Eaton renovation

[Anonymous]

I'm very frustrated with the parking and traffic situation around John Eaton, yet there has been no confirmation that Eaton will get off street (underground) parking as part of the renovation, like at Murch and Janney. Mary Cheh's office said they would work on funding to solve the parking problem, which particularly impacts teachers and staff. Hey, Cheh, what do you say?

[Anonymous]

Cheh is not interested in advocating for Eaton never has been and never will be until there are enough ward 3 voter parents.
No underground parking for Eaton. Just more kids.

[Anonymous]

I sincerely doubt the school is getting underground parking. Sorry neighbors. That was never in the DCPS budget and would have to come from separate funding that Cheh would need to secure.

[Anonymous]

It's puzzling. Janney got a parking garage although it's literally across the street from the Metro stop. Murch got underground parking more recently and it's about the same distance from two Metro stops. Meanwhile Eaton teachers have to beg friendly in-boundary parents to let them use their visitor parking passes, which then means there's hardly any street parking for school neighbors and visitors and is not a practice that is likely to be sustained long term. Ellington also has underground parking. Eaton's sloping site means that a cut and cover garage under the playground would probably be cheaper than the garages at the other schools were.

Is Council member Cheh saying that Eaton teachers, staff, parents and visitors (not to mention school neighbors) matter less than the Murch and Janney communities?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I sincerely doubt the school is getting underground parking. Sorry neighbors. That was never in the DCPS budget and would have to come from separate funding that Cheh would need to secure.

Was parking in the DCPS budget for Murch? Then why not Eaton? And if not, why is Cheh not securing the extra funding. The school is almost at the construction drawings phase. It's now or never on parking.

[Anonymous]

There is no valid reason to not include parking. Spending millions of dollars yet leaving the facility with obvious, significant problems is irresponsible.

[Anonymous]

I've never had a job where my employer provided parking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've never had a job where my employer provided parking.

Was you job accessible by public transportation? Public transportation is not easy, and there is no where teachers can park anywhere in the vicinity without getting a ticket.

Do you factor commute into your job choices?

[Anonymous]

^^public transportation to Eaton is not easy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no valid reason to not include parking. Spending millions of dollars yet leaving the facility with obvious, significant problems is irresponsible.

No one is talking about taking away from the library or the lunch room to build parking. We are just asking Mary Cheh to treat Eaton and its staff fairly and equitably compared to other recently renovated schools in Ward 3 in neighborhoods where parking is tight. She presumably got supplemental appropriations for those schools, so why not Eaton. It's not as if the DC government is in an austerity crisis -- Bowser just made the circulator bus free for all. We've heard speculation that Cheh won't go to bat for Eaton because there are so many out of boundary families at the school who are not her constituents. It seems to be true.

[Anonymous]

It's 2 blocks from the H3, 3 blocks from the 96 and 0.7 miles from the Metro. I'm just not seeing the public transportation difficulties. The neighborhood could definitely do with less congestion, so not having parking is a plus in my book!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's 2 blocks from the H3, 3 blocks from the 96 and 0.7 miles from the Metro. I'm just not seeing the public transportation difficulties. The neighborhood could definitely do with less congestion, so not having parking is a plus in my book!

How long would your total commute be if you worked at Eaton?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sincerely doubt the school is getting underground parking. Sorry neighbors. That was never in the DCPS budget and would have to come from separate funding that Cheh would need to secure.

Was parking in the DCPS budget for Murch? Then why not Eaton? And if not, why is Cheh not securing the extra funding. The school is almost at the construction drawings phase. It's now or never on parking.

Parking was required by zoning law because Murch doubled in size.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no valid reason to not include parking. Spending millions of dollars yet leaving the facility with obvious, significant problems is irresponsible.

No one is talking about taking away from the library or the lunch room to build parking. We are just asking Mary Cheh to treat Eaton and its staff fairly and equitably compared to other recently renovated schools in Ward 3 in neighborhoods where parking is tight. She presumably got supplemental appropriations for those schools, so why not Eaton. It's not as if the DC government is in an austerity crisis -- Bowser just made the circulator bus free for all. We've heard speculation that Cheh won't go to bat for Eaton because there are so many out of boundary families at the school who are not her constituents. It seems to be true.

Cry me a river. Maury lost a huge %% of it's already tiny outdoor space in order to make room for parking. DGS refused to consider any other solutions. Go through the council to get the teachers approved for street parking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's 2 blocks from the H3, 3 blocks from the 96 and 0.7 miles from the Metro. I'm just not seeing the public transportation difficulties. The neighborhood could definitely do with less congestion, so not having parking is a plus in my book!

And Janney is on the 30s bus line and across the street from Metro. Murch is one block from bus lines on Connecticut Avenue and Nebraska Ave. and 13 minutes' walk from the Van Ness metro and 15 minutes at most from Tenleytown.

The current parking situation around Eaton is untenable. Again, why is Eaton always last and least, not getting what other upper NW schools get? It seems discriminatory.