DDOT, on August 6th, announced the locations of more 15 MPH “slow streets” in the District, including three in Ward 3:
- 39th Street NW between Massachusetts Avenue and Fulton Street NW
- Davenport Street NW between Nebraska Avenue and Linnean Street NW
- Yuma Street NW between Massachusetts Avenue NW and Connecticut Avenue NW
The first of the slow streets was 36th Street NW between Connecticut Avenue and Reno Road. The others are to be installed by the end of August.
DDOT is collecting ideas for more slow streets locations and asking residents how the current slow streets are working for them. Here is the questionnaire.
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Slow streets are to be shared by walkers, runners, bikers and drivers, and DC officials have said they will remain in place as long as the Covid-19 health emergency creates the need for more space to bike, walk and bike the city in a socially-distanced manner.
Green Eyeshades says
The Slow Street on Davenport between Linnean and Nebraska Ave has only one barricade with the 15-mph speed limit sign in the full three and half block stretch between Linnean and Connecticut, westbound.
That one barricade faces traffic coming up from Broad Branch Ave in Rock Creek Park, which is good. I saw one driver who started to turn right onto Davenport from Linnean reconsider and drive away southbound on Linnean today (Sept. 6).
But there are no barricades on Davenport at either 30th St. or 32nd St. facing in either direction. As a result, when walking on what I knew to be a Slow Street, I was constantly being passed by drivers going considerably faster than 15 mph (in both directions) who turned into Davenport at an intersection that had no barricade and no speed limit sign.
As currently deployed, the barricades on Davenport are lame, and will lead to pedestrian injuries.
Even if construction along 32nd St. from Chesapeake to Ellicott is the reason that one or more barricades were removed or delayed, that is no excuse for failing to place a barricade at 30th St. I did not yet visit the segment of Davenport west of Connecticut so I don’t know how many barricades are in place there (near Murch Elementary).
Green Eyeshades says
Today I saw two barricades on Davenport at the intersection with Reno Road at the southwest corner of the Murch campus. Each barricade faces into Reno, so that any driver tempted to turn off Reno into Davenport in either direction (East or West) will see the 15-mph speed limit.
That placement of two barricades at a single intersection, facing each other, confirms that DDOT could easily address my complaint about the missing barricades at Davenport and 30th St., and Davenport and 32nd St.
FHC says
I hope you have written to DDOT to express your concerns. The questionnaire invites feedback on specific locations via emails to vision.zero@dc.gov and to each ward’s community engagement specialist. For Ward 3, it’s donise.jackson@dc.gov.
DDOT recently added a sign at the Reno Road entrance to 36th Street, so there’s evidence they are responding to feedback.
Roberta Carroll says
I see a baracade for the slow street sitting on Yuma Street NW right off Conn. Ave. If it is placed here on the right side of Yuma it means when the light turns green for a car to enter Yuma they will have to go around the barracade. So that can only happen if the stop line for the cars on the right hand side of the road is moved way back from the intersection. In the middle of the block is an alley and all the cars that go through the car wash come out of that alley onto Yuma. Then we have a hotel there, an Avis car rental, a restaurant and the University of DC. This block is mostly commercial and the slow street will not work with these businesses. Better rethink this one before there is an accident.
Green Eyeshades says
I took FHC’s advice and sent an email to the Vision Zero address you provided on Sept. 9. So far, no response of any kind.
Green Eyeshades says
Maybe the Vision Zero program was too busy to answer their emails because this package of bills was in the works:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/dc-council-to-vote-on-vision-zero-bill-aimed-at-reducing-traffic-fatalities/2020/09/21/312ffa94-fa65-11ea-be57-d00bb9bc632d_story.html
Looks like a good package for pedestrians and bicycle riders, but the Post didn’t spell out which arteries and which high-crash intersections will get more red light cameras and/or speeding cameras.
Green Eyeshades says
The package of bills covered by the Post yesterday was adopted by a unanimous vote of DC Council today, Sept. 22. That same link in the Post that I quoted this morning covers DC Council’s vote today.
Among other things now added to DC law, assuming the Mayor signs it, are these provisions:
“The legislation bans right-on-red turns at locations with heavy pedestrian traffic, requires sidewalks be installed on both sides of a street, and establishes hefty penalties — up to $16,000 daily — for contractors that fail to install sidewalks, bicycle lanes and marked crosswalks after completing work.
“The District Department of Transportation will be required to proactively evaluate the city’s 15 most dangerous corridors and intersections for pedestrians and cyclists and report on improvements for those locations. That will ensure the city invests its resources on the locations with the most risks, supporters say….”
[snip]
“The legislation expands the city’s automated traffic enforcement program, nearly doubling the number of red light cameras by early 2022, and requires the use of cameras in bus lanes. It mandates the city have up to 75 red light cameras and 10 bus lane cameras by Jan. 1, 2022. That number would grow by January 2024 to include the deployment of 125 red light cameras and 30 stop sign cameras.
“According to a city report, there are 40 red light and six stop sign cameras in use now. No bus lane enforcement cameras are active, although DDOT is testing the technology.”
Marlene Berlin says
Is there any mention of green light cameras? When I was active in CAPA, green light cameras were an option to catch cars speeding through intersections. Because parking blocks cameras, green light cameras could be useful in slowing speeds..
Green Eyeshades says
None of the coverage in the Post and local blogs mentioned green light cameras. I did not study the actual bill, but a blogpost in DCist gave a link to the full legislative history, which is here:
https://lims.dccouncil.us/Legislation/B23-0288
It is easy to click around on that to find amendments adopted during final passage, a link to the Fiscal Impact Statement, and similar parts of the legislative history. The only comprehensive copy of the actual legislative text is in the 110-page committee report which was issued in July 2020, which is here:
https://lims.dccouncil.us/downloads/LIMS/42522/Committee_Report/B23-0288-Committee_Report.pdf
That formal report, although in PDF format, is searchable online, so it is easy to find the word “camera” which is mentioned 50 times in 110 pages. It appears that what you refer to as “green light cameras” are probably referred to in the report as “speed cameras.” Speed cameras, red-light cameras, stop-sign cameras, and bus-lane cameras, collectively, constitute the “Automated Traffic Enforcement” (ATE) cameras.
The formal text of the legislation (as of July) starts on page 85 of the 110-page report. Section 10, subsections (b)(1) and (b)2) of the bill on page 106 of the report state as follows:
(b)(1) By January 1, 2022, the Mayor shall have operating in the District at least:
(A) 75 red light automated enforcement cameras; and
(B) 10 bus lane automated enforcement cameras.
(b)(2) By January 1, 2024, the Mayor shall have operating in the District at least:
(A) 30 stop sign automated enforcement cameras; and
(B) 125 red light automated enforcement cameras.
But those numbers were all captured in the recent press coverage, IIRC.