Pedestrian signal at Connecticut and Ellicott almost ready

The pedestrian-activated signal lights have been installed at the intersection of Connecticut and Ellicott.

Pedestrians crossing Connecticut Avenue at Ellicott Street are about to get some help.

Wasim Raja, head of traffic signals at the District Department of Transportation, told me over email that the HAWK pedestrian signal at Ellicott and Connecticut will go live by the end of July. Installation of this signal began in March. (Read more about HAWK lights.)

(The paragraph below might no longer be the case. We’re waiting for new information.)

And we are getting a pedestrian-activated signal at Chesapeake, which originally was not part of the crosswalk plan for upper Connecticut Avenue presented by George Branyan in May 2015. The community pushed hard for a signal there, and DDOT listened. Raja reports in an email:

“I plan to complete the design by end of September. It will be placed in FY ’17 construction list. Once the construction work order is issued later this fall, I will be able to provide a more concrete schedule.”

While the Ellicott Street pedestrian light has been under construction, George Branyan has been working on the design for a new southbound bus stop south of the intersection, which is safer for pedestrians. Once riders disembark, the bus can continue and pedestrians crossing Ellicott are more visible to drivers making a right turn onto the side street. Currently, any pedestrian crossing while a bus is stopped there is partially obscured from view, and it increases the likelihood of conflict with drivers trying to get around the bus to make a right turn.

The bus stop to the north of this intersection (on the right side of the photo) would move to the south, perhaps where these vehicles are parked.

Once the Ellicott HAWK signal is activated and the bus stop is moved, the marked crosswalk to the north at Everett will be removed. At this time Mr. Branyan is unable to predict completion dates of these projects.