Panel Looks to Bridge Physical Divide Between Kennedy Center and Foggy Bottom

By Bryson Kloesel, Reporter

A panel of urban planning experts released a report last month with recommendations to improve the physical divide created by a stretch of highway near the Kennedy Center.

D.C. officials commissioned the think tank Urban Land Institute to lead the report, which consisted of a two-day panel in September with more than 30 stakeholders to form recommendations.

“The very next step is forming this development authority,” said Marc Gazda, the report’s author and a project manager at ULI Washington.

The report, supported by the National Capital Planning Commission, found a strong desire for pedestrian and cyclist connectivity in the region, currently unmet by existing infrastructure.

“It would be nice to reconnect it,” said Thomas Luebke, U.S. Commission on Fine Arts secretary. “There’s a whole cluster of issues that all point to a really great opportunity in this part of the city to improve things we probably wouldn’t do today if we were thinking about it that way.”