion project, financed solely by the developer, which will reconnect F St and G St NW and generate $30 million in property taxes – is a major project that the District has long sought. However, she said that federal and D.C. agencies should have known that regional representatives should be briefed on the contemplation of so serious a proposed closure, before news reports informed them.

Norton cited her many years working with DDOT on projects and road and highway closures. In advance of the full closure of the Frederick Douglass/South Capitol Street Bridge, in 2007, when Norton ensured that all of the region's stakeholders were part of the planning, the region agreed to the permanent closure of the bridge for 8 weeks in July and August 2007 – summer months when traffic normally subsides. The project developers were offered financial incentives for finishing early. With consultation, the region learned that if the bridge had only temporary closures, the project would require more than a year to complete. Like the I-395 highway section at issue here, the South Capitol Bridge, a component of the South Capitol Street Gateway entrance to the city, is an indispensable road and displaced almost as many residents and commuters.