Forest Hills Connection || News and Life in Our DC Neighborhood

Covering Forest Hills, Van Ness, North Cleveland Park and Wakefield

  • About Us
    • About Forest Hills Connection
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Donate & Subscribe
  • Classifieds
  • News
    • ANC 3F
    • Business
      • Business in Brief
      • Out to Eat
      • Shop & Eat Local
    • Getting Around
    • Main Street
    • Neighborhood in the News
    • Opinion
    • Parks and Streams
    • Real Estate
    • UDC
  • Style
    • Food
    • History
    • Meet the Neighbors
    • Neighbors Recommend
    • Services
    • Things To Do
  • Home Front
    • High-Rise Life
    • In the Garden
    • In the Kitchen
  • Backyard Nature
    • Local Wildlife
    • Wildlife Photos
  • Kids & Pets
    • At School
    • At Play
    • Kids Write
    • Pets
  • Calendar

New Crosswalk at Fessenden and Connecticut

October 14, 2013 by FHC

There’s a new zebra in town, a couple of miles north of the Zoo.

ANC 3F05 Commissioner Manolis Priniotakis tells us: The District Department of Transportation has finally put in an additional marked zebra crosswalk at intersection of Connecticut Avenue and Fessenden.

For years, the lack of street markings but presence of a pedestrian signal at the southern crossing, not to mention a sign instructing walkers to cross only in the presence of a signal, created a confusing situation. Requests for this crosswalk earlier this year had encountered a response that Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) required curb cuts on the east side of Connecticut, which did not have any. Persistence appears to have paid off.

Before the new crosswalk, the view from the west side of Connecticut Avenue. (photos by Manolis Priniotakis)

Before the new crosswalk, the view from the west side of Connecticut Avenue. (photos by Manolis Priniotakis)

The view of the new  crosswalk from the east side of Connecticut Avenue.

The view of the new crosswalk from the east side of Connecticut Avenue.

Forest Hills Connection is produced by volunteers, and supported by you. We appreciate your support – financial and otherwise. Here’s how to donate.

Filed Under: ANC 3F, News, Pedestrian Updates

Comments

  1. Bob Summersgill says

    October 14, 2013 at 11:03 am

    I think there was a missed opportunity here. The cross walk, instead of being perpendicular to Connecticut Avenue, could have been painted close to 90 degrees to make the crossing distance as short as possible. Think of the new crosswalk as the hypotenuse of a right triangle. A crosswalk could have been painted along the long leg of that triangle, shortening the distance that must be crossed. The CAPA study recommends that. http://www.capa-dc.org/

  2. Sam Hoben says

    October 15, 2013 at 10:29 am

    I tend to think the lost opportunity was the design of the Fessenden/36th Street intersection itself.

    Every morning we observe frazzled motorists doing dangerous things to get through the intersection, often oblivious to the children pedestrians around them. A big part of the problem is that a whole light sequence can get stuck behind one driver waiting to turn left onto Conn. Ave.

    Putting on my amateur road planner’s hat, what seems to be required (and what I thought was happening given all the earthworks going on…) would have been to widen by a foot or two the part of Fessenden St adjacent to the triangle to create a turning lane. That would allow the traffic going straight ahead or turning right to get past.

    That might reduce the frustration on show (honking, lurching, speeding up to get through orange lights) and make the intersection feel a little safer for the large numbers of pedestrians sharing this intersection.

  3. Marjorie Rachlin says

    October 15, 2013 at 11:11 am

    It’s an improvement. Thanks to Commissioner Manolis.

  4. Bob Summersgill says

    October 16, 2013 at 9:59 am

    I wrote that wrong. The cross walk is not perpendicular to Connecticut, but it should be. See the crossing at Cumberland for an example.

    It is an improvement, Marjorie, just not what DDOT could be doing.

    Sam, the problem with a turning lane is that we have reversible lanes. Lanes shift through out the day from 2 and 4, to 3 and 3, 4 and 2, and back to 3 and 3. We will need to get rid of the reversible lanes in order to have a proper turning lane. Alternatively, we can have signage with less than ideal results to indicate that the left lane is always a turning lane. Or as drivers, we can just treat the left lanes as turning lanes, which they functionally are, with the results we have now.

  5. Susan Linsky says

    October 21, 2013 at 4:39 pm

    I called CM Cheh about this as soon as the new light went up. It was a terrible pedestrian accident waiting to happen. DDOT replied that they were going to fix it. They didn’t say it was going to take 9 months.

About Forest Hills Connection

  • Who we are
  • How to advertise
  • How to donate
  • How to submit a story idea
  • Contact us
  • Tweets by foresthillsnews

    Subscribe to Our Blog

    Receive an email alert whenever we publish a new article.

    Subscribe to our newsletter

    Arrives in your inbox around mid-month.


    Newsletter Archive         

    Connect With Us!

    Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on RSS

    Local Links

    • Schools, Services and More
    • Restaurants

    Latest Comments

    • Christine Stoessel on Washington Post reports on the Connecticut Ave. reversible lanes; Deadlines for comments on the DDOT study
    • Nicholas Lardy on ANC 3F April 20 agenda: Connecticut Ave. bike lanes; Grants for public art additions and invasive species removal
    • George Warner on Washington Post reports on the Connecticut Ave. reversible lanes; Deadlines for comments on the DDOT study
    • Green Eyeshades on ANC 3F April 20 agenda: Connecticut Ave. bike lanes; Grants for public art additions and invasive species removal
    • Morgan Gopnik on ANC 3F April 20 agenda: Connecticut Ave. bike lanes; Grants for public art additions and invasive species removal

    Archives

    About Forest Hills Connection | FHC + VNMS | Who We Are | Contributors
    Submissions Policy | Contact | Advertise | Donate
    © Forest Hills Connection | Site by: VanStudios