
Signs with the Connecticut Avenue reversible lane hours were covered when the rush-hour lanes were suspended in the pandemic. Now, the signs are gone.
DDOT is hosting two upcoming public meetings on the Connecticut Avenue reversible lanes and bike lanes project. At a virtual meeting on Tuesday, June 28th, and an in-person meeting on Wednesday, June 29th, DDOT will present initial concept designs and seek feedback.
This is the link for the 9 to 11 a.m. virtual meeting on June 28th. The in-person meeting on June 29th is from 6 to 8 p.m. in the UDC Student Center’s third floor ballroom.
Community input will inform the block-by-block design process over the next several months. Project elements for the 2.7-mile stretch of Connecticut between Calvert and Legation Streets include one-way bike lanes on each side of the avenue, left turn lanes at some intersections, pedestrian islands, and 24-hour parking and loading zones in commercial areas. DDOT told ANC 3E last week that it is also looking at extending the protected bike lanes north of Legation Street.
Some of the project elements are already under way. The signs with the reversible lane hours were removed in March. The crews scrubbing out the reversible lane pavement markings are to complete their work this month.
Reversible lane on Connecticut is going away pic.twitter.com/oaUk4UKyAe
— Julie Patton Lawson (@srfrjulie) April 25, 2022
And the posted speed limit is being lowered from 30 miles per hour to 25 mph. Those signs will be replaced by the end of the summer.
Also under way, according to DDOT: A “racial equity impact analysis” of the project. It’s the first DC transportation project to undergo such a study, which will “[i]nclude project elements to minimize inequities such as parking for persons with disabilities, older persons and others.”
A place for bikes along Military Road: Bikes and hikes, that is. DDOT and the National Park Service are studying the feasibility of a shared-use trail alongside Military Road between Oregon Avenue and 16th Street NW. Public comments are due today. You can watch a May 24th presentation on the plans, and view the slides and submit your comments here.
Green Eyeshades says
Tha main post says “Community input will inform the block-by-block design process over the next several months. Project elements for the 2.7-mile stretch of Connecticut between Calvert and Legation Streets include one-way bike lanes on each side of the avenue, left turn lanes at some intersections, pedestrian islands ….”
I have been waiting years for the one-way bike lanes. We have been promised “protected” bike lanes.
I hope I will be able to resume riding a bicycle along Connecticut Avenue inside PROTECTED bike lanes with physical barriers against motor vehicles before I get too old to ride a bicycle.
We have been waiting for these changes to the main artery in our neighborhood for over a decade, since long before politicians invented the Vision Zero slogan. Our ANC 3F has done what it could to promote and expedite these changes. How much longer must we wait?
Green Eyeshades says
Thank you very much to the Connection for retweeting this thread showing the slides that DDOT presented on the virtual public meeting this morning:
https://twitter.com/Ward3Bikes/status/1541770235564507136
Most of those slides were identical to the slide deck that DDOT presented to ANC3F on June 22.
The slide that gives me the most heartburn is this one that shows actual construction of the protected bike lanes and other engineering improvements will not be finished for more than three years! Construction will not even begin until October 2024, the first month of Fiscal Year 2025, and will not be finished until the summer of 2025:
https://twitter.com/Ward3Bikes/status/1541773572460478464/photo/1
ANC3F’s video of its June 22 meeting which included these same slides gave a slighter better view of that construction schedule. That video is available on YouTube, here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO58QM1LiS0
The slide presentation begins at minute 34 of that YouTube video. The slide showing the construction schedule appears at 44 minutes and 20 seconds.