Once hailed as the future of the District’s transit,��the DC Streetcar will��terminate��its service on March 31, 2026, with reduced service starting in Jan 2026.����

Recognized for��helping��revive��the H��Street corridor��in��Ward 6,��its��shutdown��leaves a leading cultural institution—Atlas Performing Arts—reflecting on its legacy of promise and public investment.����

Romance meets reality����

In 2002,��Metro developed a��$12 billion, 10-year budget that included the streetcar, but��funding shortages��with state and local partners��caused the��District��to shoulder more of the burden��than it bargained for,��stalling the��project.����

The DC Streetcar officially launched in 2016 after a series of delays, including a 2015 fire.��������

Framed as the��equitable��vision of��D.C.��transport,��37��miles of modern transit��starting in Anacostia��would help underserved communities��and spur urban revitalization.��But,��despite��its��noble��vision, the streetcar��began and ended with a��single��2.2-mile��line��that primarily served the H Street corridor.������

Budget cuts,��restricted coverage, low��ridership��and new��leadership��are��where romance met reality.����

The D.C. Department of Transportation (DDOT) framed the streetcar termination as a budgetary and ridership issue. According to a DDOT spokesperson, “The mayor’s budget had funded the streetcar through July 2027, when the current contract was set to expire. But Council reduced that funding, forcing the District to exit the contract earlier than planned.” ����

However,��WMATA (commonly referred to as Metro)��has��emphasized that the corridor��still has transit service.����Metro��officials��noted that the long-running D20 bus already covers the��streetcar��route—resulting��in��no lapse in service.����

“It’s our fourth busiest route,” Metro officials explained, underscoring that public transit along the H Street corridor remains active.��

“The bus runs 24 hours a day and��busses��arrive every 12-minutes, so��it’s��a frequent service.”��

Despite this assurance, not everyone agrees.������

“Any removal of access to this corridor is going to adversely impact businesses,” said Jarrod Bennet, executive director of Atlas Performing Arts, a cultural anchor, located in the heart of H Street.����

A cautionary tale on��H Street������

Bennett��said��Atlas��brings��an estimated��30,000 to��45,000 people��a year��to H Street.��However,��he��didn’t��know the service��was ending��until��it was��publicly��announced.������

Bennett��said��he��regularly tells��Atlas patrons to jump on the streetcar from Union Station or the��Mall��as the��best��route to the theater.��

“Removal of access to this corridor is just one more roadblock for people to patronize businesses on H Street,” Bennett said.��

The end of service is not just inconvenient,��but��it completely��blocks off��H��Street from��Metro access,��Bennett said.����He said it will discourage people,��not just from patronizing Atlas,��but��from��all the businesses��and restaurants on the street.������

What’s��more,��Bennett said��it further alienates those with mobility issues or��can’t��afford to take a��rideshare.������

Bennett said he’s been pondering what to tell patrons who come to his theater. Atlas books shows a year in advance and rents the venue to outside performers, and he said that one of the first questions renters ask is, ‘’How to get to the theater?’’����

With the lack of parking, not having access to the streetcar is going to make things extremely difficult for Atlas, Bennett said.����

Metro��officials��said that the D20 bus stops every few blocks along H Street, including near Union Station.������

“Folks are welcome to ride that��[D20]—it serves the same street and corridor,” said��Metro officials.����

According to Bennett,��Atlas��draws��the largest��number��of people to H��Street,��and��he is��unconvinced��that��a bus��option��alone will suffice for the loss.��������

“A lot of our people come to see performances in a ballgown, I don’t think they are going to get on a city bus and ride to a gala,” Bennett��said.����

In addition,��Bennet said��he partners with��, a nonprofit organization that provides paid internships for neurodivergent people. The program helps students gain real-world work experience and��fosters��independence, including how to commute on their own.����

“The streetcar has played a critical role in enabling these interns to travel safely and independently—the end of the service is a concern for our program,” Bennett said.����

A stress test on transit dreams. ��

DDOT said in a press release that it is coordinating with Metro to provide alternatives for current riders throughout the H Street corridor. Metro officials highlight the newly launched program—the first comprehensive redesign of the bus in 50 years.�� ��

“The bus is the backbone of transportation,”��and��the redesign��demonstrates��the transit��agency’s commitment��to modernization, Metro officials have said.������

DDOT is conducting a corridor evaluation for the H Street/Benning Road corridor to determine the most effective and appropriate transportation options for this area.����

Conversely,��DDOT admits it has not conducted a formal evaluation of the��streetcar’s economic or development impact. The agency points to research in other cities showing that streetcar systems can influence development patterns and neighborhood character, but stresses that outcomes��vary widely.����

There’s��been a lot of growth��along H Street��since the pandemic, Bennett said with approximately��22��new businesses opening in 2024.������

Bennett said, “I’m hoping and praying it does not impact restaurants, mom and pop shops and change the vibe.”��

The post H Street corridor’s biggest draw laments the DC Streetcar’s last ride first appeared on 91����.

The D.C. Council to ban the use and sale of gas-powered leaf blowers in the District but elected to wait three years to enforce the ban to give residential and commercial landscapers ample time to transition to electric and battery-powered leaf blowers.

The reason for the ban comes down to two major issues: noise and air pollution.

Noise pollution

According to , a policy and advocacy group instrumental in bringing the issue to the council’s attention years ago, gas-powered leaf blowers emit dangerous noise levels and are significantly louder than electric or battery-powered options.

Quiet Clean D.C. states on their website that most gas leaf blowers “impact the operator’s ears at 100 decibels or more” and according to the , exposure to 100 decibels for just 15 minutes a day can lead to hearing loss.

While the operators of noisy lawn care machinery are at the greatest risk of hearing loss, noise also causes harm to community members – 100-decibels is loud enough to penetrate walls and windows.

Air pollution

Chuck Elkins, a member of Quiet Clean D.C. and an ANC commissioner in Ward 3, said the health and climate effects resulting from the air pollution created by gas blowers make this “an environmental justice issue as well as a noise issue.”

Gas-powered leaf blowers typically operate using a two-stroke engine and burn a mix of oil and gasoline, emitting ozone-forming chemicals and particulate matter that are dirtier and more harmful than those emitted by cars.

According to a 2011 study by , a two-stroke leaf blower emits 23 times the amount of carbon released by a Ford pickup truck and the hydrocarbon emissions from a leaf blower in a half-hour of yard work are “about the same as a 3,900-mile drive from Texas to Alaska in a [Ford pickup truck].”

As with noise pollution, these fumes are most harmful to those operating lawn care machinery. Unprotected long-term exposure can lead to asthma, cardiovascular problems, cancer and a number of other health problems.

Community response

In the H Street NE neighborhood, some community members are aware of gas blowers’ health and climate effects and welcome the new restrictions. Others see the ban as a waste of the District’s time and money.

Harrison Flakker lives in the H Street NE neighborhood and said he supports the ban. “I have walked by gas-powered blowers and have been left with a gasoline taste in my mouth,” Flakker said.

But Stephen Harris, a resident of the neighboring Trinidad neighborhood, said the D.C. Council has “lost their thinking cap,” complaining that he just purchased a new gas-powered leaf blower a few months ago.

Professional response

Serena Masters Fossi owns Gardening and Gentle Redesign, a small landscaping business in the D.C. area and said the ban on gas-powered leaf blowers is a move in the right direction.

In a text, Masters Fossi said the “transition away from fossil fuel-powered vehicles and tools in landscaping is a miniature version of trying to do that more widely in society.”

But as a professional in the landscaping industry, Masters Fossi said she recognizes the financial and logistical strain the transition from gas to green-energy blowers creates for business owners and their staff.

“Most of the battery-powered leaf blowers have improved greatly and can meet almost all, but not all, of the professional uses required,” Masters Fossi said in an email to 91����. “Very large properties would likely use up multiple batteries and that would be difficult to accommodate,” she said.

In her own business, Masters Fossi has already begun the transition to battery-operated blowers ahead of the Jan. 1, 2022 ban. She said her business recently purchased a backpack-style battery-powered blower which “holds the heavier batteries needed to last during the day.”

Masters Fossi shared that the new blower cost about $500, which is almost twice that of the average gas-powered backpack leaf blower but said, “we won’t really know the expense comparison until we use it for some time vis-à-vis how long they last.”

For businesses and individuals in the District looking to transition to green-energy blowers before the end of the year, offers a rebate program to offset the cost of the new equipment.

Enforcing the ban

When it comes to enforcing the new ban, Elkins said much of the responsibility will fall on individuals.

After the ban goes into effect on Jan. 1, if D.C. residents notice gas-powered leaf blowers being used in the District, they can take a picture and submit it along with the name of the landscaping company to the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. The DCRA will then review the submission and issue a warning or a $500 fine when appropriate.

“We want people to comply,” Elkins said, “we don’t really want to cost them money […] we’d rather have them spend the money on buying the equipment rather than paying some kind of fine. It’s ultimately a $500 fine and you can buy a blower for less than that.”

D.C. isn’t the only local government working to eliminate gas-powered leaf blowers. The Town of Chevy Chase and Chevy Chase Village have already banned gas blowers and and both seem poised to follow suit.

The post Here’s what you need to know about DC’s leaf blower ban first appeared on 91����.

In addition to extending the streetcar and connecting it with the Benning Road metro station, the DDOT project will also reconstruct bridges and enhance bicycle and pedestrian facilities along the roadway. The final design phase will conclude in spring of 2022 and construction will begin in spring of 2023. The project is estimated to cost just over $178 million, with anticipated completion in 2025 or 2026.

Delia Houseal is the vice president of the . This advocacy group focuses on the expansion of the streetcar east of the Anacostia River, something Houseal said is essential for “transportation equity.”

For Houseal, transportation equity means the “unfair distribution of transportation resources, services, policies [and] infrastructure” and “transportation equity is the need to make sure that those resources are distributed in a way that is fair and does not disadvantage any population.”

According to Michael Havlin, president of the Friends of the D.C. Streetcar, the Benning Road streetcar expansion would serve 37,000 Ward 7 residents living within walking distance of the proposed new streetcar stops. These residents currently live in what Havlin called a “transportation desert” and do not have easy .

“Ward 7 is isolated and separated from the rest of the District,” Havlin said. “We need permanent infrastructure that unites instead of divides right now […] When you look at the history of transit planning in D.C., it’s pretty clear that Wards 7 and 8 were intentionally separated from the rest of D.C.”

Houseal and Havlin both said that it’s important that the solution to this transportation desert take the form of the streetcar extension rather than a bus. To them, the streetcar represents a permanent system, while bus routes can be changed and removed.

“It’s just about having permanent infrastructure,” Houseal said. “Regardless of fluctuations in the budget, it’s there. They can’t completely strip it away.”

Houseal said that even though her neighbors in the Benning Road area would benefit most from the streetcar expansion, she’s heard a mix of responses from her community as the project has continued.

Many of her neighbors fear that running the streetcar down Benning Road will lead to further gentrification of the Northeast. Houseal reminds them that “the streetcar does not cause gentrification; what causes gentrification is the lack of affordable housing options.”

Despite Houseal’s rejection of this argument, about the existing D.C. Streetcar and gentrification have been widespread since the streetcar’s inception, with many of H Street’s new, luxury apartments appearing concurrently with the streetcar’s arrival.

Gentrification is just one of the many concerns voiced by critics of the current H Street NE streetcar and DDOT’s plans for its expansion. Other frequently cited complaints are that the streetcar is too slow and contributes to traffic on H Street NE.

Rhea Rossiter Koziatek has lived in the H Street NE neighborhood for two years and said when she first moved to the area, she had “very high hopes for the streetcar” but since then has found it to be “very underwhelming.”

The D.C. Streetcar does not have its own lane on H Street NE and is confined to the right-most lane of traffic in either direction. This means the streetcar shares a lane with cars and must obey the same traffic laws as the rest of traffic. Koziatek said it also means the streetcar is, “constantly getting stuck behind cars illegally parked in the lane.”

There are two trains stuck behind this extremely privileged and entitled .

I asked him very nicely to move while emphasizing the trains but he’s not having it. please help.

— Robb Dooling (@Robb4DC)

Connor Garvey, another resident of the H Street NE neighborhood, said running the streetcar in the right lane of traffic makes it “by far one of the slowest options of travel because it competes with inconsiderate drivers.”

Other complaints about the D.C. Streetcar have come from high places, including a by D.C. councilmember at-large and mayoral candidate Robert White to defund expansion and redirect $35 million in streetcar funding to fix public housing issues. White’s motion was ultimately defeated within the D.C. Council, but by a narrow margin.

Despite its controversy, the current stretch of streetcar on H Street NE serves an important purpose for its users, who ride the streetcar free of charge, though ridership has decreased during the pandemic.

According to the acting director of DDOT, Everett Lott, between Feb. 2016 and Feb. 2021, the D.C. Streetcar carried more than 4.4 million passengers to destinations along H Street NE.

Before the pandemic, the streetcar served 3,000 passengers a day, on average. In an email statement, Lott said “ridership dropped significantly during the public health emergency,” and the “streetcar currently averages 1,000 passengers a day, but ridership continues to increase as the city reopens.”

For neighborhood resident Vernita Brown, the traffic obstacles do not outweigh the convenience of a free ride on the streetcar. Brown said the streetcar is “great for just running down the street to the Giant grocery store” and making other stops along H Street NE.

As the Benning Road expansion project continues, its current design includes plans to run the streetcar down the center of the six-lane boulevard, rather than in the right-most lane, eliminating traffic issues cited most frequently with the H Street NE streetcar.

The Benning Road project is expected to break ground in spring 2023, but both Houseal and Havlin said they are only cautiously optimistic about that timeline.

The post As DC Streetcar plans expansion, community conflicted over merits and faults first appeared on 91����.

In its third weekend of shows amid the ongoing pandemic, the Atlas presented two performances of its annual Café Flamenco show on Oct. 24 featuring D.C.-based flamenco dance troupe, Furia Flamenca. The cabaret-style show featured four dancers, a live band, and all the theatrics and foot-stomping of traditional flamenco.

Douglas Yeuell, executive director of the Atlas, said over his seven years leading the arts center, he has seen a lot of ups and downs, but in Feb. 2020, it seemed like the Atlas had reached a positive turning point. That month their annual festival was “the most successful festival we ever had financially,” he said. But that feeling didn’t last long.

Like other , the economic and societal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Atlas particularly hard. The center closed to the public at the start of the pandemic and in July 2020, the Atlas laid off 30 part-time staff and 10 full-time staff, bringing the entire Atlas staff to a total of just six people.

“That’s an element of tightening our belts, which just allowed us to hunker down and turn all the lights out,” he said. “Saving on utilities every which way we could save in order to sustain us to get to the other side.”

Yeuell said this kind of drastic measure, along with emergency funding from the federal and local government, carried the Atlas to this fall.

Now that the Atlas has reopened, Yeuell said their strategy is to play it, “safe versus sorry.” While planning the fall season, he said his objective was to “do things in a very controlled, contained, smaller way, so that when we do it, we do it right,” he said.

For Yeuell, this strategy means playing it safe both in programming decisions and in the theater’s rules and regulations. Over the summer, the Atlas joined theaters across the D.C. region in an alliance to require proof of vaccination for all audience members and performers at all theater events. Attendees are also required to wear masks during performances.

In addition to being among the Atlas’ first events since the start of the pandemic, Sunday’s Café Flamenco shows were also Furia Flamenco’s first mainstage performances since then. In the week leading up to the shows, Estela Velez De Paredez, dancer and artistic director of Furia Flamenca, said returning to the stage felt “beyond comprehension.”

“It was the most alive I have felt since this whole ordeal started,” she said.

Though excited to be back performing for a live audience, just days before Sunday’s shows, De Paradez expressed concern over ticket sales. “We usually would have been sold out by now,” she said, “we’re not even 50-percent at any one of the shows.”

Ticket sales increased later in the week and by Sunday, the matinee show was sold out and the evening show was about 85% sold. The evening audience may have been smaller, but De Paradez said from the stage Sunday night that they were louder and more generous with their shouts of “olé!” than the afternoon crowd.

For Josephine Hill, marketing manager for the Atlas, this type of connection with the audience is what the H Street NE performing arts center is all about.

“The performing arts are so valuable to the community because not only does it raise morale and build people’s spirit, but it finds another way for us to connect and remember the value of having community,” she said.

With a full season ahead and pandemic precautions in place, Yeuell said he sees a full rebound in Atlas’ future, but a lot will depend on how this season goes and how enthusiastic the performance-going public is.

“We are fine as long as we continue to stay on track with all of our goals and spending and budgetary things,” he said. “It’s a work in progress, but I am hopeful. I am optimistic.”

The Atlas has programmed a for the fall and will soon begin planning their 15th anniversary celebration in the spring of 2022.

The post After 20 months of empty stages, the Atlas is on the road to recovery first appeared on 91����.

Residents of D.C.’s H Street NE neighborhood have seen firsthand the shortcomings of Vision Zero. Keya Chatterjee, ANC Commissioner for 6A01, called the effort a “total failure.”

“So far, the D.C. government has failed to take [Vision Zero] seriously and the numbers show that that is the case,” she said. “People are dying on our streets.”

Just last year, the District saw 37 traffic fatalities – the highest number since the Vision Zero effort began. So far in 2021, there have been 30 traffic fatalities and suggests the final 2021 number may surpass the 2020 record.

Chatterjee said she’s grown accustomed to seeing cars that have crashed and flipped over on the sidewalks and roadways of the H Street NE neighborhood. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she said the problem worsened.

“We had a three or four-month period where we were having a driver crash into a building on H street every few weeks. One of those was at Joy of Motion dance studio, and if it had not been during COVID, it would have been a mass casualty event,” she said. “The driver drove straight through a dance studio that usually is full of children taking dance lessons.”

Staff from is on the scene this evening helping to secure the building. The car drove through the Marley studio window & also damaged the actor’s lobby.

Donate to Atlas here:

Donate to Joy of Motion here:

— Joy of Motion Dance Center (@JOMDC)

The issues that Chatterjee is most concerned about on H Street NE are the exact problems that Vision Zero was designed to prevent.

D.C.’s Vision Zero plan is modeled after a by the same name that saw a level of success in Swedish cities that remains to be seen in the District.

When the plan launched six years ago, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced : data, enforcement, education and engineering. The Vision Zero website states, this combined approach is necessary because “infrastructure alone will not reduce fatalities and serious injuries to zero.”

Since 2015, Mayor Bowser and the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) have implemented measures to increase safety for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers – from high tech crosswalks to expanded bike lanes and safer dual-turn lanes. But it hasn’t been enough to make a dent in the number of serious injuries and fatalities.

While traffic fatalities and injuries have increased across the District, the highest concentration has been in Wards 7 and 8. Most recently, On Oct. 6 in Ward 8, two school children and their father while crossing their street on their way to school on National Walk to School day.

Loren Copsey co-owns a bike shop along H Street NE, The Daily Rider. He told 91���� Vision Zero is “little more than a hashtag” or “a thing you can put on a bus shelter or the side of a metro bus.”

He said the failings of Vision Zero are evident in the comments he hears from his clients.

“Their biggest fear is being struck by a car or being struck by a car while they have their child on the back of their bike,” Copsey said.

According to Mark Eckenwiler, ANC commissioner for 6C04, it’s no wonder cyclists are intimidated on D.C.’s roadways.

“It’s bad out there, and anybody who walks around any part of this city for any amount of time sees that,” he said.

Eckenwiler has worked for years to bring traffic-calming measures to H Street NE.

In February 2020, Eckenwiler, Chatterjee and other ANC commissioners sent a letter to DDOT listing dangerous intersections on H Street NE and requesting specific solutions, including turn lanes, bulbouts, signaled turn arrows, and protected bike lanes.

According to a letter shared with 91����, Everett Lott, Interim Director of DDOT, responded to the commissioners’ letter 19 months later, rejecting some requests and promising to conduct studies for others.

For Chatterjee, this type of lag in response time is a symbol of Vision Zero’s failings. “It’s unbelievably slow to get tiny, tiny pieces of incrementalism that are completely inadequate for the task of saving lives,” she said.

91���� reached out to DDOT for a comment about this complaint, but did not receive a response. However, Mayor Bowser held a press conference this morning addressing the issue.

“The work to make our roads and sidewalks safer is urgent,” Mayor Bowser said. “In addition to accelerating safety improvement projects citywide, residents deserve a faster process for having dangerous conditions on our roads and sidewalks addressed. We can and will move faster, and implementing a streamlined, less bureaucratic process is the first step in making that happen.”

Eckenwiler isn’t hopeful that the audit of Vision Zero will lead to much change, but he thinks the for Lott later this month could be the right venue to voice concerns.

He said the confirmation hearing is “a clarion call for everyone in the district who thinks that things need to get better in a hurry on our roadways.”

Until then, he’ll continue using the only real power he said he has as an ANC member, “that of the bully pulpit,” but according to Eckenwiler, “it’s not a very tall pulpit.”

The post Vision Zero, a ‘total failure’ for the H Street NE community first appeared on 91����.

Washington’s largest street festival re-emerged on H Street NE on September 18 for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. While festival organizers and vendors said the pandemic shifted the planning landscape of the event, on the surface, the H Street Festival seemed back to normal.

In the days and weeks leading up to this year’s festival, Anwar Saleem, Executive Director of H Street Main Street, and his two colleagues worked around the clock to coordinate and execute the annual event, which went virtual in 2020 during the early days of the pandemic.

Planning this year’s festival stretched the staff in new ways as the pandemic wears on and continues to affect everything from supply chains, market prices, labor availability, and volunteerism in the H Street community.

“It’s a lot of work. It’s kind of tough,” Saleem said, “we don’t have as many volunteers because of the pandemic, so you have to retool and readjust.”

In a normal year, Saleem said, the H Street Festival would utilize over 100 volunteers. This year, they had just 20 volunteers confirmed on the Friday before the festival.

The same shortage applies to festival vendors. Saleem said this year’s event would have fewer vendors and he suspected the reason was, “one of two things: one is fear of what’s happening down at the Capitol, the other is the pandemic.”

While the effect of the pandemic was evident in the festival’s planning, Saleem said he wasn’t sure how much it would affect actual festival attendance.

Pre-pandemic, the festival would attract between 125,000 and 150,000 people throughout the day. In an interview after the festival, Saleem said this year they had just over 100,000 visitors.

Saleem emphasized the importance of a strong turnout both from vendors and attendees for the H Street community.

“The festival serves as a Black Friday for many of our businesses,” Saleem said. On the day of the festival, businesses make, “three, four, five times as much as they would make on a normal day and so they’re able to pay a lot of bills.”

For Saleem, the festival is about keeping the H Street corridor “vibrant” and “economically feasible”

Though Saleem said the ongoing threat of COVID-19 may keep some vendors and attendees home, he was confident in the steps the festival planned to take to keep people safe from the virus.

Saleem said he stocked up on hand sanitizer and 20,000 disposable masks for distribution and said the festival would require masking except while eating or drinking.

On the day of the festival, police presence was significant due to the at the Capitol, but the mood among festival-goers and staff seemed unaffected by events outside H Street and the COVID-19 pandemic.

As in years past, the festival spanned 11 blocks, from Third Street to 14th Street, and featured seven stages, each displaying bands, dance performances, and fashion shows simultaneously. Food trucks and artisans lined the streets, and attendees searched for patches of shade and misting tents to cool off on the unusually warm September day.

Jenilee Hurley, Co-Owner of EthicGoods, said it felt “nuts” to be back at a bustling festival, selling her handmade jewelry.

Business for EthicGoods “stalled out” during the pandemic, Hurley said, but they’re growing now and have been “eager to get back and sell and do business.”

For Angelica Callanta, owner of Found Objects, the gains of selling at the H Street Festival and returning to the festival circuit outweighed the risks of COVID-19 and the right-wing rally at the Capitol.

Callanta said her business is, “maybe at best 40% of what it was before the pandemic.”

“I make most of my money traveling and doing markets,” Callanta said, “and obviously I couldn’t do that [during the height of the pandemic], so the money went away.”

For the people and businesses that rely on the festival, showing up on Saturday was worth the risk, but the risk may have been higher than advertised.

Despite Saleem’s assurance that masks would be distributed and required at the H Street Festival, there was no signage or noticeable enforcement of these rules and the majority of attendees and vendors seemed to forgo their masks.

In the end, Saleem said he was happy with how this year’s festival went and has received a lot of positive feedback already.

“Some people said it was the best festival ever,” Saleem said, though he wasn’t sure if he entirely agreed.

The post H Street’s ‘Black Friday’ returns with annual festival first appeared on 91����.

Melissa Malzkuhn and Lorna Quandt, Ph.D., launched , which is funded by a grant from the . The idea to begin this unprecedented research group began in 2019 after the professors realized researchers struggled to stay abreast of what was happening in the field.

“There’s a gap in having no central hub, no core, no heart for bringing these fields together,” Quandt said, referring to technological developments in deaf research.��

They hope the network will open more professional opportunities for new researchers to engage in a dynamic field. Without CREST, it would be difficult to advance research at this level because training and collaboration is necessary, Quandt said.

They also created the network because they noticed too few deaf and hearing-impaired individuals were involved in research. The network will address the need for a pipeline for young researchers and deaf individuals into the research community, Malzkuhn said. “We want their participation in the field but also others who just have a general interest in a place to connect and join in collaboration and partnership,” she said.��

The CREST network was preceded by another research lab and collaborative effort with a variety of departments at Gallaudet University that paved the way for the new network, including Deaf Studies and Deaf Space and Urban Planning. Malzkuhn is one of the four trainers for the program.����

Motion Light Lab began in 2009 as a place for people to meet to analyze the science behind resources for the deaf community, such as interactive storytelling, gesture-recognition technology and architecture and deaf space. Some of the lab’s projects have been sponsored by the National Science Foundation, beginning in 2018 as a project to innovate new exploratory research in Signing Avatars and Immersive Learning or SAIL. While many researchers have already explored�� virtual speaking avatars, the helpful possibilities for virtual singing avatars in virtual reality and other learning environments are still being developed.����

“Before corona happened, we submitted this, and we had a plan in place for an in-person workshop,” Malzkuhn said of the CREST network. “Now it’s up in the air whether we’ll be going completely virtual or not, but we’ll have to see what happens.”

The training program called or VL2, while based out of Gallaudet University, is offered at over 15 schools and labs throughout the United States. Each training offers a new opportunity to learn about the latest technologies becoming available for the deaf and hearing impaired community and how they can be used at home and in educational settings to promote deaf literacy and education.

Gallaudet University continues to be a flagship in research and education for the deaf community by the deaf community, because of scholars like Dr. Lorna Quandt and Melissa Malzkuhn. The institution was originally incorporated by Congress in the mid-1800s to establish a school for the deaf and blind called the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and Blind. Many name changes and program advancements came later, including its renaming to Gallaudet College in 1954 in honor of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, the founder of the Connecticut-based American School for the Deaf. The college earned its university status by the 1980s.

“It feels very powerful to be able to say and have the National Science Foundation agree to give us the support for our idea that the people who should be at the heart of this network should be Gallaudet University,” Quandt said.

The post Gallaudet University launches new deaf research network�� first appeared on 91����.

A post shared by (@atlaspacdc) on Nov 14, 2019 at 8:01am PST

1. Embrace the Culture at Atlas Performing Arts Center,��1333 H St. NE

Known as the arts hub of the corridor, this space hosts theater, spoken word, dance, music, and many more artistic performances. Atlas Performing Arts center often has free events for all ages. Catch the upcoming Step Afrika!’s Magical Musical Holiday Step Show this weekend.

2. Solid State Books, 600F H St. NE

Grab a glass and a novel at Solid State Books. This independent bookstore has a wide collection of books including different genres for all ages. For a nice touch buy a beer or wine, a tasty pastry or a snack. Community events and book signings occur on a weekly basis.

“ I think every neighborhood deserves an independent bookstore. Hub of culture, comfort and a place to discover things,” employee Scott Abel said.

3. Ride the Streetcar, H Street and Benning Road

Starting on the Hopscotch Bridge, the streetcar is a source of transportation for residents and visitors traveling through the corridor. And, it’s also free. The usual wait time for the streetcar is about 12 minutes and it runs every day of the week.��

Quick Bites

4. Turning Natural,��1380 H St. NE

For a healthier selection, Turning Natural serves healthy juices and bites. Try the Bob Marley smoothie with mango, papaya, peach, pineapple, apple juice, guava juice and hemp protein.

“We are all-natural, organic juice bar. We have a variety of homemade remedies and we donate free juices to cancer patients,” store associate Nya Morton said.

A post shared by (@pieshopdc) on Dec 1, 2019 at 7:15am PST

5. Dangerously Delicious Pies: Pie Shop,��1339 H St. NE��

This is not your ordinary bakery. This rock n’ roll pie shop serves a vast selection of pies —��from apple to steak chili. To put the cherry on top, it’s also a bar and music venue. Catch a show from your favorite band, grab a beer and have a big, fat slice of pie.��

6. Ben’s Chili Bowl,��1001 H St. NE

If you have a big appetite, head over to Ben’s Chilli Bowl. A D.C. classic and historic eatery, this place is popular for its half-smokes, milkshakes, burgers and chili cheese fries. Visitors from across the country come to the District to take a bite of the secret recipe.��

“This is a staple in our community and it’s been here since 1958. The food is good. On a scale from 1-10, I give it a 9,” employee Timothy Puller said.

7. Starbucks,��625 H St. NE B

The corridor is home to the country’s first signing Starbucks where employees predominantly communicate using sign language. Don’t worry if you aren’t fluent in American Sign language, tablets are available to write down your order.�� It serves as a community space for the deaf and hard of hearing community and students from Gallaudet University.��

“I think it’s cool for people who don’t know about ASL or deaf culture to see that communication is possible,” Gallaudet student Tori Larson said.

Shop

7. The Glass Stache, 1111 H St. NE

Opened Nov. 7, this store has a collection of glass smokeware including vaporizers, pipes, cigarettes and tubes.

“We carry cool glass art. We focus on pipes from local artisans. We carry the full range of what you will find in quality glass as well as affordable options. We also do glass jewelry and CBD products,” one of the owners, Quinn Taylor said.��

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8. Maketto Store,��1351 H St. NE

This store is not only popular for being a Michelin Star restaurant, it’s also known for its marketplace on the first floor that sells high-fashion clothing. At Maketto you can find different brands like Comme des Garçons, Vans, Puma and Raised by Wolves.

Fitness

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2p-SwNBRNX/

9. Joy of Motion Dance Center, 1333 H St. NE

Get in tune with your inner Debbie Allen or Martha Graham and attend a master dance class at this studio. You can pop in for a quick workshop for fun or commit to one of their community dance school programs. Joy of Motion also hosts different events to showcase the art of dance.��

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10. Yoga District, 500 H St. NE

Sign up for a therapeutic yoga class at this small yoga studio. This studio focuses on building strength, flexibility and body movement. The average price for a workshop or class is around $23 for a one-hour session.��

The post Neighborhood Guide: 10 H Street go-tos first appeared on 91����.

Dramatic new developments at Union Station will reshape the future of the transit hub and its surrounding areas. The station is set to have a major facelift with improvements to existing facilities and some new additions to its exterior.

The Federal Railroad Administration, the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation and Amtrak, under the umbrella of led by architecture firm Beyer Blinder Belle, plans to revamp the visitor experience at Union Station and the surrounding neighborhood areas.��

Their hope is to provide a to improve customer “capacity, reliability, safety, efficiency, accessibility and security, for both current and future long-term railroad operations at this historic station.”

The major purpose of Union Station’s restoration is to ensure longevity in railroad services, meet emergency evacuation requirements, and achieve ADA accessibility while preserving its historical value.��

The estimated of the 70,000 square-foot Claytor concourse will relieve the congested disarray and provide natural light on boarding levels. The project will also include new entrances at First and Second Street NE and a new Metrorail staircase provided by WMATA.

Passenger amenities will include more lounge space and restrooms for passengers on the Amtrak gates and a new Acela express fleet. A new bus facility and parking garage, as well as new 30-foot-wide platforms, are also among the improvements.��

H Street Bridge Replacement Project

The H Street ‘Hopscotch Bridge’, north of Union Station, will be by the District Department of Transportation to align with the needs of Amtrak’s future railroad plans. The new bridge will serve as a link to Union Station, however, the design still needs to meet the needs of other modes of transportation including buses, streetcars and rideshare vehicles like Uber, Lyft and taxis.��

Construction and engineering on the bridge is needed to replace supports and decks that are old and deteriorating to build a stronger foundation. These plans will temporarily halt residents’ access to the streetcar on the bridge, however, it will be replaced after construction with two sets of tracks and closer to the station.��

The Burnham Place at Union Station

In a collaborative effort with Amtrak and the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation, real estate developer Akridge has a plan to create a 3 million-square-foot center over Union Station’s railyard. Burnham Place is set to include hotels, parks, plazas, residential and office space.��

The proposed vision for this project will give visitors accessibility from H Street NE and NoMa, provide running, biking and walking access and triple the capacity of passengers at Union Station.��

ShaLon Baranes Associates Architects, Thornton Tomasetti and the Laboratory for Architecture and Building are a part of the development team for this new project.��

Residents, commuters react

Union Station’s expansion will affect commuters that travel through the station and residents that live in the surrounding neighborhoods including NoMa, Capitol Hill and the H Street corridor.��

ANC 6C chair Karen Wirt efforts to address the plans for Union Station are well documented. She has reached out to leadership associated with this project addressing the possible burdens it will have on the community. In herto the director of DDOT back in 2018, Wirt expresses that she believes they are not successfully coordinating with other agencies involved in the project “to inform an appropriate design given the needs of future developments and the concerns of neighborhood residents.”

Last week, neighbors gathered at a hearing at Northeast Library to hear updates about the project and address their concerns.��

Mark Kazmierczak, member of ANC 6C Transportation and Public Space Committee, said he is supportive of the expansion of Union Station. However, he is concerned that it will cause greater traffic in the area.

“Given the amount of parking they are proposing for this, I think it’s going to encourage a lot of cars to drive when it’s not necessary and it’s going to create a lot more traffic in residential neighborhoods around Union Station,” Kazmierczak said.��

At the meeting, a representative from Burnham Place developer, Akridge, was in attendance to discuss and show residents 3-D models of different alternatives of the outcome of the expansion and Burnham Place development.��

Akridge representative David Tuchmann said at this point in the process the next steps are prioritizing the needs of all parties when developing Burnham Place.��

“Our analysis is that let’s figure out with a clean slate how do we serve the rail and the neighborhood needs and then get outer vehicles to and from the station.”

Many residents like Kazmierczak are excited for the development of Burnham Place, however, he said the developers are only focusing on the logistical needs of the train stations rather than the greater vision of the area.��

“I do like the idea of having a world-class destination train station area; a place that is beautiful and that people want to go. I think this is a great opportunity to create something like that but I’m worried that the people in charge aren’t really focused on that aspect of it,” he said.��

Greater connectivity is what residents are hoping for with this project. Due to Union Station’s current disconnect with the perimeter communities, many people in the District drive to the station. Residents are hoping that this new project offers a more walk-friendly environment to reduce congestion.��

Kim Lehmkuhl has lived in Capitol Hill for five years. Living blocks away from the station, she is there often to catch the Metro. She takes Amtrak on occasion and said the improvements to the train facility will be an upgrade.

“As far as Amtrak and MARC, the boarding and offboarding experience is a bit confusing the way the tracks are set up now, signage is crappy, the tracks are narrow. When you’re arriving unless you’re near the front of the train it’s actually kind of hard to tell you’re even at a station.” Lehmkuhl said.

She said the development of Burnham Place would be a great addition to the community.

“Having an actually walkable and bikeable green space on H connecting that corridor across North Capitol would be really great,” she said.��

91���� talked to commuters that travel through Union Station from other states about the new developments.

“Anything that is less chaos in Union Station I’m a fan of,” Madelyn Madewell, traveler from Central America, said. She said that Burnham Place would cause a “ton of traffic” and “huge mistake.”

New York commuter, Jennifer Itzkin, agreed. “I can only imagine that it will only cause more traffic which they don’t need.��

Representatives from the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation, the Station Expansion Project and their partners will continue to work with residents and people affected by this issue to enhance public participation on this issue.��

The post The nuts and bolts of DC’s estimated $7 billion Union Station expansion first appeared on 91����.

The University Legal Services, an advocacy agency that promotes and protects human rights for people with disabilities, reminded businesses to remove one-step or half-step entryways throughout the corridor. University Legal Services posted a list of 13 businesses, including Maketto and Stable restaurants, and others like Georgetown Valet and Insomnia Cookies for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.��

According to a by University Legal Services, in 2013, 11% of residents in the District reported having a disability. In addition to these residents, approximately 4 million tourists visit D.C. each year and many get turned away from restaurants and businesses due to inaccessibility.

ADA Title III ensures that people with disabilities have equal accommodations for all public businesses. Equal public accommodations mean that businesses must have wide door entryways and bathrooms that do not have barriers and with grab bars available.����

Businesses who do not comply with these regulations can potentially face lawsuits under the ADA.

However, Adam Mathews, front of the house coordinator of Maketto, is unsure as to why the restaurant is on University Legal Services’ list.��

Maketto’s restaurant on H Street NE is a communal marketplace with a men’s retail store in the front. Serving Taiwanese and Cambodian food, the restaurant also includes four dining rooms, two bars, kitchen space, and cafe.��

Mathews has been the frontman of Maketto since 2015 and said the restaurant is wheelchair compliant. He said one of the entryways is accessible for those who can’t enter through the second entryway due to the steps.��

However University Legal Services representative, Peter Stephan, said that based on their research that is not always the case.

“Our survey found Maketto’s accessible entrance door locked. Maketto’s other entrance door was open but had one step up to the door and one step down inside, making it impossible for wheelchair riders to enter,” Stephan said.

According to Mathews, a person with a wheelchair could be accommodated at a dining table or the bar and, due to the upstairs cafe being inaccessible, someone can bring their order down to them.

Behind the main dining room is an outdoor area that connects to the kitchen space.��

“We built this area to be ADA compliant. We have a ramp that leads directly into our kitchen,” Mathews said. “You can go from one end to the other of this restaurant with a wheelchair or any type of inaccessibility.”��

Stable DC is a Swiss-American fare restaurant that has three steps in the front entryway and was also included on University Legal Service’s list.

Stable’s General Manager Silvan Kraemer said the restaurant technically does not have to comply with ADA’s policies due to it being in a story building. However, they do offer an alternative entryway for those who can not enter through the front.

“We get people in with wheelchairs at the back of the restaurant,” Kraemer said.

Stephan disagrees with Kraemar’s statement.

“The ADA was passed almost 30 years ago and there are no expectations for businesses open to the public which can be made accessible. Stable’s entrance could readily be made accessible with three steps at its front entrance,” he said.

Getting into establishments, like Stable, in the corridor has been a battle for 65-year-old resident Jerry M. Wheeler. He has to pick and choose where he goes because of inaccessible entryways.��

“If I can’t get in, I don’t go in. I just go around. I’ll go somewhere else where someone will give me some help,” Wheeler said.

He said because of inaccessibility in these establishments, a lot of places lose business.��

“If you remove the humps out the way, they will get more business out the handicapped. It’s real simple but people make it hard.”

The post Advocates call out new businesses on H Street for disabled accessibility first appeared on 91����.