Media Contact:  John Lisle at (202) 671-2004

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is inviting interested parties to attend the inaugural Anacostia Waterfront Forum on Tuesday, February 17, 2009. The program is the first in a new educational series about the benefits development along the entire Anacostia Waterfront will bring to the District of Columbia.

The development of the Anacostia Waterfront is a topic of discussion in the District among community activists, political leaders and national policy experts. In a letter to DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, Mayor Adrian Fenty put in the District’s bid for some of the money proposed in President Obama’s economic stimulus package. In a Washington Post commentary that appeared on February 1, Alice Rivlin, Brookings Institution and Walter Smith, DC Appleseed Center, urged President Obama to “make the critical infrastructure needs of our nation's capital a high priority.”

At Tuesday’s forum, DDOT’s Acting Director Gabe Klein will provide the welcome and Chief Engineer Kathleen Penney will give a presentation on the topic, “Sustainable Development, Infrastructure and the Future of the District of Columbia.”  Presentations will focus on how investments in Waterfront infrastructure should lead to social, economic, and environmental progress in Waterfront and District neighborhoods, but especially those East of the Anacostia River.

Several community leaders will participate in the forum and members of the audience will also have an opportunity to ask questions.

For more information about the District’s Anacostia Waterfront Program, please visit www.theanacostiawaterfront.com or call (202) 715-6641.

Meeting Information:

What		Anacostia Waterfront Forum: “Sustainable Development, Infrastructure and the Future of the District of Columbia”
Who		Gabe Klein, Acting Director, DDOT Kathleen Penney, Chief Engineer, DDOT Charles Wilson, President, Historic Anacostia Block Association Uwe Brandes. Vice President for Innovation, Urban Land Institute Walter Smith, Executive Director, DC Appleseed Center for Law & Justice
When		Tuesday, February 17, 2009, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Where		Martin Luther King, Jr. Library Great Hall 901 G Street, NW

The Library is near the Gallery Place – Chinatown Metro Station on the Red, Green & Yellow lines. Use the 9th Street exit when you arrive at the station. There is also free parking available in the garage below the library.

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is committed to ensuring that no person is excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, its projects, programs, and services on the basis of race, color, national origin, or gender, as provided by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or on the basis of disability as provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

If you need special accommodations or language assistance services (translation or interpretation) please contact Todd Stephens at (202) 715-6641 or by email at tstephens@hntb.com in advance of the meeting. These services will be provided free of charge.