Norton Announces Land Transfer Marking Major Step for St. Elizabeths DHS Campus

May 29, 2015 Press Release

Rescues Shepherd Parkway for the Community

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced another major step that has been taken for consolidation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at St. Elizabeths in Ward 8.  The National Park Service (NPS) has transferred eight acres located in Shepherd Parkway to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to use to make infrastructure improvements needed to accommodate the next phase of DHS’s consolidation.  Earlier this month, the National Capital Planning Commission and Commission on Fine Arts approved the land transfer.

“The transfer of these eight acres may seem a small matter, but these acres are essential for the DHS consolidation to move to the next stage,” said Norton.  “GSA will now be able to move forward on the construction of a new access road parallel to I-295 that also will unburden the surrounding neighborhoods from the inevitable increase in car traffic, which is of special importance to the surrounding Ward 8 community.  I am particularly pleased that the GSA construction will also rescue Shepherd Parkway from dumping, an issue the community and I have been working to eliminate for months to make Shepherd Parkway a pleasant park experience for the neighborhood.”

In March, Norton wrote to NPS requesting that NPS expedite the land transfer so that construction at St. Elizabeths would not fall behind schedule.  Norton got $144 million in the fiscal year 2015 omnibus appropriations bill for DHS Consolidation at St. Elizabeths and for GSA to make infrastructure improvements there, including a new access road to support federal employee traffic into St. Elizabeths.  The access road has ripened as an issue because construction of the headquarters for the DHS secretary and 100 top DHS officials is now underway.  The access road will be parallel to I-295 and connect Firth Sterling Avenue with Malcolm X Avenue and South Capitol Street.   GSA will also provide improvements to the long-neglected Shepherd Parkway, including construction of a protected trail and bike path.

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Link to Shepherd Parkway press release on Congresswoman Norton's site.