In July, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) completed a $2.25 million landscaping plan for 12th Street NE.

When complete, the landscaping will be the finishing touch on Brookland’s 12th Street Streetscape Project.

The plan calls for removing dead and dying trees, planting new trees, installing a “welcome to Brookland” entrance plaza, and creating “pedestrian parks” at selected intersections.

The landscaping will take place on 12th Street from Rhode Island Avenue to Michigan Avenue and on Monroe Street from 9th Street to 12th Street. DDOT spokesperson John Lisle would not say when the landscaping will be installed.

DDOT’s plan calls for 62 “dead, damaged and dying” trees along 12th Street to be removed and for approximately 75 new trees to be planted. The plan indicates that approximately 20% of the new trees will be tall canopy trees and 80% will be ornamental trees.

The plan states that removed trees will be replaced with similar species, “except where site conditions call for different tree characteristics.”

Newly planted trees will be selected from a list of eight different varieties: red oak, liberty London plane tree, willow oak, Japanese zelkova, Oklahoma eastern redbud, little leaf linden, spring snow crabapple and Kwanzan cherry.

The plan calls for an “entrance plaza” to be constructed at 12th and Rhode Island Avenue. The plaza will include a “welcome to Brookland” sign, special paving, a seat wall, shrubs, oak trees and cherry trees.

One possible version of the entrance sign features an attractive art deco design with brushed aluminum lettering that echoes the style of Brookland’s old Newton Theatre, now a CVS.

According to the plan, four of the main intersections on 12th and Monroe Streets will have “pedestrian parks” installed within existing bulb-outs. The “pedestrian parks” will feature special paving, benches, and, in one instance, an “interactive sundial” built into the pavement.

Plan drawings suggest that DDOT is responding to community concerns about 12th Street’s overhead power lines by planting ornamental trees—instead of tall canopy trees—under the power lines.

The plan developed in July is not definitive: notes to the plan state that DDOT’s Urban Forestry Administration will conduct a “tree survey” that may impact the plan’s recommendations.

The willingness of DDOT to spend more than $2 million on landscaping for the project appears to be a reaction to legislation introduced by Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. and passed by the DC Council that requires DDOT to use all unspent project funds to bury 12th Street’s overhead power lines. By spending the $10.5 million project budget in entirety, DDOT can avoid burying the overhead power lines.