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2004 ASLA Professional Awards

Analysis & Planning Award of Honor

Anacostia River Parks Target Area Plan & Riverwalk Design Guidelines, Washington, DC
Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC, Philadelphia, PA
Client: District of Columbia Office of Planning

A beautiful and thoughtful effort. . . A good, multi-agency effort to produce a badly needed plan with a vision. . . Excellent process. . . easy to follow and understand from a layman's perspective.
2004 Professional Awards Jury Comments

This project is the keystone of the vision for turning the Anacostia River from its current condition as the capital region's most underutilized resource into a new, vibrant waterfront for Washington, DC. The goal of this plan is to provide places for people to meet, relax, encounter nature and experience the heritage of the waterfront neighborhoods. Another consideration is the extension of social and economic equality—an effort to ensure that benefits derived from a revitalized waterfront are shared by those in surrounding neighborhoods for whom the river has nevertheless been distant because of its lack of utility.

Anacostia Waterfront Initiative Boundary: the Anacostia RiverParks Target Area is 1650 acres or 60% of the overall AWI planning area. Research, analysis, and recommendations developed for the Anacostia RiverParks Target Area Plan and Riverwalk Design Guidelines apply to all target (study) areas of the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative. (Photo: District of Columbia Office of Planning (DCOP))

Aerial of the Southern Reach of the Anacostia River, with Poplar Point, the Navy Yard, Southeast Federal Center, Buzzard Point, the Washington Channel and the confluence with the Potomac River in the background and RFK stadium and Anacostia National Park in the foreground. (Photo: District of Columbia Office of Planning (DCOP))

Overall AWI Plan, created by the Anacostia RiverParks Target Area team: the Anacostia RiverParks Plan seeks to create a unified identity for the 1650 acres of open space along the river, connecting the entire area while promoting the unique features of each destination. (Photo: WRT)

Example of overall strategies diagram developed for the Anacostia RiverParks Target Area Plan and overall AWI framework planning. This diagram illustrates general environmental strategies for the corridor. (Photo: WRT)

Environmental Initiatives map. The Anacostia RiverParks Target Area Plan organizes proposals within environmental, circulation, recreation and cultural initiatives. A map, such as this example, describes general intentions and is followed by detailed recommendation plans, illustrations and text. (Photo: WRT)

Example of illustration of Environmental Initiatives recommendations: Proposed view of Kingman Island with new wetlands and nature center. The plan employs design to illustrate how strategies set forth might be realized. (Photo: WRT)

Cultural Initiatives map. Viewing the river as a series of segments or basins, each with its own character, potential and range of recreational or cultural opportunities for residents and visitors helps to establish the river as a center of activity rather than as the edge of various districts. The loop trails of the Riverwalk will allow people to circulate around a given basin and will support thematic tours of each basin. (Photo: WRT)

Example of illustration of Cultural Initiatives recommendations: Amphitheater at Poplar Point. (Illustrations: Michael McCann, McCann Illustrations)

Recreation Initiatives map. The plan brings gains of 246 acres of active recreation, over 850 acres in passive or nature based recreation and almost 50 miles of new trails. (Photo: WRT)

Recreation Plan diagramming general location and types of recreation along the corridor. (Photo: WRT)

Circulation Initiatives map. Combined, the Anacostia River and the Washington Channel contain an eight-mile shoreline, with potential for over 20 miles of waterfront trails and almost 50 miles of trails overall, yet only 1.2 miles of trail currently exist. Foremost in the recreation and circulation agendas of the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative is the establishment of a trail system, connecting all parts of the waterfront, surrounding trail systems, neighborhoods and key destinations. (Photo: WRT)

Trail Type Plan from the Riverwalk Design Guidelines. The Guidelines are part of the overall report and define trail types and describe alignments by trail type generally, as in this plan and specifically, by trail loops which encircle several of the river basins. (Photo: WRT)

General proposed Ancostia Riverwalk and park road section. More detailed trail type sections, cross sections and illustrations are provided in the Riverwalk Guidelines. (Photo: WRT)

Example of proposed trail alignment at a trail loop, the Islands Loop. Location, type of trail and specific trail lengths are diagrammed. (Photo: WRT)

Illustration of trail along the upper reach. (Illustrations: Michael McCann, McCann Illustrations)

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