Category: Bikeshare

Closures for the Inauguration May Allow for Open Streets

Beginning Wednesday, January 18, the 2017 Presidential Inauguration will close much of the monumental core of the District to vehicular traffic until early Monday morning. The District Department of Transportation, along with the Secret Service and other federal and regional agencies, have created transportation plan.

The events surrounding the Inauguration allow for a once-in-every-four-year opportunity to walk and bike in the monumental core without cars. Naturally, all street closures are subject to change.

Security Zones. Image: Secret Service

Vehicle Restrictions 

Along certain streets, parking restrictions will begin at noon, January 18. The Transportation plan generally has two security layers:

  • Green security zone: vehicle traffic restricted to residents or businesses within the restricted area. National Guard personnel will assist with verifying traffic entering into the this zone.
  • Red security zone which restricts all vehicles accept those with proper vehicle placards.

In most cases, these zones are free from automobile traffic, allowing pedestrians and bicyclists relatively free access. Galas, other related events, or motorcades may require additional closures and public safety officials may restrict access.

Pedestrian Access Map

Biking and Walking

In the days leading up to the Inauguration parade and days after, most streets in the core should be open for pedestrians and bicyclists. The Woman’s March on Saturday and events associated with the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision Sunday may require periodic closures.

Capital Bikeshare will have two corrals on for the Inauguration and Inaugural Parade: 17th and K Streets NW and 4th and E Street SW. Corral Service runs from 7am to 5pm on January 20.

Bikeshare stations in the National Mall area will be closed January 19 and 20. This includes stations near the Capitol, National Mall, the White House and along the Inaugural Parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue NW from the Capitol to the White House. BikeShare will provide a specific list of affected stations by a service alert message.

Any station within the security perimeter will be offline and completely unavailable until some time after the ceremony and parade. If cyclists leave bikes at closed stations they are responsible for any losses or damages.

For those looking to ride their own bike, a free general bike parking corral will at 16th and I Street NW.

Bicycles will not be permitted aboard Metro trains on Inauguration Day.

The Memorial Bridge will be closed to all vehicular traffic but opened for pedestrians (presumably bicyclists) and Emergency Vehicles.

While the inaugural ceremonies on the National Mall do not require tickets bicycles and other items are prohibited. The non-ticketed area begins at 4th Street NW, and extends past the Washington Monument to 17th Street NW.

The Far Southeast Livability Study Community Workshop Hopes to Bridge the Ward 7 Divide

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will host the second of three public workshops for the Far Southeast III Livability Study.  The workshop is Saturday, November 19, 2016, 10:00am to 12:00pm at the Plummer Elementary School, 4601 Texas Avenue SE, Washington DC 20019.

According to the project website, livability refers to the creation or maintenance of a community’s quality of life as experienced by the people who live, work, and recreate there.

You Can’t Get There From Here

Study would hopes to make river accessible
Image: Google

Unique factors in this areas separate it from the rest of the District, particularly in terms of bicycling and walking. These include topography, arterial roads, freeways, and other aspects of the built environment. Historically, the ability to bike, walk or play safely in the community or enjoy amenities such as the Anacostia River and the rest of the District have been limited.

For many, the Anacostia Freeway and the CSX Benning Yard create a barrier along the west side of the study area. The map to the right shows that if someone wanted to access the Anacostia River Park and lived adjacent to it at D Street SE, about a few hundred feet from it, they would need to travel at least 2.3 miles to access the park and its amenities.

The East Capitol Street, from approximately 40th Street to the Whitney Young Bridge has virtually no pedestrian access. A primary artery for motorists, who can traverse the distance in seconds at highway speeds, pedestrians and bicyclists must travel miles to reach the Bridge to reach a narrow sidewalk to cross the Anacostia River.
  
The Purpose of the Workshops – So Far

Focused in Ward 7, this workshop allows community residents and visitors to discuss potential improvements to the infrastructure within and out of the area. The study areas is roughly bound by East Capitol Street to the north Southern Avenue to the southeast and Massachusetts Avenue to the southwest.

SE Livability Study Area
Image: DDOT

At the initial meeting of this phase, held June 26, 2016, DDOT staff along with public participants identified opportunities for improving the quality of life in the neighborhoods within the study area. The DDOT study team also presented an overview of the project goals, process, to help residents understand the importance of low-impact development, green infrastructure, and potentially fix long-standing issues.

According workshop summary documents, attendees at the June meeting focused on traffic calming and transportation infrastructure safety improvements that increase pedestrian safety; greater access to bicycle sharing and improved bicycle infrastructure; limitations regarding resident’s ability to cross major streets that focus more on moving cars than on moving people; and the mitigation of sewer overflow due to poor drainage. Many of the transportation concerns may be also addressed in Mayor Bowser’s Vision Zero initiative.

The second meeting will discuss and review the potential concepts, using information gathered to draft final recommendations for the final meeting in this series, scheduled for winter of 2017.

We’ve Been Here Before

This is not the first study for this area that relates to livability. In 2011, DDOT held similar meetings to address issues pedestrian and bicycle accessibility. Preliminary plans incorporated many ideas associated with MoveDC, a long-term, multifaceted transportation planning process initiated by former Mayor Vincent Gray. The DC Bicycle Advisory Council also held a “rolling meeting” in that same year near and within the study area to determine bike-specific concerns.

Prior to that, DDOT proposed several plans that attempted to provide greater connectivity an included pedestrian improvements at the Benning Road, East Capitol, Texas Avenue SE intersection and the extension of Massachusetts Avenue SE over the Anacostia to connect it with Reservation 13. Given the structural, economic and environmental changes in the study area, DDOT reopened the process to allow additional community input.

Pin the Tale on the Problem

To help determine where livability improvements should be made, the study website includes an interactive map that allows the public to label areas of potential improvements. If you are unable to attend the meeting and are familiar with some of the area’s challenges, using this map is an alternative.

Community suggestions within and near the Livability study area.
Image: DDOT

Map users have suggested several improvements that include additional Bikeshare docks, particularly along the East Capitol Street corridor as well as making the street more bicycle and pedestrian friendly by adding protected lanes and providing better access to the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail at the East Capitol / Whitney Young Bridge. 

A Closer Look: D.C. United Bike Transportation Plan for its New Stadium

Artist conceptualization of the new 1st Street SW

DC United provided additional information regarding the construction of its new soccer stadium at Buzzard Point.  In documents submitted to the District’s Zoning Commission prior to its November 2, 2016 hearing, United unveiled its transportation plan as part of the planned-unit development process. United claims that the new stadium could “become one of, if not the most bike friendly soccer Stadium in the country“.

Let’s take a look at what they plan. Of course, the plans are subject to change.

LEED Certified Spaces
According to the plan exhibit, most of the bicycle parking will be provided along 2nd Street and First Street near stadium entry gates. The stadium will contain at least 83 short-term LEED bicycle parking spaces. Under LEED requirements, the spaces should provide long-term bicycle storage for at least 5 percent of all regular building occupants, but no fewer than four storage spaces per building in addition to the short-term bicycle storage spaces. LEED also requires at least one on-site shower with changing facility.

Capital Bikeshare

X marks the spot of the bikeshare desert

United will work with the District to install at least one Bikeshare docking station of an undetermined size. On certain high volume days, United will partner with Capital Bikeshare to create a corral, allowing users to park their bikes with using the typical docking procedure.

The stadium plan notes that there are five stations along the northern edge of the study area that contain a total of 113 docking stations; however, they are a half-mile away.  While the corral system may work on certain game days, the lack of additional station may make it difficult to dock bikes on typical days or days when United does not request a corral. The half mile walk, if the station nearest to the stadium is full, may discourage Bikeshare use. The District, or some other entity, may hopefully provide additional docks.

As part of United’s marketing plan to encourage getting to the stadium by bike, they may provide discounted bikeshare memberships to season-ticket holders in lieu of or in combination with any parking discounts.

Street and Trail Facilities
Along the First Street SW entrance, which is considered a private street, DC United will install enough bike racks to accommodate at least 90 bicycles. This area will be shared with pedestrians and potentially vehicular traffic, also, the street may only be open on game days.
In public space along 2nd Street, United is working with the District to include an as-yet-determined number of bicycle racks in public space. Also, permanent and temporary way-finding signage along the bike route on game days to direct people towards the bike valet location and to other bike parking locations. Temporary cones and barriers could also be used along the access routes to direct bicycle traffic to the Stadium before the match and away from the Stadium at the end.

Like Nationals Stadium, United will have a free bicycle valet service. United will monitor the amount of available bike parking and add more racks or more space to the valet as needed to accommodate demand. The plan suggests that 60 percent of bike parking spaces would be served by bike racks and the remainder accommodated by the bike valet system, with most of it centralized along the north and east sides of the Stadium as more cyclists are likely to be traveling from these directions.

Planned bike infrastructure, with rebuilt South Capitol Bridge
Gorove / Slade – Zoning Commission

The District is also considering creating a two-way protected bike lane along 2nd Street SW as addressed in the Buzzard Point Framework Plan, which United supports in its proposal. That plan calls for a protected bicycle lane along Potomac Avenue / R Street that connects to the existing bike lanes on Potomac Avenue across South Capitol Street and a protected bike lane along 2nd Street that will ultimately be part of an extended Anacostia Riverwalk Trail, a part of the Anacostia Waterfront Transportation Plan.

Also, the plan recommends improved pedestrian and bicycle connectivity by increasing sidewalk widths, decreasing vehicular lane widths, improving intersection controls, and organizing curbside restrictions  “helping to create a more inclusive environment of all modes of travel”.

As part of the planned reconstruction of the South Capitol Street – Fredrick Douglas Bridge, the trail would be extended under the bridge and connected to the Buzzard Point neighborhood at S Street, SW. According to the Transportation Improvement Program, which coordinates and outlines when and how the area’s larger infrastructure projects are completed, the reconstruction of the bridge is funded and could commence in 2017 or early 2018.

Working with the Bicycling Community
To encourage visitors to get to stadium events by bike, United will partner with bicycling-related organizations like the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA). This includes holding special promotions that focus on bicyclists to include creating apps or websites encouraging bicycling, providing bike-specific swag, and having bike-to-game days with planned activities and prizes. Additionally, DC United states that it will coordinate with the WABA on specific strategies to create a bike friendly environment at the stadium.

Below is the bicycle section of its transportation plan:

Capital Bikeshare celebrates the opening of its 400th station

According to a District Department of Transportation email sent to subscribers this morning, Capital Bikeshare not only celebrated the installation of its 400th Bikeshare Station but they are having a one-day contest where 10 lucky people can win an annual membership.

The bike station dock was installed at the intersection of Division Avenue and Foote Street, NE, in Ward 7 in the District — marking the 400th publicly accessible station to be added to the Capital Bikeshare system, which abuts Marvin Gaye Park.

To celebrate this station and its six year anniversary, Bikeshare is holding a one-day system-wide scavenger hunt for all riders. One hundred limited-edition Capital Bikeshare CitySeat padded seat covers have been randomly placed on bicycles throughout the system, and today, September 2, riders are eligible to find and claim the seat covers. Those how find the seat cover should post on twitter, Facebook and other social media a photo of the cover with the hashtag #cabi400 for a chance to win one of 10 annual Capital Bikeshare membership gift certificates.

Winners will be announce at the end of today, September 2, on Capital Bikeshare’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.