Infrastructure & Trees

Dupont Tree Plaza

Council Member Pinto seeks funds for Tree Plaza

Brooke Pinto,  Council Member for Ward 2, has asked that the city’s FY 2023 budget include the full $1.069 million needed to build the Dupont Tree Plaza.  She made the request in her February list of urgent improvements in Ward 2 that benefit the whole city.

We’re excited! If the Plaza is funded in the city’s 2023 fiscal year, it could be built in calendar 2023! Our 20 pages of engineer design is ‘shovel-ready’ i.e. approved by all city offices. (See slides below.)

As part of our push for Council funding, RMA President Deborah Shapley submitted testimony to the Transportation & Environment Committee, DOEE Oversight Hearing on March 29.  Testimony & map Pdf.   She said the plaza site is important to the whole city: thousands of people cross to connect among nine MetroBus lines, two Metrorail stations and use the  Capital BikeShare stand. These people need cleaner air, safety and a green community space which the Plaza will provide. She requested that it be funded and built by the DOEE.

Pinto’s push to get the plaza funded and built soon reflects the judgment of Department of Transportation engineers: the small Tree Plaza adjoining Connecticut Avenue can be built ahead of the impending DDOT  $25 million Connecticut Avenue Deck Over. If built soon, the Tree Plaza will be filtering road runoff belping EPA compliance and making green community space well ahead of Deck-Over completion. The engineers are in touch!

Dupont Tree Plaza Design in Brief

The slides show how the new green infrastructure builds climate resilience. Note the new corridor of shade trees (overcup oak), signature bald cypress, native plants, lighting and other amenities.

  • Dupont Tree Plaza - New Community Green space

  • Dupont Tree Plaza - Key Node in Regional Transportation

Download full presentation (pdf) »

Plaza benefits by the numbers:

  • Trees 12 shade trees = 7 New + 5 present
  • Rain and road runoff collected from 1.1-acre area
  • Main Plaza = 7,100 sq. ft.
  • Pervious paving = 2,150 sq. ft.
  • Bioretention areas = 1,020 sq. ft.
  • New soil volume = 6,610 cu. ft.
  • Stormwater credits = 2,000 / yr.

More

We have presented this plan to Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2B, ANC 2B Land Use Committee, the Board of Dupont Circle Citizens’ Association, Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets, and the District of Colombia’s interagency Urban Forestry Advisory Council. Some links:

Students Learn About Stormwater & Trees

2019-2020 Youngsters at School Without Walls @ Francis Stevens made field trips to the plaza They learned how the underground structure with good soil and Silva Cells gather water for the trees. Student art from this project is available on request.

See also RMA in the News.