Connecticut Avenue is getting not just one, but two new crosswalks at Windom Place. DDOT is completely rebuilding the entire intersection between the 4300 and 4400 blocks of Connecticut, and the work is to be completed this summer.
The current crosswalk configuration at Connecticut and Windom. (Google satellite image)
The new crosswalk configuration. (courtesy of DDOT)
The crosswalk at the south end of the intersection will be entirely new, and a long time in coming. ANC 3F first recommended it in early 2004 after a 2003 traffic study. Connecticut Avenue Pedestrian Action, a project of Iona Senior Services, included the recommendation in its 2010 report to DDOT. ANC 3F again requested the crosswalk in 2014. DDOT completed the design and added it to its construction list last year. And, now, at last, work has begun.
Finally getting a crosswalk at Windom and Connecticut… thanks @DDOTDC and @marycheh — it only took 15 years! pic.twitter.com/Kyq3u8QxOM
— Jacob Fenston (@JacobFenston) April 2, 2018
Wasim Raja, DDOT’s associate director of Traffic Signals and Safety, told Forest Hills Connection that new signal poles, underground and ADA infrastructure, and intersection milling and paving will cost between $250,000 to $300,000.
Designing the intersection was complicated, Raja said, due to the offset angle of the intersecting streets. The “Warrior Tree” on the east side of the intersection presents a further challenge. Brook Hailemariam, the lead DDOT engineer on the project said on the advice of DDOT’s Urban Forestry Administration, they are doing no construction within the “drip line,” the outermost circumference of the tree’s canopy (shown in green in the diagram above).
“We thought digging within this area even with caution may increase the tree’s roots be in harm’s way,” Hailemariam told the Connection in an email. “We therefore didn’t want to take a chance and therefore have rearranged our underground conduit routing to accommodate the tree.”
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Mary Beth Ray says
Thank you DDOT! This is a key intersection at Van Ness, linking two of our hidden assets, UDC’s Theater of the Performing Arts, and the entrance to Soapstone Valley Park and our beautiful hiking trails leading into Rock Creek Park. This crosswalk will go a long way toward not only enhancing safety and convenience, but also bridging the two sides of Conn. Ave. And who knows, maybe it will even deter jay walkers!