DC Government

Photo by PoPville flickr user Vileinist

Dear PoPville,

I am currently living on New Hampshire near foggy bottom/westend. For the last month there has been nonstop construction from 7am to evenings. What is going on?

Additionally, I wanted to know what resources are available to residents and what the typical protocol for obtaining information about construction projects. I received no notification from my building. Even more than that when I asked the building manager about the length of the construction project, cause, etc she had no information for me. I’ve gotten used to earplugs and for the most part the construction workers have been great, they never leave trash behind and seem professional. Still, it rubs me the wrong way that I didn’t receive any notice and I have no point of contact for concerns/complaints.

DDOT usually has pretty good websites about construction projects around town. You can keep up to date on the New Hampshire Avenue project here.

From the Mayor’s office:

Mayor Vincent C. Gray, Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier and District Department of Transportation Director (DDOT) Terry Bellamy today announced a regulatory fix to the District’s Automated Traffic Enforcement (ATE) program that will improve the fairness of speeding fines while improving public safety.

“For months since the Metropolitan Police Department put more photo-enforcement vehicles on the street to reduce speeding, decrease traffic fatalities and make things safer for all motorists, pedestrians and cyclists, we’ve received lots of feedback —some of it good and some of it bad,” Mayor Gray said. “So, today I am announcing that, effective on Monday, there will be adjustments in the ATE program that we believe will improve fairness while continuing to ensure and improve public safety.”

The changes to the program include decreasing fines on less-dangerous violations of speed laws and increasing fines on the most flagrant violators:

· Violators caught speeding up to 10 miles per hour over the limit will be fined $50 instead of the current $75;

· Violators caught speeding 11 to 15 miles per hour over the limit will now be fined $100 rather than the current $125; and

· Violators caught speeding more than 25 miles per hour in excess of the limit will receive a higher fine of $300 instead of the current $250 fine.

“We believe this strikes the right balance between ensuring the safety of motorists, cyclists, pedestrians and those who live on thoroughfares while also making the system fairer for those whose violations are less dangerous than the most flagrant speeders,” Mayor Gray said.

The changes will be implemented through the Department of Motor Vehicles’ regulatory authority, which means they will not require legislation and can take effect quickly.

In addition, Mayor Gray said, the administration is instituting two other changes to improve the ATE system. DDOT engineers will study the safety of altering speed limits in areas where improvements to roadways may enable changes without compromising safety. And Mayor Gray will propose emergency legislation that will dedicate a portion of revenues from the ATE program to hiring 100 new police officers, bringing the Metropolitan Police force up to 4,000 officers.

Photo by PoPville flickr user ekelly80

From DPW:

The DC Department of Public Works announced today that it will begin collecting leaves Monday, November 5 and will continue collections through January 12, 2013. DPW will be in each neighborhood at least twice for two weeks collecting leaves during the season. To ensure leaves are collected, residents are asked to check the schedule for their neighborhood and get their leaves ready for collection the weekend before each collection cycle. Earlier this month, DPW mailed a collection schedule to residents whose trash and recycling are collected by DPW. That schedule also can be found at www.dpw.dc.gov.

“We will collect leaves from every residential street in the District,” said DPW Director William O. Howland, Jr. “This is our most labor-intensive operation, involving more than 200 people working six days a week, including Veterans Day (observed Monday, November 12) and Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 22).”

He advised residents to rake loose leaves into the treeboxes, not into the street, and DPW crews will vacuum the leaves, which will be composted. “We also will collect bagged leaves left in the treeboxes and they, too, will be composted,” he added. Last year DPW composted almost 6,000 tons of leaves. The free compost is available to residents for pick up between March and October at the Ft. Totten Transfer Station.

DPW will collect holiday trees between December 31 and January 12. Residents should remove ornaments before placing the trees where their trash and recycling are collected.

Here are some tips for a smooth-running leaf collection season:

• Look up your street’s collection schedule in the leaf collection brochure or at http://leaf.dcgis.dc.gov/.
• Rake leaves into the treebox the weekend before your street’s collection cycles.
• Please – leaves only! Tree limbs, bricks, dirt, rocks, etc., will damage the equipment and delay collections.
• If you choose to bag your leaves, place the bags in the treebox or next to the trash/recycling container(s).
• Drive slowly around our crews’ work area so no one gets hurt.

Photo by PoPville flickr user blueiris2006

From EOM:

“Residential Street Sweeping: Street sweeping in signed residential neighborhoods will resume March 1. Sweeping was suspended this week to allow the crews to clear storm debris, and the end of this program is October 31. Therefore, motorists do not need to obey the parking restrictions on Tuesday or Wednesday. Street sweeping will resume March 1.”

In other DPW news:

“Trash/recycling collections: 1. Residents living in once-a-week collections neighborhoods are asked to hold onto their trash and recyclables until next Tuesday, when normal collections will be made. 2. Residents living in twice-a-week collections neighborhoods whose recycling is collected on Tuesdays are asked to hold onto their recyclables until next Tuesday. These residents’ trash will be collected on Friday. Residents whose recycling is collected on Friday, their recyclables will be collected.”