Author: uno000

DDOT Eyes Section of MLK Avenue SE for Revitalization

Current conditions near MLK and Milwaukee Pl SE
Image: Google

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will hold a public meeting concerning the revitalization of Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Avenue SE in Congress Heights. The meeting will be held at the R.I.S.E Demonstration Center, 2730 MLK Jr. Avenue SE, on Wednesday, May 31, 2017, from 6:30p to 8:00p.

This 1.1 mile revitalization project could be the first step in improving the bicycle network in this area: allowing youth to get to schools along MLK Avenue by bike; people to travel to and from the commercial corridor and the current and planned improvements at the St. Elizabeths site; and bike commuters who use MLK to connect to downtown by bike.

The aim of this initial meeting is to gather community comments about the street and present alternative revitalization options. Specifically, the project hopes to comply with elements of the #VisionZero initiative by improving the transportation network, reduce interactions between pedestrians and vehicles, and enhance the corridor’s aesthetics with street and sidewalk modifications.

The project corridor is one of the few streets that allow cyclists to connect with the rest of the District from its most southern sections to downtown. The #MoveDC bicycle plan proposed bike lanes for this section of MLK Avenue, from Alabama Avenue south until it meets with South Capitol Street. Those lanes were added in 2015 and travel mostly in a residential section of the corridor, starting just south of 4th Street SE. The area north of Alabama Avenue contains no bike lanes and contains the neighborhood’s commercial corridor. The project corridor contains at least 5 schools within two blocks of MLK Avenue.

As more people use bicycling as a transportation alternative, the need for bike lanes on major corridors has also increased. The project corridor contains one 10-dock Capital Bikeshare station located at Alabama and MLK Avenue SE. Two other Bikeshare stations lie outside of the project corridor at Atlantic and South Capitol Streets and near the Congress Heights Metrorail Station. Some residents and those who work near or along the corridor use bike share as the “last mile” connection to the Metrorail Green Line stations at Congress Heights, while some continue to the Anacostia Station or beyond.

The Bike Estate – Strand Residences in Deanwood Adds 86 Units of Affordable Housing and 38 Bike Parking Spaces

The Stand Residences hopes to revitalize Nannie Helen  Burrow Burroughs Avenue
Rendering:  The Warrenton Group

The Bike Estate scours local blogs and government websites for information about bike facilities in new, recently opened, or planned residential or commercial buildings. The following is recently-filed development applications with the D.C. Zoning Commission.

According to Urban Turf, the replacement of the Lincoln Heights / Richardson Dwellings communities in Ward 7 will contain an 86-unit mixed-use development near the Strand Theater at 5129 Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue in Deanwood.

The Strand Residences, a long-planned development, includes approximately 17,000 sqft of buildings along Nannie Helen Burroughs and Division Avenues. One six-floor building contains one and two-bedroom units. Plans also call for new ground-floor commercial space and the renovation of the decades-vacant historic Strand Theater, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, adjacent to the project site.

26 Bike parking spaces are along the wall closest to the Theater
Rendering:  The Warrenton Group

With regard to bicycling, the project appears to have adopted a more progressive position.  Located less than 500 feet from Marvin Gaye Park; the 1.6 mile Watts Branch; Washington Parks and People’s Riverside Center, HD Woodson High School and its Aquatic Center; and the Marvin Gaye Trail; the current plans call for a total of 38 indoor bicycle parking spaces, with 29 for long-term and 5 short-term spaces for residents. The site plan has four indoor short-and-long term spaces for community and retail use.

While the plan suggests that bike parking is secure, it does not provide details on controlled entrances, lighting or other amenities like a repair station. Also, the plan does not appear to include outdoor bike parking or bikeshare. The bicycle parking is located on the ground floor and shares that space with 17 vehicle spaces.

Public Meeting for Pennsylvania & Potomac Avenues SE Intersection Improvement Project

DDOT will once again discuss alternatives for
this complex intersection
Image: DDOT

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) invites you to attend an informational meeting about the Pennsylvania Avenue SE and Potomac Avenue SE intersection improvement project. The meeting will be Thursday, June 1 from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Hill Center (Abraham Lincoln Hall, 921 Pennsylvania Avenue SE.

According to DDOT, the meeting will allow residents, visitors, and those in between the opportunity to learn about, and comment on, the proposed design concepts associated with this intersection. Specifically, the project will look at how pedestrians can successfully cross as many as 8 lanes of vehicular traffic. This intersection is a hub for Metrobus, containing at about 9 routes as this location feeds the Silver, Orange, and Blue lines at the Potomac Avenue Metrorail station. Given the increasing transportation share of bicycling, DDOT may also include bicycling facilities, which were absent from earlier conceptual drawings.

Like so many projects, this isn’t the first time DDOT has looks at this particular intersection. After a series of community meetings, the initial scoping meeting was held in January of 2013 where DDOT and the public discussed problems associated with the area. This was followed by a November 2014, and a January 2015 meeting. The Final Environmental Assessment and Project Decision was to be issued in the Spring/Summer of 2016. While previous alternatives did not specifically include bicycling infrastructure, the public did. They included adding bikeshare stations, creating separate bike lanes through the intersection, additional bike parking, and adding wayfinding signage.

In 2014, Greater Greater Washington contributors Veronica (O) Davis and Brian (@gearprudence) McEntee discussed the three designs DDOT proposed: a oval, a square, or a parallelogram, otherwise known as an ellipse. The ellipse, they determined, created the most green space and reduces the number of bus stops from five to 4.

The Davis/McEntee perferred Alternative
Image: DDOT

The project is a part of the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative (AWI) Program, which hopes to transform the shores of the Anacostia River into world-class waterfront. This means that the control of this intersection isn’t under the complete control of DDOT but must also include feedback from the National Park Service, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, National Capital Planning Commission, State Historic Preservation Office, and the defenders of historic viewsheds, the Commission of Fine Arts.

If you can attend, please tell what happened or what you hope to see.

Public Meeting for Chestnut Street Concept Design Study Findings

Erosion
Impediments
Image: Author

The District Department of Transportation’s (DDOT) will have a public meeting to discuss the Concept Design Study findings for Chestnut Street NW, from Oregon Avenue to Western Avenue. The meeting will be Wednesday, May 10, 2017, at the Chevy Chase Baptist Church, 5671 Western Avenue and from 6:45 pm through 8:15 pm with a brief presentation about the project to start at 7:15 pm.

This could be a great opportunity to add pedestrian and bike infrastructure to the Hawthorne area, which has a walkscore of 19 out of infinity and a bikescore of 35. The Hawthorne bikescore is basically lower than just about every other community in the District. If you can attend, please advocate for walking and biking. However, adding infrastructure in this upper, upper Northwest DC community isn’t easy.

If you feel strongly about adding bike or pedestrian safety infrastructure on this street, you should first read Sarah Stodder’s article from the June 2016 Washingtonian, “Everyone in This DC Neighborhood Is Freaking Out Over Sidewalks“. One of the unique factors of Chestnut Street, and many streets is the Hawthorne community, is that it has no sidewalks. In a disagreement more like the cold war than a “sidewalk war”, the neighborhood is fighting with itself, and with DDOT about fixing what should have been fixed years ago but more recently, to comply with the Vision Zero initiative, District, and federal laws.

According to DDOT, the purpose of this project is to “develop design solutions for a streetscape that targets multimodal, safety and aesthetic improvements along Chestnut Street NW”. With the word “multimodal” in the project description, one would assume that bicycling and walking are included – one could hope.

One of the easier bits of infrastructure to add would be wayfinding signage. DDOT hopes to hear from the public regarding this street, which provides a connector for bicyclists who travel from Rock Creek Park along Wise Road. The street connects with other roads to lead to Bradley Lane in Chevy Chase, Maryland, allowing cyclists to reach Wisconsin Avenue and points west in Montgomery County.

No Sidewalks. No Bike lanes.
Image: Google

This meeting on the Chestnut Street project should also be related to the design and reconstruction of Oregon Avenue NW. As reported by the Washcycle, on May 17 DDOT will also have a public meeting on the rehabilitation of Oregon Avenue from Military Road to Western Avenue. The meeting will be at 5601 Connecticut Avenue NW (Chevy Chase Community Center), but according to the most recent plans, Oregon Avenue plans will probably exclude bicycling facilities. This is doubly disappointing as the National Park Service supports including a trail along this section of road.

Having a safe connection along Oregon Avenue and Chestnut Street is important. If you can make it, you should, as it could be interesting. Let me know how it goes. If I get a hold of some plans, I’ll post them.

Carsharing Program Zipcar Celebrates Bike Month

The car sharing program Zipcar sent an email to its subscribers in support of Bike Month.

To transport you bike over the hills and dales to the mountains or the beaches, Zipcar provides roof-mounted bike racks on selected cars. Actually, it appears to be one car in the District, a good reason why you haven’t heard of this program if you are a member.

The email also from the car-sharing program also worked with Green Line Velo (Boston’s official cycling team) to make two 1980s era a three-minute videos called “Biking in an urban environment” and “Finding the right bike for you“.

Last, Zipcar has a contest allowing it’s users to win a PUBLIC V7 Bike. All member have to do is,

 “share your #bikestories with @Zipcar on Twitter, and you could win one of these sweet V7 bikes from PUBLIC! Tell us why you bike in the city, share some riding tips, or post some pics of your ride.”

Below are some #BikeStories tweets that I’m certain can be out done by #BikeDC…Not that it’s a contest describing your journey to becoming a bicyclists…well, it is.

#bikestories Tweets