ANC 1C transportation committee moves Columbia Road bike lanes forward, with compromises

by Stephen Miller

At its last meeting in July, ANC 1C tabled a vote to support a plan that would complete bike lanes in Adams Morgan along Columbia Road NW from Harvard Street to Connecticut Avenue. The plan was then sent it back to the planning, zoning and transportation committee.

On Monday evening, the committee a meeting on the plan, which would serve one of the city's highest-volume bike corridors. There were three main issues discussed at the meeting: loading zones, turning lanes and safety at the intersection with Champlain Street.

One of the major sticking points at the ANC's July meeting was finding a balance between reduced on-street parking and expanded loading zones, since trucks would no longer be able to park in the striped median while making deliveries. The two areas of contention were between Mintwood Place and Biltmore Street, and Ontario Road and Champlain Street, near the Safeway.

The general manager for the Safeway at 1747 Columbia Road was in attendance at Monday's meeting. Because most Safeway deliveries occur in the morning, while the need for parking is greatest in the afternoon and evening hours, the compromise reached at Monday's meeting would designate a new loading zone in front of Safeway between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m., while other loading zones on Columbia Road would be in effect until 4 p.m. Gabriela Vega and Mike Goodno, the DDOT staff in attendance, said the agency would have no problem complying with the ANC's request.

The issue of keeping intersection turning lanes, however, squared the ANC against DDOT staff. Commissioners seemed united in their insistence that the turning lanes at Kalorama Road and Ontario Road were necessary to prevent traffic from backing up, while DDOT staff explained that "low turning volume does not warrant dedicated left turn lanes," especially at Kalorama Road.

The agency's counts showed that in the morning, three eastbound left turns were made at this intersection over a four-hour period; the same number were made during a four-hour period in the evening. There were slightly more westbound turns, with four in the morning and 11 in the evening. Retaining the turn lanes would result in elimination of the bike lane at these intersections and the installation of sharrows instead.

“You'd have a gap in the bike network, switching between bike lanes and shared lanes. It can be a little bit problematic," DDOT's Mike Goodno explained. Committee Chair Wilson Reynolds had a numbers-be-damned attitude: "It's only three times an hour, but it matters if you're stuck behind that person," he told Goodno. DDOT's Gabirela Vega said that the agency wasn't "married to the option" of bike lanes at the intersections and would compromise with sharrows instead. Considering that intersections are dangerous locations for cyclists, the decision to forego a bike lane that would carry up to 150 cyclists per hour for a turning lane that accomodates three cars per hour was disappointing.

The final major issue discussed at the meeting was the intersection with Champlain Street, by Unity Park. It's a dangerous location for pedestrians crossing Columbia Road, and Chair Reynolds requested that DDOT install an all-way stop at this location. DDOT rejected the idea. "It's not warranted," Vega said. Reynolds asked how much it would cost to install a stop sign, saying that the costs would be low. "It's not the money that's an issue," Goodno replied. Suggestions from the audience led the committee to instead request zebra striping the crosswalk at this location to improve visibility and compliance by motorists.

Not mentioned at the meeting was the possibility for a bike box at Connecticut Avenue. Currently, many cyclists use the often-empty right-turn lane at that intersection to pass traffic stopped at the light. They often end up at the head of the line of traffic, waiting in the crosswalk for the light to turn green. The plan does include sharrows at this location, though it would not be surprising if cyclists continued to use the empty right-turn lane to skip ahead. A bike box would help remove cyclists from the pedestrian right-of-way while acommodating existing, legal behavior. It should be something DDOT considers for this plan.

Commissioner Gabriela Mossi, who does not sit on the transportation committee but whose SMD does include the Safeway location, noted that she is herself a cyclist. She raised two points not directly related to the bike lane plan that are still important for area cyclists, noting that the deteriorating road condition on Columbia Road is "more dangerous than anything else. Some of the potholes are getting dangerous for cyclists," she told DDOT.

Secondly, she noted that bike racks in front of Safeway are often full, and that it would help Safeway's business to install more. DDOT's Mike Goodno said that the agency originally installed the racks and could put them on the list for expansion.

Because the ANC does not hold an August meeting, the earliest the plan could receive support from the ANC is September 7.

Comments

[washcycle]

Committee Chair Wilson Reynolds had a numbers-be-damned attitude: "It's only three times an hour, but it matters if you're stuck behind that person,"

Wow!

[BC]

Yep. Everyone's a freaking "expert" when it comes to traffic. Sounds like Wilson Reynolds is a real deep thinker. Good thing they pay those folks at DDOT to collect and analyze real data.

[IMGoph]

isn't wilson reynolds a jim graham staffer?

[washcycle]

And also, DDOT rolled over pretty easy on this one - IMO.