Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Dupont-Logan Bicycle Safety Community Listening and Education Session

The Dupont Circle and Logan Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANC) jointly announce a public meeting for residents, business owners and organizations to discuss bicycle safety issues in the community Thursday, September 27, 7:00p to 9:00p. The meeting will be head at the Chastleton Ballroom, 1701 16th Street NW.

With biking for transit expanding rapidly in our community, many issues, concerns, and questions have arisen. Some topics for discussion are:

  • The District’s plans to make DC more bike/pedestrian-friendly; any plans or ideas for the Dupont-Logan area and its residents.
  • The laws/rules about street/sidewalk biking; consequences for those who break them. Whether any of these laws/rules should be revised or updated by the City Council.
  • New bike lanes: Where/when are they coming and where else are they needed. Tips for dealing with the new 2-way bike lanes for bikers, drivers, and pedestrians.
  • Lastly, a comprehensive discussion regarding the expansion of bike parking.
After hearing strong concerns about road safety at a public listening session on in June, the Dupont and Logan Circle communities are working together to discuss these and any other issues that residents wish to bring up. At this meeting, District transportation and police officials will be in attendance, in addition to community leaders and bicycling experts. The Dupont Circle Citizens Association, the Logan Circle Citizens Association, and the Urban Neighborhood Alliance are partnering with the ANC's on this important community listening and education session.

This is an opportunity to have your voices heard on bicycle safety concerns whether you're a daily or occasional biker, a pedestrian, or a driver. The meeting will be a guided discussion to help inform and guide the city’s public safety agenda so that your bicycle safety concerns can be addressed productively and collaboratively — if not at the meeting, at least in the near future.

Public Meeting for the Virginia Avenue Tunnel Environmental Impact Statement

The District Department of Transportation will host a meeting Thursday, September 27 to discuss and solicit input on the Virginia Avenue Tunnel Environmental Impact Statement and Section 106 Evaluation. While this project focuses on the reconstruction of the CSX Transportation freight rail tunnel, the rebuilding of Virginia Avenue SE offers an opportunity for the inclusion of bike infrastructure. The meeting will be held at the Capitol Skyline Hotel, 10 Eye Street SW, 6:00p until 8:00p. 

This meeting will include a brief presentation and introductory remarks, “breakout” workshop sessions with the study team, and a concluding question and answer session. The introductory presentation will start very shortly after 6:00p. Both verbal and written comments will be taken at the meeting. Comment forms will be available at the public meeting and can be submitted on-site, via provided self-addressed/postage paid envelopes, or by email to contact@virginiaavenuetunnel.com.

Questions about this meeting may be directed to:
Steve Plano
Parsons Brinckerhoff
1401 K Street, NW, Suite 701
Washington, DC 20005

For more information about the meeting and the proposed reconstruction, please visit virginiaavenuetunnel.com.

As always, please let us know what you think.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

'Gimmie 5' Facilities Committee Community Ride

Met Branch Trail at S Street Pocket Park
The Facilities Committee and its chair Jeanie Osburn would like to invite you join District Department of Transportation staff member Heather Deutsch on a bike tour of Ward 5.

The "Gimme 5!" ride will travel to some of Ward 5's well-known and best-kept-secret sites.  This ride is in partnership with Cultural Tourism - a nonprofit organization helping DC residents and visitors discover, experience and celebrate the city’s art, culture, and heritage.

The ride is Saturday, September 29, 2012 from 1PM - 4PM beginning and ending at the NoMa-Gallaudet U (New York Ave) Metrorail Station (Near the 2nd and Florida Avenue entrance).

The ride will travel along the Metropolitan Branch Trail, stop in for a tour of Chocolate City Brewing Company, cruise through "Little Rome" (Washington Trinity University, St. Paul's College, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Catholic University, the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America), via Fort Totten, then on to the National Arboretum, and passing Gallaudet University on the return.

The ride is rated "moderate" and has some rollers and one climb (at Fort Totten - Bates Road NE). 

Helmets are required, locks are recommended.

For more information regarding DC Cultural Tourism's Biking Town / Walking Town Tours, please visit their  website.

Thanks and we hope to see you September 29.


Monday, September 17, 2012

M Street SE-SW Transportation Study - Public Meeting #3

Thursday, September 14, 2012 was the third and reportedly final meeting regarding the M Street Southeast / Southwest Transportation Study. Sponsored by the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), the purpose of the meeting was to show the public major alternatives and metrics used to to recreate the streetscape on M Street and selected adjacent streets in that area in the near term and over the next 20 to 30 years.

According to the meeting documentation, the M Street corridor, a roughly 1.7-square-mile area along M Street SE/SW, and the Southwest waterfront from 12th Street, SE to 14th Street, SW and from the Southwest / Southeast Freeway south to the Anacostia River / Washington Channel, will experience a dramatic increase in the residential and commercial population.

Upon initial review, it appears that each alternative appears problematic.  Of the three alternatives presented, only alternative two included provisions for a cycletrack located on M Street.  The other alternatives appeared to replace the cycletrack with a combination of parking or an enhanced transit lane, moving bicycle access to adjacent streets. DCBAC will continue to assess the proposal and formally provide suggestions for improvement. Please let us know what you think by leaving your comments.

The DDOT three proposed alternatives are as follows:

Alternative 1: M Street "Main Street. This alternative includes improved connections to transit (curb side Streetcar, express bus, and other 'premium transit services' which appears to include stops for Metrobus and the DC Circulator; two vehicular lanes each way; and increased connectivity and utilization of parallel streets to better facilitate traffic flow. This would include the enhancement of Eye Street to include lanes or sharrows to improve bicycle travel. This alternative does not include on-street parking. 

Alternative 2: "Balanced Linkages". This alternative focuses on bicyclist and pedestrian movements on M Street. On the edges of the street, cycle tracks are included; on-street parking; and two shared travel lanes that are not transit specific.  Transit would be moved to parallel roads (Streetcar to the north of M Street on Eye Street at least east of 4th Street SW and the DC Circulator to south of M street using several adjacent streets). This alternative contains two widths, one with parking on both sides and one with parking only on the north side. 

Alternative 3: M Street "Mobility Arterial". The third alternative includes a shared lane for Streetcar and other transit services on the curb side of M Street; improved pedestrian access; aggressive traffic calming on parallel streets; and an increase focus on moving vehicular traffic through the area. This alternative does not include cycletracks.

 DDOT requests comments about the presented alternatives. You can email comments to ddot.awi@dc.gov or fax this form to (202) 671-0617. Comments must be submitted by 5pm, Monday, October 1, 2012.  As always. DCBAC is interested in your thoughts and suggestions.  Please leave your comments below so that we can review and incorporate them into our comments that will be submitted to DDOT.