The story of the orange pedestrian flags at Reno Road and Warren Street

Last August, orange flags appeared at the Reno Road and Warren Street intersection. In November, another set arrived.

Pedestrians who want to cross Reno Road at Warren Street can pick up one of these flags to signal drivers to stop. (December 2025 photo)

We initially thought they were DDOT’s doing, but the flags are actually the result of ongoing pedestrian safety advocacy by ANC 3F01 Commissioner Amy Rofman and community member Stephanie Resnick.

Rofman tells Forest Hills Connection she started working on the issue in February 2025, a month into her term. She and 3F04 Commissioner Claudette David cohosted a meeting with DDOT about Reno Road and other pedestrian safety pain points. DDOT informed the commissioners that the agency planned to study the entire 34th Street/Reno Road corridor as well as intersecting side streets.

A few months later, Resnick got in touch with Rofman.

“She had put in an application for a HAWK light at the intersection of Reno and Warren, and wanted to know the status,” says Rofman. “She was very concerned about safety, especially for kids going to and from Hearst at that intersection.”

DDOT’s reply: That the request was received, but scored low under a system that prioritizes streets and intersections based on crash patterns, proximity to schools and transit stops, and other factors.

“When we learned that permanent DDOT intervention would not be immediate,” Rofman says, “we asked DDOT about See Me flags. DDOT told us those were grassroots efforts.”

In other words, the intersection’s neighbors would need to purchase and install the flags, which pedestrians can carry and wave in hopes of getting drivers to stop for them. Using donated funds from neighbors and an ANC 3F grant, Resnick and Rofman ordered the flags from SeeMeFlags.com.

DDOT did provide signs, which Rofman and Resnick posted in August. (December 2025 photo)

Stephanie Resnick (August 2025 photo, courtesy of Amy Rofman)

The feedback has been positive, and Rofman says at least 15 households have expressed an interest in flags at Reno and Yuma Street.

“Stephanie noted to me that people love the flags, and I have seen people using them, though we both see them as an interim effort,” Rofman says. “They should not take the place of or delay a DDOT solution.”

Traffic planners have historically prioritized Reno Road for commuters in cars. From 1968 until 1982, reversible lanes funneled two lanes of traffic north or south, depending on the time of day.

“The design that was put in place in the 80s… does still emphasize vehicle flow over crossability – both pedestrian experience and the neighborhood traffic,” said Paul Harrison, the chair of ANC 3F’s Streets and Sidewalks Committee, at the February 2025 meeting.

Harrison also suggested that DDOT use traffic-calming methods, such as speed tables and four-way stops, to improve the experience for people trying to cross Reno on foot and in their vehicles.

“We’ve got a history on this street. We’ve got a mindset that says it should be for moving cars but we got a lot of room to work here,” Harrison said. “The real question is how can we give DDOT the support and capacity to take a new look at this street and and put in a 21st century traffic-calming plan without trying to exclude or or diminish access to the neighborhood.”

In a May email about the HAWK signal request at Reno and Warren, DDOT told Rofman that the agency anticipated taking a holistic look at the corridor during its 2026 planning cycle. In December. a member of the Cleveland Park listserv reported that her 13-year-old son was struck by a hit-and-run driver at 34th and Porter Streets.