(Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Bowser kicked off AlleyPalooza 8.0, her biannual campaign to repair or restore eight alleys in each of the eight wards over twelve weeks. Since the initiative was launched in 2015, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) has repaired nearly 500 alleys across all eight wards – an unprecedented number of alley repairs throughout three years.
“Through our investments in repairing and restoring our core infrastructure, we have made an unprecedented number of alleys more usable and accessible for residents across all eight wards,” said Mayor Bowser. “Our alleys are an important part of our city’s framework and our day-to-day life, and allow residents, businesses, and organizations to move in and around the city more efficiently.”
Mayor Bowser launched AlleyPalooza in 2015, delivering on her longstanding commitment to improving the District’s alley system. This past spring, Mayor Bowser expanded on the initiative through PaveDC, a comprehensive plan to repair all District alleys in poor condition by 2021 and all roadways in poor condition by 2024. The PaveDC plan has four priorities: road rehabilitation, road maintenance, alley repair and reconstruction, and sidewalk reconstruction.
“Alleypalooza 8.0 continues the hard work that the DDOT team has done over the last three years to improve the quality of life for residents and visitors to the District,” said DDOT Director Jeff Marootian. “With Mayor Bowser’s support, we have been able to rehabilitate nearly 500 alleys since 2015 and will continue until we meet our PaveDC goals.”
To ensure the alleys most in need of repair are selected for AlleyPalooza, DDOT uses a data-driven assessment that examines alley condition, service request quantity, service request age, and community feedback. The factors used by the assessment tool include: the condition of the alleys; number of service requests received through 311; age of the service requests; and community feedback.
Mayor Bowser has increased funding for alley maintenance and rehabilitation to unprecedented levels through increased budget allotments and improved financial and program management. The District has more than 350 miles of alleys and receives an average of 1,000 service requests for alley repairs each year.
For more information on AlleyPalooza 8.0, visit ddot.dc.gov/pavedc.