Construction, Detours to Impact 37th Street Travelers

Construction on the 37th Street and Tunlaw Road intersection is expected to begin before March 28, according to the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) at the Advisory Neighbor Commission (ANC) public meeting Thursday.

According to Paul Hoffman the DDOT program manager for the construction, the contractor will be given notice to proceed sometime this week with construction lasting an estimated four weeks, two of which will include a detour for northbound 37th Street drivers and buses with access for residents.

Exact dates are not available, but warning will be provided a week prior to the start of construction and the start of the detour.

“Nobody is happy about the detour,” ANC Chair of Commission Brian Cohen told Patch. “But it is temporary and will be over fast, and hopefully we’ll get improvement out of it.”

DDOT will set up barricades and signs to alert drivers to the changes and will turn northbound drivers toward Wisconsin Avenue from 37th Street.

The Tunlaw Road-37th Street intersection is “really a problem geometrically,” said Hoffman referring to the “scissor-like” crossing of the two roads where travelers are confused as to who has right-of-way.

The changes to the intersection are part on the Wisconsin Avenue Streetscape project that has reached 86 percent of its completion, according to DDOT.

“I just want to see that safety has been improved,” Hoffman added. 

To read more about the changes coming to the intersection, check here. 

Editor's Note: This post originally stated that the ANC would help DDOT set up barricades, a task the ANC is not taking part in.