15th Street Update

From DDOT

Since the summer of 2007, DDOT has been responding to citizens concerned about neighborhood access, safety and speeding along 15th Street, NW between Massachusetts Avenue and Florida Avenue. DDOT presented four alternative configurations for public comment and analyzed them with respect to bicycle level of service, vehicle level of service, cost, and timing.

DDOT accepted public comments via mail and email, and on June 19, 2008 presented the analysis in a public meeting at the 15th Street Presbyterian Church. Based upon these ratings, participant comments, and the numerous e-mail received, there was no clear outcome

Due to the lack of a clear consensus, DDOT developed a fifth alternative as a compromise between the desire to maintain one-way traffic and the desire for more bicycle facilities. This hybrid alternative features three northbound travel lanes, and bicycle lanes in both directions.

Please review this alternative and provide comments by Friday, December 19^th. Feel free to forward this to those who may be interested. This addendum is also available on the website (http://ddot.dc.gov/ddot/cwp/view,a,1249,q,643030.asp).

Here's my post on the original proposal. WABA supported, alternative 3, which made the rode two-way and added bike lanes in each direction. This design is slightly ahead of alternative 4 according to DDOT's decision matrix.

This new design is a variation of the least popular one which involved a cycletrack. It places a 5 foot contraflow lane between the sidewalk and parked cars. DDOT will separate the parked cars from the contra-flow lane with a line of quick curb and flex posts in a one foot buffer.  Cyclists will be allowed to cross intersections as in Madison and San Francisco,when pedestrians do. This will be noted with signs.

Only about 700 people bothered to comment, so your voice probably will go a long way. 

DDOT is now accepting comments on this fifth alternative until December 19, 2008. Please send comments and/or questions to Christopher Ziemann at [email protected] or at the Reeves Center, 2000 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20010

Update: The more I think about this design the more concerned I get.

Everything seems too narrow. 5 foot lanes without any buffering.  The road is too wide as GGW points out

15th street is much wider than necessary, with four northbound lanes that suddenly funnel into only one after New Hampshire Avenue. One neighborhood historian told me that this road was meant to connect to the east-west freeway at S and T streets. Without that freeway, we ended up with a high-speed expressway to nowhere.

If they're hell-bent on adding two bike lanes, they should probably take out the east side parking, or another traffic lane and then use that space to create more buffer between the bike lanes and the traffic/parking and more sidewalk space for tree boxes.

They need to make sure bikes can be seen by cars heading north (which probably means taking out parking near the intersections.

And they should go with a Barnes Dance or Scramble at intersections so that contra-flow bikes can turn left. That having been said. I think Alternativer 3 is still the best.

Comments

[Allen Muchnick]

I agree. DDOT's new fifth alternative is sure to kill some bicyclists with both door-zone and contraflow bike lanes that are much too narrow.

Why not eliminate one of the three northbound vehicular travel lanes to create the space needed to make both bike lanes safe? Otherwise, bicyclists should insist on either 1) gaining adequate space for the "door-zone" bike lane by eliminating the more problematic contraflow bike lane or 2) a two-way street design, with or without bike lanes.

I was riding around Capitol Hill on Sunday and found the proliferation of narrow door-zone bike lanes beside narrow travel lanes rather disturbing. Such hazardous bike lanes are much worse than providing no "bicycle facility." They only serve to lull inexperienced bicyclists into danger.

The more bike lane retrofits I see in urban centers, I more I detest them.

[Contrarian]

If they want two-way bicycle traffic, they have to make the road two-way. Anything else is downright negligent. This is a stretch with ten intersections in 0.87 miles, contraflow cyclists would get creamed -- especially with no traffic signals and the lights timed against them.

The simplest thing is the best thing: just paint a yellow line down the middle, make it two lanes in each direction and be done with it. Bike lanes aren't really appropriate on this road with so many intersections. If they feel they must add facilities, put sharrows in the center of the outside lanes. They're 10-footers, which DC law presumes are not wide enough for sharing.