Web Extra

As blasting and excavation draw to a close at the Square 54 development site, project organizers are warning community members about a series of street closures planned for much of 2009.

The next phase of construction at the site will require four tower cranes and will impact the streets bordering the site, GW’s Executive Director of Government, International and Community Relations Michael Akin told Foggy Bottom residents at last week’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting.

A portion of I Street, which already has one lane removed, will now be reduced to two lanes, Akin said. It will have one lane going in each direction and there will no longer be parking spaces in front of JBKO and Munson Halls.

The pedestrian walkway will be moved over a lane to make room for construction equipment, and will be covered.

23rd Street will have two northbound and southbound lanes each, but the lane that had bordered Square 54 will be removed. A bus shelter located on that side of the street will be moved one block south to sit on 23rd Street next to JBKO Hall, and 22nd Street will continue to have only two northbound lanes for traffic.

Barbara Kahlow, a board member of the West End Citizens Association, said that most neighbors do not know about the planned lane closures.

“I think if GW wants to be a good neighbor they should do a mail-out [of notices],” Kahlow said.

She said she has not received an e-mail about the proposed lane closures addressed to her neighborhood association.

Akin said at the ANC meeting that information about Square 54 is available on the GW Neighborhood Web site.

“Working with Boston Properties, GW provided prompt public notification of the upcoming change to ensure the information reached neighbors as quickly as possible,” Akin said. “Also, the updates on these and other campus plan activities are provided quarterly at the Advisory Commission meetings, as well as FRIENDS meetings. Both are open to all members of the Foggy Bottom, West End and GW communities.”

This phase of construction, which is expected to last up to a year, will involve pouring concrete for the foundation as well as the below- and above-grade structure.

Law firm Hunton & Williams signed a lease for 190,000 square feet of the development last fall, but there have been no new leases signed yet for the site, said Jake Stroman, senior project manager at Boston Properties, the site’s developer.