Highway plan change for school renovation

Summary#

B26-0812 is an introduced bill that would change the District’s highway plan under the 1898 law that established the plan. It would remove a planned section of 7th Street, S.E., and establish a small roadway segment to maintain continuity of Valley Avenue, S.E. The stated goal is to help make way for renovation of Charles Hart Middle School; that result is not guaranteed, and the bill is not yet law.

  • The bill would remove the plan designation for an approximately 800-foot-long, 90-foot-wide corridor through 601 Mississippi Avenue, S.E. The corridor is not a functioning road or DDOT right-of-way.
  • It would add a small roadway segment to the highway plan for Valley Avenue, S.E.
  • The change concerns the highway plan, not ownership of the land. The supplied material does not say it would close an existing public street or change current access.
  • The change is intended to allow the Department of General Services to move ahead with the school renovation. It does not itself approve or fund that project.
  • The bill would take effect only after mayoral approval (or a Council override of a veto), 30 days of Congressional review, and publication in the D.C. Register.

What it means for you#

  • Students, families and school staff: The plan change is intended to remove an obstacle to modernizing Hart Middle School. The bill does not set a construction schedule or guarantee the project will proceed.
  • Users of the park, trail and tennis center: The affected lots also include part of Oxon Run Park, the Oxon Run Trail and the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center. The bill materials do not describe changes to their operation or access.
  • Nearby residents and road users: The planned 7th Street segment is not currently a functioning road. DDOT says it has no plans to extend 7th Street southward and does not object to removing the designation.
  • The District government: The plan change affects land managed by the District. The bill does not create a new agency, service, benefit, fee or tax.

Money#

The Chief Financial Officer says funds are sufficient in the proposed FY2026 budget and FY2027–FY2030 financial plan, and that the bill has no budget impact.

  • No cost estimate for the Hart Middle School modernization is provided. No publicly available information on the project’s total cost is in the supplied material.

What is unclear#

  • The supplied material does not include the full bill text or the underlying highway-plan law, so the exact legal description of the new Valley Avenue segment could not be verified.
  • The bill materials do not set out how the highway-plan change relates to the detailed design or timing of the school renovation.
  • The materials do not describe any changes to the park, trail or tennis center. The bill itself does not explain how those uses would be affected by construction.
  • The bill is at the introduced stage. Whether it will pass is uncertain.

Case for#

  • The planned 7th Street corridor is unbuilt and not used for transportation, according to DDOT and the Chief Financial Officer.
  • DDOT says it has no transportation need for the designation and no plan to extend the street there.
  • Removing the designation could clear a planning obstacle to modernizing a public school whose existing building partly occupies the corridor.
  • Adding a segment to the plan for Valley Avenue is intended to preserve continuity in that plan.

Case against#

  • Removing a planned street corridor gives up a future transportation option, even though DDOT says it has no current need or plan to use it.
  • The affected area includes park land, a trail and a public tennis center. The bill does not explain how construction related to the school project might affect those uses.
  • The bill changes the highway plan but does not provide a school-project budget, construction details or a schedule, so the practical benefits and trade-offs remain uncertain.