DDOT: Press Release - March 15, 2006

Press Release for Immediate Release

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

DDOT Invites Public Comments on New Religious Parking Policy

(Washington, DC) The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) invites public comments on proposals to increase parking spaces adjacent to and around religious congregations and to step up enforcement against parking violations.The enforcement is scheduled to start in May.

"The goal of these proposals is an easy-to-understand, enforceable, safe system that allows congregations to park near their places of worship and residents access to their cars," said Acting Director of Transportation Michelle Pourciau. "We will work with all the concerned parties–the residents, the congregations, the DC government agencies–to develop site-specific procedures that work for everybody, just as we did for the Convention Center, the MCI Arena and RFK Stadium during the baseball season."

Before the enforcement will start in late April, DDOT will work with community groups and congregations to inform all interested parties of the new policy.

These policies and procedures are a cooperative effort of DDOT, the Department of Public Works, the Metropolitan Police Department and the Executive Office of the Mayor.

Comments should be directed to Ann Simpson-Mason, DDOT Policy and Planning Administration, at (202) 671- 2740 or by email.

DDOT Proposals for Parking Around Congregations

In many neighborhoods of the District parking is often limited near places of worship. This leads attendees to double-park during church events and, at times, block fire hydrants and fire lanes, driveways, alleys and crosswalks. Currently, MPD parking enforcement is concentrating on these violations that create safety hazards.

DDOT invites comments on the following proposals to create additional parking spaces and increase enforcement around places of worship. These proposals, developed by DDOT in cooperation with the Department of Public Works, the Metropolitan Police Department and the Executive Office of the Mayor, are similar to the site-specific parking arrangements DDOT worked out for the Convention Center, the MCI Arena and RFK Stadium during the baseball season.

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