The current transportation plan for the proposed redevelopment of RFK Stadium does not meet the needs of fans, tax-payers, or D.C. residents. It over-emphasizes vehicles, under-invests in transit, and over-spends D.C. tax dollars, all while creating new barriers and health risks for surrounding communities like Kingman Park.
There is a better way: Add metro, reduce and relocate parking.
Hundreds of people signed our petition—thank you! We now encourage supporters to write decision-makers and testify at the public hearing. Learn more about this campaign by scrolling below and viewing our talking points​.
Problems with the
Current Proposal
The current RFK Stadium proposal includes 8,000 parking spaces housed by three giant garages—becoming the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd largest parking garages in DC history. These garages will be built by DC tax-payers to the tune of $356 million, equivalent to every household in DC paying more than $1,000. Revenue from these garages will be captured entirely by the football team. These gigantic new structures, along with several new roads that accompany them, will impede community access to popular neighborhood amenities like Kingman and Heritage Islands Conservation Park, The Fields, the proposed Sportsplex, and the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail. They will bring thousands of vehicles to and through neighborhood streets, endangering the health and safety of both residents and the environment. Importantly, this proposal does not account for a new Metro infill station at Benning and Oklahoma Ave NE, which would increase transportation efficiency.
A Better Vision
Reduce and relocate parking.
Add metro.
We propose a new metro infill station at Benning and Oklahoma Ave NE. When optimized, metro can transfer 19,000 to 25,000 passengers per hour in and out of the site, making it extremely efficient. Whereas parking garages may only be filled to capacity 10–20 times per year, a new metro infill station could serve both residents and visitors year-round. This new station could be jointly-funded by both DC and the Commanders football team. If we prioritize mass transit, we can reduce the number of parking spaces from 8,000 to no more than 2,000. By reducing parking overall on the site, DC can afford to divert funds from parking to building this new station. If more parking is needed, WMATA's pre-existing parking garages should be encouraged, offering 13,000 parking spaces within a 15 minute ride of the stadium. We further propose relocating whatever parking is deemed irreplaceable to unoccupied land that lies south of the RFK Stadium, in Lot 8 and Reservation 13. The locations for these parking garages could be behind existing river barriers, like the DC Jail, where surface parking lots currently exist. Vehicle access would primarily be the highway on/off ramps at Pennsylvania Ave SE and the Whitney Young Bridge, moving along Southeast Blvd and Independence Ave to avoid residential areas of Kingman Park and Hill East.
