March 18, 2019 PYMIG Meeting Summary

The PYMIG held a meeting at the Charles Houston Rec Center on March 18 at 7pm. The purpose of the meeting was to provide an overview of the Joint Permit Application process, to provide a construction update from the builder (Potomac Yard Constructors or PYC) and to discuss a decision matrix for choosing among the various southwest (Potomac Yard side) entrance options. The agenda, presentation materials and video of the meeting can be found here. (Note: The presentation material slides will greatly aid in understanding the synopsis of the various change options.)

Joint Permit Application (JPA). The City has submitted the JPA, which discusses environmental issues, to the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The Corps and DEQ are reviewing the application and the City responded to their questions and information requests. When satisfied with the JPA, the Corps and DEQ will solicit public comments for 30 days. DEQ will also hold a public meeting. The City expects the comment period and public meeting to occur in late spring. (FYI, spring runs from March 20-June 21.)

Construction Updates.

Circle. PYC presented an update on the construction activities that will occur between now and the end of October 2019 (slide #6). There is an activity entitled “Relocate Tot Lot and Adjust Traffic Circle” in the March-April timeframe. The referenced tot lot belongs to Old Town Greens. I asked Fred Robinson, WMATA Project Manager, if the “adjustment” of the circle meant they were no longer considering total removal. He said they remain committed to removal of the circle. My discussion with Fred can be found at time 32:40-33:20 of the meeting video.

*Note from Ron Lafond, PGHOA President: Regarding the PG Traffic Circle: As of Tuesday, March 19, there has been no agreement or settlement reached between PGHOA and WMATA for the use or demolition of the PG traffic circle during construction of the PY Metrorail Station. The PGHOA Board has been advised by counsel to expect the DoJ to file condemnation proceedings for the traffic circle in federal court on behalf of WMATA in late March or in April. The Board remains in negotiations with WMATA and DoJ to attempt to come to a settlement that best protects the safety of the Potomac Greens community and fairly compensates the HOA for the use of the traffic circle during construction, including the full restoration of the traffic circle to an equal (or improved) design and quality upon conclusion of the construction of the Station. More details will be forthcoming as they occur.

Pile Driving. Under the current design plan, there will be 32 piles driven in 8 groups of 4 piles under the northern mezzanine. The closest of those groups will be approximately 1,000 feet from our nearest houses at the north end of PG (slide #7). Slide #8 depicts the impact of pile driving over distance. For example, damage/cracked walls can be expected within 10 feet of the pile driving. At 1,000 feet, the vibration effects would not be perceptible to people and would only be perceptible to lab equipment. Should the southern mezzanine be restored into the design and require piles, pile driving at that location would occur 500 feet from our nearest houses and would be perceptible to people. Total time for pile driving is expected to be several weeks. (NOTE: When viewing slide #7, please remember the distance axis is logarithmic, not linear.)

Documentation of Existing conditions. The houses that will be inspected before pile driving begins are shown in slide #9. However, the border of the area of affected houses cuts through the middle of several “sticks” of houses. A stick of houses shares a single-pour cement slab. PYC had previously agreed to inspect ALL the houses in the stick. I asked them to confirm that was still the case. My comments and Mayor Wilson’s and PYC’s agreement can be found at time 11:30-13:40 of the meeting video.

Southwest Entrance Design Ideas. The PYMIG discussed three design ideas presented by City Staff to improve access from the West (Potomac Yard) side of the Station. Idea #1 envisions adding a Southern Entrance Pavilion at Glebe Road and an elevated bridge in lieu of the originally proposed shorter ramp (slide #17). Idea #2 envisions keeping the current approved longer ramp structure but adds moving walkways on the ramp (slide #18). Idea #3 would add a Southern Pavilion at Glebe Road, a second bridge over the CSX tracks and a “downsized” Southern Mezzanine. City Staff estimates that keeping this option within budget would require moving fare gates from the Southern Mezzanine to the Southern Pavilion. Consequently, there would be NO access to the Southern Mezzanine from the East (Potomac Greens) side of the station (slide #19). There was a great deal of comment from the public in support of idea #3. Potomac Yard residents would be satisfied with idea #3 as currently proposed. A representative from Kaiser Permanente and the National Industries for the Blind said they had sent a joint letter to City Staff in support of idea #3. PG and OTG residents who spoke wanted a modified version of idea #3 that WOULD provide us access to the southern mezzanine. That would require restoring the southern mezzanine to its full size in order to move the fare gates out of the southern entrance pavilion on the Potomac Yard side and return them to the mezzanine. Unless the pedestrian ramp is also restored, 2 entrance elevators and stairs on the Potomac Greens side would also have to be added. City Staff will work with PYC to get firm cost estimates for all the various options and present them to the PYMIG. To get a better visual idea of the differences between the full-sized and down-sized southern mezzanine, please compare slide #19 of the March 18 PYMIG meeting to slide #9 of the presentation from the January 14 PYMIG meeting. The presentation for the January 14 PYMIG meeting can be found using the same hyperlink contained in the first paragraph of these notes.

Decision Matrix for the Southwest Entrance. A draft matrix of decision criteria was presented; however, no decisions were made with regard to weighting of the criteria. City Staff was asked to add some criteria such as projected impact on ridership and impact on the goal of increased access to the station.

The next PYMIG meetings will be held on April 22, 7-9pm, and May 21, 7-9pm, both at the Charles Houston Recreation Center, 901 Wythe St.