District Trying to Topple the Whitehurst

"Georgetown is arguably the most historic district in the world," said D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2). "But you look at the waterfront and it looks like Camden, New Jersey. It's horrible. It's ridiculous."

But what drivers see in the Whitehurst, which connects to Key Bridge and Canal Road on its western end and 27th Street to the east, is a way around Georgetown.

"It's just an invaluable road," said D.C. resident Will Meyer, who has spent the past two years commuting across the Whitehurst. "All the other streets are either clogged with traffic or stop signs or both. It would double or triple the amount of time it would take to get a couple miles" if it were removed.

District officials, however, say drivers such as Meyer have the illusion of time savings because stoplights at both ends reduce the average freeway speed to as little as 9 mph in rush hour.

The plans to take down the freeway hinge on whether there's a way to give those people another route downtown. District officials said K Street is wide enough to turn into a four- or six-lane road with traffic lights that would favor cars during rush hour and walkers the rest of the day. The trick in doing that, though, is finding a way to connect K Street and Canal Road, which sits about 60 feet above the waterfront.

Gary Burch, the city's former chief transportation engineer who was in charge of the Whitehurst project in the 1990s, said he could never figure a way to do that.

"We looked at the same thing, but it's a difficult transition," Burch said. "I wish the people there well."

Tangherlini said the city is studying ways to make it happen. "I look at it, and I don't see what the big deal is," he said. A bigger deal, he said, is the connection to Key Bridge: The ramp might have to be eliminated if the freeway goes.

Tangherlini added that "if everyone gets on board and everything's great, we could be moving forward in less than a year's time."

That seems optimistic. There is a fierce battle over the Whitehurst, just as there was a decade ago, that pits some residents and developers in Georgetown against their deeply suspicious neighbors.

"Over here in Foggy Bottom, we're afraid," said resident Ed Gable. "If the Whitehurst comes down, that's bad enough, but it will lead to development of land between Georgetown and Foggy Bottom. It'll be exposed, and developers, I'm sure they can't wait."

A recent informational session in Palisades began with an audience member screaming profanities at District officials. That got another resident yelling, and security had to be called before city officials returned to their presentation.

Palisades resident Larry Doyle summed up the sentiment of those at the meeting. "My main concern is that there are a lot of wealthy developers in Georgetown who understand their property values will go up considerably if their condos didn't look over a freeway," Doyle said. "Clearly, the key thrust of this study is the effect on land values in Georgetown, but if this adds 15 minutes to my commute, what does that do to my land values?"

Raymond Kukulski is one of those whose land values would probably go up. He can see the freeway from his townhouse windows in Georgetown, and he said it should come down because it's ugly, dangerous and inefficient.

These are the same arguments he made a decade ago to no avail, but this time, he said, he thinks things will be different.

"I think this time there is a much fairer assessment going on," Kukulski said. "This time, I see real intent of getting the job done."