This article has been updated to include some new math on DDOT crash statistics.
December 15th was the second anniversary of the day Mayor Muriel Bowser and DDOT announced “the selection of a preferred redesign concept for Connecticut Avenue NW that removes the reversible rush hour lanes and adds one-way, protected bicycle lanes on the east and west sides of the roadway.”
In June 2022, the last of the reversible lane markings were scrubbed away. But it’s been several months since there was any public word on progress toward designing and implementing the bike lanes and other safety aspects of what we know as Concept C. (DDOT’s last public presentation was in January 2023.)
Ward 3 Council member Matt Frumin marked the concept selection anniversary by sending a letter to Mayor Bowser, “calling on her to promptly complete and release revised design plans that have been long promised and will make this roadway safer.” You can read it here or in full below.
Finally, while comparing the original Bowser/DDOT announcement and Frumin’s letter, we noticed some interesting statistics. In the past two years, Frumin writes, at least 285 crashes were reported on Connecticut north of Calvert Street.
And in the December 15, 2021 announcement: “When the reversible lanes were in operation before the pandemic, 1,500 crashes were reported over a three-year review period. It was estimated that eliminating the reversible lanes would decrease crashes there by about 17 percent.”
If these numbers are accurate, the reduction in crashes has been closer to 70 percent. Upper Connecticut has gone from 500 reported crashes per year, on average, to fewer than 150 crashes per year. Fewer vehicles on Connecticut Avenue, due to post-pandemic changes in driving and commuting patterns, could be another factor in the decline.
Update: A reader has alerted us that the three-year review period cited in DDOT’s 2021 press release was likely an error, and helpfully provided a link to DDOT’s 2020 Existing Conditions Report. That report, on page 53, says: “A total of 1,507 police-reported crashes occurred during the five-year study period (2015-2019) along the Connecticut Avenue NW study corridor.”
A five-year period changes the average number of crashes to 300. The reduction in crashes over the past two years would then amount to 50 percent.
December 15, 2023
Muriel E. Bowser
Mayor of the District of Columbia
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20004
Via e-mail
Dear Mayor Bowser:
I write with a sense of urgency to request that you promptly complete and release the revised design plans for implementation of the Connecticut Avenue Multimodal Safety Improvement Project, which were targeted for release earlier this year.
Today marks two years since you announced the selection of Concept C as the model for the Connecticut Avenue Multimodal Safety Improvement project, an ambitious, necessary overhaul of the corridor’s transportation infrastructure. Since your announcement, at least 285 crashes have been reported, some with tragic consequences. Connecticut Avenue is an obviously flawed road with an unacceptable level of safety risk. We must work together to move forward expeditiously on changes that will make it safe for all road users. As The Washington Post editorial board stated last year: “Pedal faster.”
Connecticut Avenue should not be a six-lane highway running through our Ward 3 community. The current orientation prioritizes high-speed vehicular traffic at the expense of the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and the thousands of residents who live and work along the corridor. Your administration has acknowledged pervasive speeding on this street by lowering the speed limit and installing two automated traffic enforcement cameras. I commend these important steps, but they alone have not changed behavior meaningfully. The average number of weekly crashes before the speed limit reduction and automated traffic enforcement camera installation was 2.7. After these changes, the average number of weekly crashes rose to 4.2. The District must pursue a solution proven to be effective at improving safety outcomes: installing protected bike lanes and pedestrian infrastructure.
The Connecticut Avenue Multimodal Safety Improvement Project is about more than just safety; it is about reclaiming our streets. Your administration has strongly supported efforts to create a cleaner, greener District of Columbia. As you opined in Dubai, UAE, the global climate crisis is real. The Connecticut Avenue overhaul presents an opportunity to support a transition to sustainable, multimodal transportation and address overreliance on cars. Even as we make that transition, it will be important to accommodate those who will still rely on automobiles. This is why I have called on DDOT to release a revised plan that accommodates the needs of all road users, especially seniors, people with disabilities, and the businesses that serve them as we move forward with plans to make Connecticut Avenue safer.
I recognize that the proposal for Connecticut Avenue is a significant change, but we must move forward. While there will inevitably dissenters, I am confident DDOT can propose a plan that meets the needs of all community members. As one marker of the level of community support, all of the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions along the route have strongly supported the project. It is indisputable that the status quo is unbearable both from a safety and an environmental perspective.
I urge you to complete and release the updated design plans for Connecticut Avenue immediately, solicit feedback by convening the Community Advisory Committee and conducting direct community outreach, and move this important project forward without delay.
Sincerely,
Matt Frumin
DC Councilmember for Ward 3
cc: Interim Director Sharon Kershbaum, District Department of Transportation
Kevin Donahue, City Administrator
Chair Charles Allen, Committee on Transportation and Environment
Robin Pomeroy says
Well, do recall that traffic volumes were and remain quite lower than before th pandemic. So while the crash rate is down, it’s also partly that daily vehicle counts are also down.
JA says
Enhanced bus service would also get some cars off Connecticut. Anecdotally, we’re all using Lyft and Uber because the L2 service is so infrequent.
Tom Lalley says
Thank you Councilman Frumin! I am a lifelong resident of North Cleveland Park and a strong supporter of Concept C. It’s past time for the mayor and DDOT to move this project forward.
Carren Kaston says
The statistic of 500 crashes a year on Connecticut Avenue before the pandemic sounds highly inflated. I’ve read that Connecticut Avenue and Ward 3 have the fewest crashes of any ward in the city. I live right on Conn. Avenue and have never heard of any crashes except for the recent one by the zoo. The majority of the community and the majority of the businesses don’t want the mayor and DDOT to move forward with the bike lanes. There’s no way this isn’t known to CM Frumin and the mayor, so it’s odd that CM Frumin asks the mayor to move forward with their consultation. The ANCs do not reflect the views of the community. They reflect their own views. I suppose one can wonder why the ANCs hold those views, but I don’t think the answer is concern for the safety of its constituents.
Edward Levin says
Email this to the Mayor and Chairman of the Council
Stephen Schwartz says
Well, DC publishes crash data on OpenData DC (https://opendata.dc.gov/datasets/70392a096a8e431381f1f692aaa06afd) and so you are just plain wrong and it is easy for you to confirm the data by going to their site and looking for yourself. News doesn’t cover traffic crashes typically, even when there are injuries. Even fatalities get barely mentioned when it’s a POC who is killed (like Clinton Covington).
Just because Ward 3 has a lower crash rate than the rest of the city doesn’t mean we don’t have bad apple roads like Conn Ave which stick out.
Lee Mayer says
Glad to see that the FHC corrected their error. A 50% reduction in accidents on Conn Ave is impressive. It’s important to note that over 9 million vehicles drive on Connecticut Ave per year, based on DDOT’s Dec. 2022 count. That puts the accident rate on Conn Ave. at less than .002% and remember almost all of those are minor vehicle-to-vehicle accidents like fender benders and side swipes.
Stephen C Schwartz says
Another mischaracterization, just like the first post claiming there were no traffic accidents on Conn Ave.
First off, the overall traffic accident rate for the country isn’t terribly dissimilar to what you’ve calculated. So your number of 0.002% isn’t showing Conn Ave to be “safe” – its showing it to be fairly representative of the average road in the US. Yet, it’s in a downtown area with over 10,000 people living directly on it, not a highway or rural road in the middle of nowhere like most roads are in the US. We can and should do better than that in such a dense urban area.
Secondly, to say that almost all of these accidents are “minor” is facetious. As Frumin’s letter indicated 3 of those crashes resulted in Death, 13 in major injuries (more than a third of all Ward 3 major injuries), and 91 in minor injuries.
The DC Metro has about 200 million trips in 2023 so far based on their latest performance report. It’s had 1 accident this year. That’s 0.0000005% vs. 0.002%. If the metro had anywhere close to a 0.002% crash rate, the press and riders would be up in arms with pitchforks protesting safety standards and calling for a complete redesign. Don’t trivialize traffic violence. It vies for being one of the leading causes of preventable, early deaths in this country and has since the 1930’s. We can and should do better.
Cora Rubenstein says
Boston has tried what you are trying to do with terrible results.
Have you read the results of the project?
Steven Seelig says
This is false. If you are basing this statement upon what Lee Mayer published about one bike lane in Boston, it was a reflection of what 2 business owners said. It was not based on actual facts.
Lee Mayer says
Seelig is misinformed. Accidents on Cambridge’s main street doubled when protected bike lanes were installed. Here is the link to the study.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6283c428c6234d3be034e72c/t/64419b32d249cd3d2e455aad/1682021170721/BikeReport_Final.pdf
Stephen Schwartz says
No Mr. Seelig is not mistaken. As an aside to the editor of FHC, the link and reference that Mr. Mayer is posting above is the equivalent in Cambridge, MA to his own site here in DC. I.E., it is a group of local residents who oppose protected bike lane infrastructure as a matter of principle and who do not have any formal city planning and/or roadway design expertise. The fact that they published it as “a report” on their personal organization does not give it any additional scientific merit. Indeed, the author of the opinion piece/report (https://www.cambridgecouncilcandidates.com/candidates/john-hanratty/) is a business executive who is involved in “Save Mass Ave” (from cyclists) – and who very recently had a failed city council run. He has no formal work experience or background with traffic engineering.
If Mr. Mayer wants to post opinion pieces, he should represent them as that. And he should also point out that they have already been rebutted, similar to many of the claims and opinions of his own organization, by others in their local community. Please refer to this article here, which addresses a number of critical flaws in the amateur analysis of the opinion piece and illustrates why the opinion pieces results deviated from the expert reports by various government organizations.
https://www.cambridgebikesafety.org/2023/05/16/the-experts-were-right-cambridge-roads-are-getting-safer/
Steven Seelig says
Is it possible that you are simply restating what the Save CT Ave group is claiming to be the truth after strong arming businesses to sign their petition. Which was based on false statements about lost parking?