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Not counting the Jefferson Memorial and its associated grounds, the only reason anybody BeyondDC knows goes to East Potomac Park is to visit Hains Point. That's an awfully large piece of land for a waterfront walkway. The big question facing planners for the park is simply how to use this chunk of land, and how to get there. Of all the chapters in the plan, this one needs the most work. With the exception of the proposed canal, the authors are constrained by in-the-box thinking where radical ideas are going to be necessary.

• The proposed canal is a good idea. Not only will it allow the Southwest waterfront to operate as a large recreational dock, it will be a unique feature to large American cities, and will help set the Southwest waterfront apart from others in the region and country.
• The 14th Street bridges, if replaced, should be vertically monumental. Suspension or cable-stayed would be appropriate. If Washington is to engage its waterfronts as new activity nodes, the waterfronts will need visual anchors to act as landmarks. Bridges are the perfect opportunity.
• The plan proposes to replace the existing Metro bridge over the Potomac with an underground tunnel, and then to construct a new underground Metro station near the Jefferson Memorial. The idea of a new infill station isn't necessarily bad, but it doesn't have to be underground. Replacing the bridge with a tunnel would be tremendously expensive and would eliminate the popular city view that Metro riders currently enjoy. Taking into consideration that a station at the Jefferson probably wouldn't carry very many riders, and that's a lot of expense for a minimally positive objective. Once again the writers of this plan seem to be thinking of transit as an undesirable and/or ugly impediment to a beautiful city, but it doesn't have to be that way. Infrastructure can be a valuable aesthetic contributor rather than an eyesore if it is designed well. Yes, let's build a Metro station, but for goodness sake, make it a beautiful public amenity; don't stick it under ground at great expense for no reason.
• Planners identify the area around the Jefferson Memorial as a potential new "festival green". That is frankly the last thing Washington's monumental core needs more of. The National Mall is already a massive festival green. There is more festival green in this part of this city than probably any comparable place in the world. Grassy lawns are nice, but we've already got two solid miles of that right in the center of the city. At this point, with the Mall right next door, it is far, far more important to integrate the area around the Jefferson with the city than it is to provide more of the one thing we have in surplus.
• One question nobody seems to be asking is whether a golf course is the best use of the island. BeyondDC thinks the golf course is a horrible use of land in such a prime location, and that while Hains Point and the waterfront esplanade should remain parkland, it would be both more productive and more appealing if the interior of the island (which despite its name is not really a park) were chopped up into city blocks and developed as a new neighborhood, as Washington's Île de la Cité.
• Where are the bikes? Gas is way up, transit is awesome but expensive to build, and the Mall is a major leisure resource. The Mall and the neighborhoods surrounding it are ripe to accommodate more biking, both as transportation and recreation. It would be nice if this plan noticed, especially considering DC's upcoming bike-sharing network. (This note copypasted to each chapter, since it applies to them all.)