Tell the District to bake safe cycling into RFK Campus redevelopment plans

RFK Campus redevelopment—the stadium and also the planned 5-6,000 housing units and the commercial and recreation space—will transform the District of Columbia. Read about the vision here.

WABA focuses on transportation; our vision—for the region and not only the RFK site—is a just and sustainable region where walking, biking, and transit are the best ways to get around. So it’s our job to make sure that RFK plans respond to and anticipate the walkers’, bike and scooter riders’, and transit users’ needs and priorities. Of course equity, affordability, the environment, and public safety are also top concerns for us.

The draft RFK Campus Master Plan

The District has put out a draft RFK Campus Master Plan and is inviting public comment, via a structured response form, though August 14. We’re writing to encourage you to comment, whether you expect to live or work near the site, plan to visit the stadium or the new amenities, or you’re just an interested party.

Share your views via the District’s Draft RFK Campus Master Plan Comment Form, and you may also send written comments to the project team at OP.RFKMasterPlan@dc.gov.

Our key reaction is that we are thrilled to see the extent that bike lanes and bikeshare have been incorporated into the plan, including bicycling connections to the Anacostia River Trail. It’s fantastic that planners included a “15 minute bike radius” map on the draft plan’s Mobility and Connectivity page. See the header image and the image below. For more general reactions, we’ll refer you to GGWash staff takes on the RFK master plan, posted by our friends at Greater Greater Washington.

WABA’s transportation comments

So our transportation comments, which of course you’re welcome to use or adapt, are:

The District and RFK Campus development partners should construct the draft master plan’s proposed bike lanes, which should be fully protected in accordance with District policy captured in the moveDC transportation plan.
It is essential that the District create safe cycling connections to areas surrounding the RFK Campus, optimally in time for the expected 2030 stadium dedication. The District must provide fully protected bikeways across the Anacostia River, at Pennsylvania Ave. SE, East Capitol St., and Benning Road NE, as shown in the RFK Campus Context Plan, with fully protected bikeways extending into Ward 7 and 8 along those major arterials.
Bike share and bike parking are essential, including bikeshare docking stations and bike-valet opportunities for events.
We fully support transit enhancements to include Gold Line bus rapid transit (BRT), connecting the RFK Campus by 2030 to Union Station and, optimally, to the Benning Road Metro station, extending west to Georgetown soon after. We also ask that Metrorail station improvements to the Stadium-Armory station and a new Oklahoma Ave. NE station be reconsidered. The Gold Line isn’t enough.

Mapping transportation comments into the RFK plan comment form

These comments don’t map directly into the Draft RFK Campus Master Plan Comment Form.The form has multiple sections. Respond to all of them or only to the areas most important to you. Regarding transportation points:

The section on Chapter 2: Development Framework invites comment on design: “Principle #3 Multimodal and Mobility Access: Prioritize walking, transit, and cycling, and ensure safe, intuitive movement for all modes of transportation. Make it easy for people of all ages and abilities to navigate and experience the site.” and also on principles regarding Active Streets, Connected Public Spaces and Active Recreation and Open Space.

The best place for transportation comments is possibly in response to the catch-all question, “Q2.10) Is there any additional feedback you would like to share with the team on the RFK Campus Development Framework?” Enter your transportation comments there or wherever else you think they’d fit, and take the planners up on their invitation to send written comments to the project team at OP.RFKMasterPlan@dc.gov.

Draft RFK Campus Master Plan bicycle network

More about The DC Low Stress Network

Bike lanes are most effective when they connects to other bike lanes, protected bike lanes, even more so.

WABA works with teams of grassroots volunteers across the District to demand a network of low-stress places to bike. A network where you, your kids, nephews, nieces, or grandkids, can all get where you need to go safely, easily, happily on bikes.

More about Getting Active & Involved

Check out upcoming events in DC’s Wards 7 and 8 that celebrate outdoor resources and opportunities to active! Get involved with upcoming projects to help you get around by walking, biking, or taking transit. Explore a park, trail, or neighborhood, including Anacostia Park and the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail, Oxon Run Park and Trail, Marvin Gaye Trail, and more!

More about Complete Streets

Complete Streets are streets designed to accommodate all users, and that prioritize historically underinvested modes of transportation like transit, walking, and biking. An incomplete street might lack adequate sidewalks, low-stress bike infrastructure, or safe and comfortable access to transit.

Effective Complete Streets policies change the way a jurisdiction plans and builds transportation infrastructure—sidewalks, low stress bike infrastructure, and transit should be included in any new or rebuilt street by default, rather than as an add-on when there's space or demand.

While most regional jurisdictions have a Complete Streets policy of some sort, they lack teeth and permit transportation departments to continue to build streets that put cars first and squeeze other modes into the margins.

More about Outreach

WABA runs a variety of outreach programs that create opportunities for people across the region to join the bicycling community.

More about Advocacy

WABA fights for a region where biking, walking and transit are the best ways to get around.

We educate policymakers and organize grassroots advocates for to speak up for safer places to bike and walk; and for laws and policies that protect people who are walking and biking, reduce dangerous driving, and facilitate changes to the built environment.