Saving DC's Neighborhoods - How Matt Andrea Took On Congress ... And Won

[Waitman]

An article starring a good buddy of mine talking about the end of a highway plan that would have destroyed DC and his role in it:

"The Insane Highway Plan That Would Have Bulldozed DC's Most Charming Neighborhoods" by Harry Jaffe on washingtonian.com

For what it's worth, some people think that was the Three Sisters' curse, and not anything Matt and his crew did -- that doomed that bridge.

Back in 1969 -- a year after rioters reacted to thh assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. by torching 14th Street from U Street to Massachusetts Avenue -- [Matt] Andrea had recently graduated from Georgetown University and settled near campus. Just above Georgetown, momentum was building to construct the Three Sisters Bridge over the Potomac, an expanse designed to carry cars and trucks over highways through the District. Andrea joined the battle against the bridge. "If those highways had come to fruition, there would be no U Street," he says between bites. "Shaw would be chopped up."

Andrea is understating the case by a factor of several neighborhoods. Brookland would likely not exist as we know it. Nor would Brightwood, Petworth, Fort Totten, Takoma, West Potomac Park, Georgetown, or the Palisades. Room & Board would be an asphalt shoulder. "It would have carved the city up in such a way that there would have been no impetus for the revitalization we are seeing now," says Andrea. "Who wants to lie on the edge of a superhighway?

[DonRocks]

An article starring a good buddy of mine talking about the end of a highway plan that would have destroyed DC and his role in it:

"The Insane Highway Plan That Would Have Bulldozed DC's Most Charming Neighborhoods" by Harry Jaffe on washingtonian.com

For what it's worth, some people think that was the Three Sisters' curse, and not anything Matt and his crew did -- that doomed that bridge.

These are two distinct (but somehow seemingly related) topics:

"C&O Canal Path Turns 40 Thanks to Douglas' Long Walk" by Candy Thomson on articles.baltimoresun.com

Thing is, a lot of people already know about Justice Douglas and the C&O Canal (*every* Washingtonian should, so click on that link); nobody knows about Matt Andrea and the Three Sisters Bridge.

Acts like these are examples of why I'm so outspoken against unchecked development - once something has been developed, it's almost never undeveloped. Your friend is a hero in my eyes; too bad he wasn't around to prevent the Whitehurst Freeway from ever existing (it's not too late) - please thank him for me.

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I have an ongoing joke with some friends about "The Rockwell Arc" - a one-lane highway that arcs over the entire city, having terminus points in Maryland and Virginia, and being accessible to only one person: me, so I can get to restaurants on the other side of town more easily. However, I have never insisted upon having any exit ramps leading to DC neighborhoods; now, you have me thinking ...