Today, DC Councilmember Charles Allen (Ward 6) led the Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment to advance an omnibus bill that would create three new pedestrian plazas around the District where the streets could be closed for 24 hours over the course of a week, and perhaps permanently if the change proves successful and popular.

The bill – which includes provisions from several other bills introduced this Council Period – would also enable neighbors to more easily close their street to hold a block party, expand a program to make it easier for seniors to park their cars at their home, and ensure DDOT is more explicitly considering all roadway users in its design and planning work. The bills were approved unanimously by Councilmembers Allen, Parker, and Frumin, who are members of the committee. The bills move to the full Council during December’s legislative meetings.

“Places where people can walk and feel safe and comfortable doing so are both economic winners and a breath of fresh air to restoring our civic life. And there's a pent-up demand for more open spaces in our most desirable economic areas – just look at the success of places like Eastern Market, The Wharf, CityCenterDC, and even weekend farmers markets and street festivals, including the highly popular Open Streets events. We should be leaning into these obvious economic boons, just like most other cities around the world do every day,” Councilmember Charles Allen, chair of the committee and the bill’s author, said.

The PLAZA Act (Public Life and Activity Zones Amendment Act) would require DDOT to identify three stretches of road the District could close to traffic for a total of 24 hours over the course of a week. DDOT would then hold community meetings and solicit feedback from the community. The first street would begin this modified closure after Oct. 1, 2026, with DDOT providing grants to assist in the implementation. The remaining two streets would be incorporated into DC’s long-term multimodal planning document, moveDC. If the change proves popular, the bill includes a way to permanently close the street.

Other Bills Included:

Block Parties, Expedited Block Parties, and Block Party Preauthorization

This bill streamlines the process for neighbors to get a permit to close their street for a few hours to hold a block party or other social gathering. The bill offers an alternative to collecting signatures from residents and businesses on their block by allowing applicants to instead secure the support of the street’s ANC representative. The bill also allows residents to request and get a pre-authorization from DDOT for future closures on that street, allowing residents to receive expedited approval for future block parties. This subtitle builds on the GO PLAY legislation Councilmember Allen introduced in 2018 for easier and safer closures during holidays like Halloween.

Safe at Home Program Expansion

This bill expands the District’s highly successful Safe at Home Program, created by Councilmember Allen in 2015, which covers the cost or heavily subsidizes in-home modifications to allow DC residents to age in place safely. This bill expands the program to include assisting with the cost to create private, off-street parking on the property. The bill was originally introduced by Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (Ward 1).

Establishing Multimodal Measures of Effectiveness

This bill would change the ways DDOT evaluates the benefits and impacts of the District’s transportation network planning to better reflect the experience and needs of all roadway users. For too long, transportation agencies’ have prioritized factors like automobile delay and traffic congestion to the detriment pedestrians, transit users, and micromobility users. This bill was originally introduced by Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (Ward 1) and will help ensure all travelers – regardless of mode — are more thoughtfully considered in DDOT’s future work.

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