

Traffic gridlock is seen on Interstate 395 in the District in this file photo. A developer is asking that a portion of the highway be closed for more than a year.

D.C. Del Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) says a developer’s proposal to shut down a portion of Interstate 395 to expedite a construction project requires review from members of Congress and the public.

Federal authorities are considering the request to close two-thirds of a mile of I-395 in the District for more than a year to speed construction of the $1.5 billion Capitol Crossing project.

Norton, who learned about the proposal through news reports, bashed the Federal Highway Administration and the D.C. Department of Transportation for discussing the possible highway closure without first consulting with members of Congress whose constituents would be impacted by a shut down.

“We are demanding a meeting between regional Members, FHWA, and DDOT as soon as possible,” Norton said in statement. She said her office has not received copies of the two letters DDOT sent to FHWA about the request.

“Impacts of a closure would fall directly not only on the District, whose streets in the area are already saturated, but equally on regional and D.C. residents, who need participation, time and planning before a major highway is closed,” Norton said.

New York-based Property Group Partners has asked for a closure of I-395 between New York Avenue and D Street NW for 15 to 18 months. This could halve the construction time of a $200-million deck over the freeway’s entrance that will support the company’s 2.2 million-square-foot project.

Some city and business leaders say the shutdown should be considered given it means the work could be done more safely and faster. Without full access to that portion of the freeway, the platform project could take at least three years to complete, and would require periodic lane closures, the developer says. The work also would require loud work overnight and could potentially endanger workers, the developer said.

But a closure one of the busiest stretches of highway in the District would impact the commutes of thousands of area residents and could potentially cripple traffic in a city already struggling with gridlock. As many as 90,000 cars travel that portion of I-395 each day.

Norton, the ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, said no major change affecting transportation can be made without consultation with officials throughout the region and input from the public. She said federal and D.C. transportation agencies should have briefed members of the local congressional delegation as they consider the request. Instead, she said, members found out through news reports.

The Capitol Crossing development will reconnect F St and G St NW and generate as much as $30 million in property taxes to the District. It is one of the city’s most anticipated development projects.