Residents can weigh in on the draft RFK Campus Master Plan during the 45‑day formal public comment period through August 14. Submit comments via the online form at rfk.dc.gov, by emailing op.rfkmasterplan@dc.gov, by giving in‑person testimony at a public meeting August 1 at St. Coletta of Greater Washington (1901 Independence Ave. SE) from 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
Kingman Park residents have spent months pressing District officials to explain what the RFK campus will mean for the neighborhood once the Commanders stadium, parking, housing, retail and park space begin to move from drawings into construction. Their central concern is that the master plan still reads like a land-use vision, not a lived neighborhood plan. Residents say the images show buildings, roads and green space, but do not yet show how thousands of people will actually move through the area, where cars will queue, how streets will be protected from cut-through traffic, or how nearby residents will reach their own homes on game days.
For Kingman Park, the question is not whether RFK should remain empty. Many residents support redevelopment of the long-underused campus and want parks, recreation, retail and better transit. But they are wary of a plan that promises a “transit-oriented” future while still relying heavily on new garages, temporary lots and roadway changes tied to I-295, Benning Road, Oklahoma Avenue and Southeast Boulevard. Without clearer commitments on transit service, traffic control, parking management and neighborhood protections, residents say the burden of making the plan work could fall on the streets around the stadium.
That is why residents beyond Kingman Park should weigh in now. The RFK plan is not just a stadium plan and not just a Ward 7 issue. It will affect Capitol Hill, Hill East, Rosedale, Carver-Langston, Barney Circle, River Terrace and neighborhoods across the river and across the Anacostia. Decisions made now could shape bus service, Metro access, bike and pedestrian routes, road closures, parking restrictions, park access, environmental protections and the timing of development for years. If the public waits until the Traffic Operations and Parking Plan is written closer to opening day, many of the biggest choices may already be locked in.
Residents should use the comment period to ask for specifics: how many parking spaces will be built on day one, how traffic will be kept out of residential streets, what transit improvements will be funded and when, how construction will be phased, what parts of the campus will be public, and how the District will measure whether the plan is working. Kingman Park residents are arguing that the master plan needs more than enthusiasm for a transformed RFK site. It needs enforceable details that show how the District will protect existing neighborhoods while building the new one it has promised.
Residents should use the comment period to ask for specifics: how many parking spaces will be built on day one, how traffic will be kept out of residential streets, what transit improvements will be funded and when, how construction will be phased, what parts of the campus will be public, and how the District will measure whether the plan is working. Kingman Park residents are arguing that the master plan needs more than enthusiasm for a transformed RFK site. It needs enforceable details that show how the District will protect existing neighborhoods while building the new one it has promised.
Submit comments using the online feedback form, sending written comments to the project team at OP.RFKMasterPlan@dc.gov, or in person at the above public hearing on August 1st.
Learn about the team’s in-person events and pop-up engagement schedule on the Get Involved page.
