DDOT Anacostia Metro Station Charrette

Anacostia Metro Charrette (the DCeye)

On the afternoon of Wednesday, February 15, representatives from the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), the District Department of the Environment, and the Office of Planning, continued a design charrette or a community work session, which began Monday, February 13.

The Wednesday meeting offered the public the opportunity to comment on the initial sketches from suggestions made during Monday's meeting and ask questions about pedestrian and bicycling amenities.

According to the DDOT website, the project hopes to create a public space that connects the Metrorail station to neighborhood assets, makes the area safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, better manages local storm water runoff and complements upcoming economic development projects in the community. Greater Greater Washington contributor, John Muller, offers a more pedestrian-focused view of the project; specifically, how the cerrent conditions are among worst in District for pedestrians.

This Charrette is a product of the District being recently selected as one of five capital cities to receive technical design assistance from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Greening America’s Capitals program in 2011. 

The EPA hopes to enhance pedestrian / bicycle safety in the public spaces surrounding the Anacostia Metrorail Station and to “green” the community through park and recreation areas, improved water and air quality, and community health benefits.  According to the EPA website, "the design team's areas of focus will be safety concerns at the intersections, improved signage, increasing the overall permeability of the area to manage stormwater, and creating a strong community identity". 

East Capital Pedestrian Safety Project public meeting

George Branyan, the Pedestrian Program Coordinator within the District Department of Transportation DDOT, posted on the BAC Google group that the Ward 7 East Capital Pedestrian Safety Project public meeting is scheduled for Saturday, March 3, 2012, from 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM at the Benning-Stoddert Recreation Center, 100 Stoddert Place.  While the the focus of the meeting will be pedestrian accessibility, DDOT also seeks input from bicyclists to help create a safer and multi-modal East Capitol Street.

At this meeting, the study team will solicit feedback from the community on the proposed improvements that have been identified to improve safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit users within the East Capitol Street corridor between Stoddert Place, SE and Southern Avenue, NE. This meeting is based on the findings of the Far Northeast Livability Study and hopes to address one of largest safety challenges associated with this corridor, specifically, the Benning/East Capitol/Texas Avenue intersection.

According to Mr. Branyun, some important bike facility opportunities are in the DDOT proposals. Specifically, a redesign of the Benning/East Capitol/Texas Avenue intersection to include separated cycle tracks. For most of the corridor, the proposal is to also add bike lanes. This is possible because DDOT is considering  making the parking full-time, eliminating the use of  the curb lanes as travel lanes during rush hour (DDOT analysis shows there is excess capacity on the roadway, even at rush hour). This could provide extra width for bike lanes along East Capitol while creating a safer pedestrian environment.

Added 2/18/12
Below is a map identifying elements of the project at this intersection. Here, the bike lanes / cycletrack width is 6 feet. The According to Mr. Branyun,

The project boundary on the west side ends at B St. SE where it merges onto East Cap. That's where the two lanes coming from the tunnel become three lanes and speeds increase, based on our data. The concept creates a buffered bike lane out of the eastbound right lane after the B St. merge.

If you have suggestions about this area, please let us know below.

East of the River Connectivity

The Facilities Committee within the DC Bicycle Advisory Council (BAC) plans to continue its focus on the challenges of bicyclists who travel to, from and within Ward 7 and Ward 8 this year.  BAC would like to hear from the people who live, work and play on the east side of the Anacostia River so that we can work with you to voice your concerns as decisions are being made for spending for next year's budget. Feel free to enter your suggestions in the comments section below.

Safety, Education, and Enforcement Committee Meeting (February 16, 2012)

Safety, Education, and Enforcement Committee meetings are normally scheduled for second Tuesday of even-numbered months; however,  that would place the February meeting on Valentine's day.

As opposed to meeting on his own, or angering our significant others, Jameel Alsalam, committee chair and Ward 4 representative is rescheduling.

The meeting will be held Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 6:30pm at Teaism, 400 8th Street NW.

Our agenda:

1. Reviewing outreach and training materials provided by MPD
2. Discussing options to improve road safety through traffic enforcement in 2012
3. Re-creation of traffic enforcement division
4. More frequent cross-district traffic enforcement efforts
5. Enforcement action targeting three-foot passing law
6. Other ideas?

Lt. Breul of the Metropolitan Police Department has provided a copy of the electronic training related to bicycling taken by all MPD officers, along with a couple of outreach brochures.We invite you to provide comments on these documents.

Facilities Meeting (February 7, 2012)

The next Facilities Committee meeting will be 6:30 - 8:00PM on Tuesday,  February 7, 2012 at Col. Brooks Tavern at 901 Monroe Street NE (across from the Brookland Metro Station and a block from the Metropolitan  Branch Trail). The meeting will be upstairs.

For more information about the meeting or if you'd like to add something to the agenda below, please contact Jeanie Osburn, Ward 5 Representative and Facilities Committee chair.

Agenda:

1. Review of December action items 
2. Planning for "rolling" meetings in April, June, August, and October 
3. Discussion of updating the Bicycle Master plan from a facilities perspective 

The previous meeting minutes may be found here. As always, we invite you to attend our meetings and contribute your thoughts.

Legislative Committee Meeting (February 1, 2012)

The next Legislative Committee meeting will be Wednesday, February 1 at 6:30pm. The location will be Busboys and Poets at 5th and K Streets NW. David Cranor (At-Large) is the Committee Chair.

On the agenda:

1. Bicycle Access to Buildings law similar to New York, NY
2. Complete Streets law
3. Defining what is and what is not a bicycle for purposes of using bike lanes, trails and racks

As always, we invite you to attend our meetings and contribute your thoughts.