D.C. Says It Has Found Parking Near Stadium

Nats official Stan Kasten says the lots would be too far apart. (Marlene Karas - Ajc Staff)

Transportation officials said a plan to rebuild the Frederick Douglass Bridge will not adversely affect stadium traffic because the bridge will remain open as the new bridge is being built. Ramps will be added to the nearby 11th Street Bridge, which will double its capacity, said Kathleen Penny, deputy chief engineer for the city's Department of Transportation.

RFK Stadium, for all of its drawbacks, is a transportation planner's dream: surrounded by large parking lots, a major Metro stop serving the Orange and Blue lines and several major thoroughfares that ease driving to games.

In the coming years, city leaders want to surround the new ballpark with an entertainment district featuring shops, restaurants, condominiums and office space within a few blocks. Those buildings will include new parking structures that could serve 10,000 to 12,000 cars, but they will take years to complete. Until then, the city must find temporary parking solutions.

To address the transportation issues, the District recently formed a task force with representatives from several city agencies and the Lerner group. The city and the Lerner family have hired different consultants to count parking spaces and analyze traffic flow.

An average of about 4,400 cars have parked at RFK Stadium for Nationals games over 1 1/2 seasons, with a maximum of about 7,000 for sellouts, city officials said.

City planners have developed a map that shows 25 potential parking lots, containing almost 9,000 parking spaces, near the new ballpark. Kasten said the spots are too dispersed.

"The best people can think of right now are the great number of smaller lots, typically 200 to 300 spots each, spread out quite some distance from the ballpark," Kasten said. "The ones on the very outer edge are quite far. Yes, we are concerned about that."

Furthermore, Kasten said, "many of these lots . . . are on smaller streets that are difficult to drive to and as of today aren't prepared to be utilized."

Stephen Goldsmith, chairman of the Anacostia Waterfront Corp., chartered by Williams to create development near the stadium and waterfront, said officials are trying to determine how people would react to parking at different distances.

"It's not just how far they have to walk, but it's how convenient the connection is to the stadium and the [entertainment] district," Goldsmith said. "It's how quickly you can get to your seat from your car or from the local restaurant or wherever you are before the game."

Complicating matters is that not all of the parking identified by the city is available. The map includes empty lots, vacant land, office buildings with parking garages and privately owned property.

About one-third of those parking spaces are available to the city immediately, Green said. Another third are controlled by the District and could be made available by April 2008 if the city took action, such as temporarily paving over planned development projects that have not begun. The rest of the parking spaces are owned by private companies or federal agencies that have expressed a willingness to make at least some parking available on their properties because they could make significant amounts of money, Green said.

"We've spent the last month or two trying to call attention to this because it will require every bit of the 21 months we have left to get a coherent plan in place for our opener," Kasten said. "At the moment, all I have are hopes that it will get done in time. But you know those hopes will never be realized unless everyone turns their attention to it today."