Watch out for more HAWKs. DDOT recommends installing two more of these pedestrian-activated signals on Connecticut Avenue between those in Cleveland Park and Chevy Chase, DC. And after a community meeting last week announcing the recommendations, DDOT Pedestrian Coordinator George Branyan said a third HAWK signal could be justified.
Branyan’s presentation covered the ten unsignalized crossings between Appleton and Legation. DDOT’s plan includes scrubbing some crosswalks and moving bus stops. (Read more about DDOT’s reasoning here.) It’s important to note that even without the markings, these would still be legal pedestrian crossings. And at Ellicott and Legation Streets, DDOT would install HAWK signals.
DDOT’s recommendations in the ANC 3/4G study area.
DDOT’s recommendations in the ANC 3F study area.
Branyan said one of the takeaways from the meeting is that the Chesapeake intersection could a candidate for a HAWK signal and deserves another look. The distance from Brandywine to Davenport is nearly 1,000 feet, the largest gap between signals in the study area.
People cross at Chesapeake for the Forest Hills playground and bus stops, but DDOT’s pedestrian counts did not approach levels seen at Ellicott Street, which is getting a HAWK signal. However, the counts were done just before the playground closed for renovation last summer, which may have skewed the numbers. Branyan is going to try for another pedestrian count at that intersection in June.
What a pedestrian count can’t tell DDOT is how much pedestrians would use the intersection if up to six lanes of traffic could be stopped when someone needs to cross. That’s where this survey comes in. Please take a moment to fill it out and we’ll share the results with DDOT.
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David Jonas Bardin says
Leave the bus stops at Chesapeake and Connecticut. That should be DDOT’s basic policy. Those bus stops have been there for many decades. (They were already there in 1958 when I first moved to DC.) They have long served apartment dwellers (and others), whom DDOT planning woul require to walk to Davenport or Brandywine to catch a bus (or walk from there to get home). DDOT should remember that some pedestrians find walking slow, difficult, even painful. So why might DDOT want to make them walk an extra block? We are told, “Safety”. We are told, Pedestrians crossing Connecticut to (or from) a bus stop, might (MIGHT!) be hit by a car (or bicycle?) — so let’s take away their convenient bus stops at Chesapeake and make them use an intersection with a traffic light. Ridiculous. DDOT: Leave our bus stops alone, with or without some kind of traffic signal at Chesapeake (which would also be welcome). That is my vote, but FHC Survey Form has no place to express it.
Terri Shaw says
I am one of those people– with a disability –who find walking both painful and dangerous. It would be wonderful if I could cross Connecticut safely at Chesapeake instead of having to walk to a traffic light. A HAWK light would be very helpful.
Matthew Bruckner says
How about some occasional enforcement of the law regarding pedestrian right of way? Cars often make me feel like prey while in the crosswalk.
Adele Roman says
I have watch individuals cross at Chesapeake and Conn., and I have wondered who would be crazy enough to risk life and limb. Drivers see a wide open road and go as fast as they can. I take walks every day and sometimes twice a day and that crossing is very convenient. Without a traffic light I will never do it.
David Jonas Bardin says
During off-peak hours, there is often a gap in traffic (sometimes with red lights stopping cars at both Brandywine and Davenport), during which one could cross at a brisk pace without facing cars. At other times, one may have to be “crazy” enough to face down drivers. It has not hurt to carry a big stick. Many drivers slow down, stop. A Hawk light would, of course, be welcome.
Jonathan Skolnik says
We need a real red/yellow/green traffic signal at Chesapeake in addition to the ones at Brandywine, etc. Compared with 5 years ago, there are tons of kids now in the apartment buildings at 4750 and 4600 Connecticut, etc. Forrest Hills playground is at Chesapeake St. and many older people and kids cross Connecticut there (or want to). Most cars don’t obey the law and stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. Many drivers (including professional drivers like taxis and trucks) don’t obey “Hawk” signals either. Police rarely ticket for crosswalk violations and almost never ticket the numerous daily Connecticut Ave speeders, and the message doesn’t get through. Is it really going to take another pedestrian injury or fatality to act? The problem is only going to get worse in the years to come as density increases. Let’s save lives and put a traffic light at Connecticut and Chesapeake now.
Mimi Kuester says
I would use it crossing to go to the park with my grandkids. I agree that traffic in that section moves very fast, and a real traffic light, or at least HAWK light, would help.
Helen Urquhart says
I think an Experimental/temporary Hawk should be tried.
OR
Maybe At Davenport, where it is not so wide?
Capri Martinez says
Leave the bus stop at Chesapeake and Connecticut and please fix the light for the panels. Add a crosswalk light.
John Rollins says
A regular red/yellow/green traffic signal would be preferable to a Hawk signal at Chesapeake since it could be timed to disrupt the flow of traffic less.