16th Street NW Transit Priority Planning Study

DDOT is hosting its final public meeting on the 16th Street, NW Transit Priority Planning Study on Thrusday, January 21, 2016 at 3:30 to 8pm at the Jewish Community Center (1529 16th Street). The Project's final report doesn't mention bikes very much, except to say that cyclists use the street, that there are a lot of bicycle crashes, and that the Bicycle Master Plan calls for facilities on 16th.

Neighborhoods within the study area including Mount Pleasant, Adams Morgan, and Columbia Heights experience some of the highest percentage bicycle-commute trips in the District. While 16th Street NW is not identified as a primary bike route, bike activity is present. Additionally, a substantial number of bicycle

 

The Bicycle Master Plan calls for future bicycle lanes, on-road separated bicycle facilities, and multi-use trails on numerous additional study area arterial and collector streets, specifically, 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th Streets. Additionally, a significant number of bicycle crashes in the District occurred in the 16th Street Corridor project area, particularly in the southern portion near downtown.There is currently no dedicated bike lane or shared transit lane for bicyclists at any point along the 16th Street NW corridor.

 

Field observations confirm that while there is not a dedicated bike lane along the corridor, some bicyclists still use the corridor. Approximately 40 to 50 bicyclists an hour were counted during the peak hours at the southern end of the corridor while less than 10 bicyclists an hour were counted at the north end of the corridor. Bicyclists have been primarily observed riding mixed with traffic due to the lack of dedicated facilities. There are parallel streets that have bike lanes such as 14th Street NW, 15th Street NW and 17th Street NW. These bike lanes, however, are discontinuous on 14th Street NW and 17th Street NW

Still, no bike facilities are are included in this and if the proposed transit lanes are meant to be bike/bus lanes it is never mentioned. MoveDC does not include bike facilities on 16th south of Piney Branch Parkway, but does include a side path along 16th north of Piney Branch all the way to Maryland. Unfortunately, the study area ends one block north of Piney Branch at Arkansas, so it's unlikely to include the trail.

 

All of which is to say that this project might not do anything for cyclists, which is a real shame. 

 

Comments

[Crickey7]

I used to ride 16th Street from New Hampshire all the way to the merge with Georgia Ave. It was horrible. I can't image it's changed.

[Ben]

I agree that the goal should probably be for every street to have good, safe, dedicated bike facilities eventually. However, is there a pressing reason for DC to spend it's limited bike improvements budget on a street that has several nearby alternatives?

I don't live in that area of the city, so I've never seen the facilities. But if there is a continuous bike lane on 15th, one street away, then why shouldn't we improve other areas of the city - like work for a good, continuous East-West corridor somewhere in the city?

It's possible that the bikers riding through traffic are doing so because they are extra comfortable with their skill and ability to keep up with traffic and don't want to ride in the designated bike lanes because other cyclists would slow them down. I don't know if this is the case, or if it's more likely that people are riding one or two blocks on 16th to get to their destination. If the first scenario is correct, then adding bike facilities to this area, which already has three out of four streets at least somewhat covered, would seem like a misallocation of resources.

It's also possible that turning 16th street into a bus corridor would decrease some car traffic from the streets nearby, making them safer for cyclists to use the already existing facilities. So even if the project doesn't include some line painting for bikes, it might improve travel by bike anyway...

[Crickey7]

15th Street ends at Irving Street. So no good north of that. South of that, you will find that people who travel for transportation aren't going to go blocks out of their way.

[Froggie]

Jumping in late here, but given the width of the street, I just don't see how 16th can include both transit and bike facilities. Given the number of bus riders, I'd focus on transit priority for 16th and put dedicated bike facilities on another street.

[washcycle]

There may not be room, but at one point there was talk of creating bike/bus lanes. I haven't heard why that won't work.

[Froggie]

Frequency of buses (which would be pretty often during peak hours) is a safe bet why a combined bus/bike lane may not work.