Maryland Ave NE road diet, too slow for some, not right for others and tiny little American flags for all

So Allen didn't show up to the Maryland Ave NE road diet meeting, because he and his wife decided to have a baby instead or some sort of excuse like that, but Mayor Bowser and DDOT Director Dormsjo did. There were two camps main camps there. People who have been waiting for this since 2011 and want to know how much longer it's going to be (probably the end of 2018 before it is all finished) and people who want to re-litigate the road diet decision.

The major change since the Concept Plan dealt with the median. The road isn't quite wide enough for a median near the intersections where there is also a left turn lane. So on some blocks there will only be a median in the middle of the block and on others there will be none at all. But only one person expressed concern about this. DDOT pointed out that because a pedestrian would only have to cross 2 lanes (whereas now it is 4) and they would have bump outs to shorten the crossing distance, a pedestrian refuge wouldn't be as necessary.

The pro-diet group was somewhat disappointed that the project wouldn't go out to bid until mid-2017, and that the 30% design won't be done until early August. The design will be presented at an ANC Transportation Committee meeting that month. But they seemed to be content to see progress. Some asked about what could be done in the interim and I think there might be some traffic lights added in places, but other than that, not much.

The pro-status quo group was angry. They didn't know how people (commuters, Capitol police, fire trucks, ambulances, etc...) were going to be able to get around if one lane was removed. They wanted to know if DDOT was going to do another traffic study since the last one is now 5 years old "and so much has changed since then." They were worried about parking.

Dormsjo's answers were unsatisfying because he skipped over some questions, which is too bad because eventually he got around to answering them pretty clearly, but I think people were frustrated with how long it took him to get to it directly. He told them that traffic was very light on Maryland and that it was overbuilt; and that this was prove by the fact there was still a lot of speeding - at all times of the day - on the road. He, and Bowser, pointed out that many other streets in DC are only one lane wide with a bike lane and ambulances manage to get around on them. It took them a long time, but eventually Bowser basically said that they weren't going to do another traffic study. She noted that the decision has been made. It's been supported by both ANCs, the Ward 6 Councilmember and the DC Council and so this meeting would not be about whether or not to do a road diet. It was to present and discuss the specifics. George Branyan pointed out that there would be no net loss of parking. 

During the presentation it was pointed out that some street space on E, 7th and G would be converted into little plazas. Plazalettes they called them. But that NPS had demanded that the view lines down the carriageways be preserved as they are part of the L'Enfant Plan. So there will be no trees and the carriageways would remain hard scape. Along the sides they were planning more bioswales and grass though. 

One participant suggested that a sidewalk be added to the outside of Stanton Park - all the way around it - and that the inside lane of 4th, 6th and C Streets be narrowed or removed. This is a great idea, but it probably needs NPS approval, and I doubt it will happen. 

Comments

[Dave Hafner]

Few seem to be concerned nowadays about real safety. Just pseudo-safety (or what I prefer to call fake safety). No design will make up for dangerous behavior. Yet many seem fixated on "environmental" solutions (4-3 lane conversions, road diets, pedestrian refuges, civil engineers, etc. etc).
When will we get to the real problem? Pedestrians stepping out in front of oncoming traffic.

[washcycle]

Dave,

If people seem fixated on environmental solutions there are probably a few reasons for that:

A. They work
B. It's something the city, and specifically DDOT, has control over
C. They usually come with other benefits

I question whether pedestrians stepping in front of traffic is the real problem. What do you base that on? It certainly is A problem, but I don't think we can limit ourselves to just one problem with an issue like this.