“back to back incidents with large groups of youths gathering on the trail and trail connection lobby at Washington Gateway. They have then proceeded to getting into altercations that spill down into our plaza and the lobby…”

Thanks to E. for passing on from an ANC Rep via the Eckington Civic Association (ECA):

“I have received the following from MRP, the company that manages the bike lobby linking the MBT to Florida Avenue, and pass it along.

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Over the last two days we have had back to back incidents with large groups of youths gathering on the trail and trail connection lobby at Washington Gateway. They have then proceeded to getting into altercations that spill down into our plaza and the lobby of the Burton apartments. The police have been relatively quick to respond, but similar to the firework incident that we had in July (where the youth shot a roman candle into our lobby) the police tactic is just to disburse the crowd.

We have closed the trail connection to try to de-escalate the situation. Hopefully this will bring some normalcy and we will be able to reopen shortly.

I wanted to keep you informed as we understand the impact on your constituents. This seemed to be the most prudent action we could take in an effort to improve safety.”

One member responded:

“MRP agreed in its community benefits agreement to a bike lobby that would be open all day, closed some hours of the night, at the pressure of neighborhood residents. Closing the lobby violates that agreement and forces all of us who use it regularly to longer or less safe routes.

MRP needs to find a solution to keep the lobby open.”