Last month, DDOT gave a presentation on the Maryland Avenue NE Concept Plan and from that we can see that DDOT's planning a more bike and pedestrian friendly road, which is good because, according to DDOT data, the current road encourages rampant speeding that has led to a rising number of crashes in recent years. None of the intersections have particularly high crash rates, but the crashes that do occur have uncharacteristically high numbers of injuries.
Originally Maryland had a wide, planted median, but in 1959 - the presentation shows - the road was widened. The DDOT plan is to change the road from one with 2 lanes in each direction, to one with 1 lane in each direction, a center turn lane and 2 bike lanes.
Numerous curb bump-outs and pedestrian islands would also be used to slow and direct traffic and to aid pedestrians.
Parts of E Street at Maryland avenue would be closed and turned into plazas to redirect traffic and slow right turns, thus providing "low impact development opportunities". Similar, if less dramatic closures and redesigns would be carried out at F and G.
There are still quite a few reviews, documents, designs and engineering work to do before work can begin in summer or fall of 2017, but in the meantime, DDOT plans to make some more incremental changes at Stanton Park, D Street and E Street this summer, including add bike lanes to 4th and 6th around Stanton Park.
So things aren't happening as fast as people in the neighborhood would like them to, but progress is being made.
The rendering of the intersection of 7th and Maryland brings to mind something I've been thinking about lately which is that DDOT should make 7th Street SE/NE into a bike boulevard from M Street SE to Florida Ave NE. 7th would make a good bike boulevard precisely because it's so disjointed for drivers. Not only is the road interrupted at North Carolina, Massachusetts and Maryland Avenues, but it's often closed on the weekends for events in front of Eastern Market and it's further unappealing to drivers because it's one-way between H and Maryland.
While it might seem redundant to add a bike facility here because there are bike lanes on 4th and 6th, those lanes are one-way only, and the 6th Street bike lane doesn't pick up until G Street. By creating bike cut outs in the triangles at North Carolina, Massachusetts and Maryland (as shown in the rendering above at Maryland) cyclists could continue to move N-S on the street in a way cars can not. Add in a contraflow bike lane to the one-way section north of Maryland (similar to what is now on G and I NE) and a cycletrack on the east side in front of Eastern Market (to allow for bike traffic even during street closures) and cyclists would be able to move N-S across the whole of Capitol Hill on a road with little automobile traffic, providing connectivity to many Hill amenities such as Eastern Market and the nearby Metro, Barracks Row, the Northeast library and two elementary schools. Cyclists could thus avoid busier roads like 4th, 6th and 8th. A little signage and paint would make it even more inviting to cyclists. The nature of 7th street means that it is already "traffic calmed", DDOT should take advantage of that.
Great write up. I hope that DDOT finally implements these changes.
Posted by: Todd | June 03, 2015 at 12:19 PM