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Articles
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| Nationals still bargaining with city for RFK parking lots |
VOICE writes, "BY BEN WEINSTEIN
The Washington Nationals have not yet secured enough parking for 2008 season-ticket holders, but the team expects to finalize a deal with the city to use RFK Stadium lots by opening day, a team official said last week.
The Nationals will provide free shuttle rides between RFK Stadium and the new ballpark, said Gregory McCarthy, director of the ballpark district, at a Jan. 11 D.C. Council Committee on Economic Development hearing. But he said fans without reserved parking should take Metro trains or buses rather than expect to find free spaces on residential streets. Season ticket holders whose packages don't include parking canpurchase spots for the entire season in one of several lots around the stadium.
“We have a parking deficit in and around the ballpark,” and the RFK lots are critical for overflow parking, McCarthy said.
Several Ward 6 leaders said the city must produce a plan soon to minimize an unavoidable crisis. With only 4,000 to 5,000 confirmed spaces — out of a needed 5,000 to 7,000 — and less than three months before opening day, they said Southwest and Near Southeast residents will shoulder most of the burden.
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“We’re greatly concerned that the city still lacks a final and clearly articulated traffic plan,” Southwest advisory neighborhood commissioner Andy Litsky said at the council hearing. “With 82 days out, we’ve got nothing. … Not only do they not have a Plan A, they don’t have a Plan B.”
Litsky and fellow Southwest commissioner Rhonda Hamilton said they worry residents’ quality of life will suffer and property values will drop with the crush of transportation problems. “Who wants to live in a house with a parking lot as a view?” Hamilton asked.
Southeast Capitol Hill advisory neighborhood commissioner David Garrison said fans inevitably will look north of the Southeast-Southwest Freeway for free parking, and “we already know from our experience” with RFK Stadium “that we’re in for some hard times,” adding that he doesn’t think the city will be equipped to adequately enforce parking regulations.
McCarthy said the team plans to roll out its anti-driving message in an advertising campaign, which will include mass-transit brochures.
McCarthy said season-ticket holders who reserve parking spaces will have the same spot throughout the season, which will lessen congestion because they will know where to go. He also said the Nationals will tell people to use different ramps and routes to more evenly distribute traffic.
“There’s a right way and a wrong way to get where you’re going. Please use the right way,” McCarthy said. He also announced that season-ticket holders will get parking mailings this week.
McCarthy stressed that the RFK overflow lots are a key component of the parking plan. But economic development committee chair Kwame Brown said when those lots fill up, fans may park on surrounding Hill East residential streets to take advantage of the free shuttle.
McCarthy said the team could ask the city to open additional RFK lots if that happens. The Nationals have not yet signed a deal for the lots with the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, which oversees the stadium.
Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells asked McCarthy if lots set aside for game days will be available for the non-baseball events scheduled at the stadium — like Pope Benedict XVI’s scheduled April 17 visit.
McCarthy said the same lots will not necessarily be available for events on weekdays during business hours, but they will be available on nights and weekends.
Wells also asked McCarthy to consider instituting a community-relations program similar to the Chicago Cubs’ program for Wrigley Field’s neighbors. He said that organization produces an annual report on neighborhood-stadium issues like parking, trash and transportation.
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Posted on Jan 24, 2008 08:05am.
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