In parts 1 and 2 of this series wherein I discuss the torrent of bicycle-relevant bike laws proposed in DC, we covered Charles Allen's Vision Zero bill and Transportation Benefits Equity Act as well as the Budget. This week we'll look at four smaller bills.
Councilmember Mary Cheh introduced the Mandatory Protected Cycling Land Amendment Act of 2019 in late April, following the death of Dave Salovesh. The bill mimics similar legislation out of Cambridge, MA that requires the city to include the safest bike paths whenever a roadway is reconstructed.
The DC bill requires DDOT to build a protected bicycle lane on any street segment where one is recommended by the Multimodal Long Range Transportation Plan (aka MoveDC) whenever the road is to be repaired, reconstructed or get gutter replacement. They are, to the greatest extent possible, to be built contiguous with other portions of the cycle network. DDOT will be required to provide 60 days notice prior to starting construction of their intent, of the construction schedule and of the 30 day public comment period. Recommendations from affected ANC's made during the comment period are to be given great weight.
But, the whole requirement will be waived if the DDOT director determines that it is impractical or unnecessary to build the bike lane because (1) it would be too expensive (2) cyclists wouldn't use it (3) safe cycling can be accommodated with it or (4) the city would need to buy land to build it. The DDOT Director will need to write a letter to this effect and post it on DDOT's website.
So that gives DDOT a lot of wiggle room and basically allows for them to bypass it any time they want as long as they're willing to take the heat, but this is the same as in Cambridge. And it appears that the affected ANCs are the ones the road segment passes through, not those ANCs nearby where people who bike on the road might live. But hopefully it will push DDOT to build out the bike lane network from MoveDC faster.
The Curb Extension Act of 2019, introduced by David Grosso, is similar but deals with curb bulbouts instead of bike lanes. Notably, it doesn't reference MoveDC.
Another bill from Cheh, the Vulnerable User Collision Recovery Amendment Act Of 2019, would extend the contributory negligence carve out from the Motor Vehicle Collision Recover Act of 2016 to include people on e-bikes and electric scooters. Not sure why they chose to just extend it to those on electric scooters and not all of those on Personal Mobility Devices, but maybe they think that's already covered by the otherwise confusing "Segways...and other similar non-powered transportation devices." Still I would have just included everyone on "motorized bicycles" and "personal mobility devices" which are the classes those currently belong to. Instead they intentionally leave out mopeds,
Chales Allen and Jack Evans have also introduced the Bike Valet Grant Program Act. It creates a grant of up to $3000 per event to pay for providing a bike valet for festivals and events.
Finally, Councilmember Todd introduced the Cyclist Safety Campaign Amendment Act of 2019. It specifies the questions relating to bicyclists that the Department of Motor Vehicles is required to quiz driver license applicants about on the driver's license examination (specifically the 3 foot law, the Dutch reach and yielding to cyclists when turning) and it establishes a public outreach campaign to educate the public about automobile-bicycle fatalities.
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