Wednesday, March 26, 2014

BAC-FAC Rolling Meeting - The Florida Avenue Corridor - April 19

The first Bicycle Advisory Council Facilities Committee (BAC-FAC) "rolling" meeting of the season will explore the Florida Avenue/Benning Road corridor April 19, 2014.  The ride will begin at 1pm at the NoMa-Gallaudet Station (2nd and Florida entrance). Bikeshare stations are near the M Street NE entrance of the NoMa - Gallaudet station and along the route.

Courtesy of Google
The BAC-FAC rolling meeting coincides with the District Department of Transportation's (DDOT) Florida Avenue Multimodal Transportation study, which assesses the potential reconfiguration of the Florida Avenue corridor from North Capitol Street to Benning Road NE.

In an earlier post, BAC discussed some of the challenges along Florida Avenue for bicyclists and pedestrians, which include narrow sidewalks and fast moving vehicles. BAC-FAC will explore the options DDOT has proposed for the corridor and provide DDOT and members of Council with our feedback.

The BAC-FAC committee chair, Jeanie Osburn (BAC-FAC@dcbac.org), plans to travel east along Florida Avenue until it intersects with Benning Road. From there, the ride will travel on Benning Road to the bridge which cross over Kenilworth Avenue NE and the freight rail tracks.  While not in the Florida Avenue study zone, the man-made barrier and the street car tracks pose hazards to bicyclists and pedestrians. The ride may make stops at Union Market, Argonaut or other destinations on the route.

Please contact Jeanie Osburn for more information about the ride or bicycle facilities concerns in your area. Please feel free to pass this information on to anyone you think is interested in sharing their ideas about bicycling in the District. If you live in the area or use Florida Avenue, feel free to provide your comments below. 

We look forward to riding with you April 19.


Tuesday, March 25, 2014

DDOT-BAC-PAC FY 2013 Oversight Hearing

The Committee on Transportation and the Environment held its 2013 oversight hearing for the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), the Bicycle Advisory Council and the Pedestrian Advisory Council. The hearing was held on March 21, rescheduled from the original March 3 and subsequent March 17 dates.

As stated in a prior post, the hearing allowed the public to voice its concerns about the state of the District's transportation infrastructure to include the allocation of Metrobus and Metrorail services, automobiles, the DC Circulator, Bike/Ped concerns, as well as other District transportation issues.

The hearing also allows DDOT to answer questions directly and provide information to the public regarding how it plans to maintain and expand transportation alternatives for District residents and visitors.

Below is a video of the hearing courtesy of the Office of Cable Television. The testimony of Ellen Jones, the BAC Chair, begins about an hour into the hearing. The video may require a QuickTime plugin or you could use this link.

A copy of her written testimony is available here.

Feel free to leave your comments below.






Monday, March 24, 2014

February Legislative Committee Meeting Minutes

Below are the minutes from the February BAC Legislative Committee meeting. This meeting covered the status of bicycle legislation proposed in 2013 and the potential for new legislation in 2014. 
BAC encourages your comments and suggestions for new legislation. Feel free to contact us or use the comments section and convey your ideas.

Final Meeting for Florida Avenue NE Multimodal Study

The final public meeting on the Florida Avenue NE study is set for Wednesday, April 2 beginning at 7pm at the Two Rivers Charter School, 1234 4th Street NE, (Middle School Building). Bicyclists and pedestrians should attend to help determine the best way Florida Avenue can accommodate a variety of road uses.

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is hosting the third and final public meeting to guide the Florida Avenue Multimodal Transportation study, which assesses the potential reconfiguration of the Florida Avenue corridor from North Capitol Street to Benning Road NE.

Florida Avenue NE at M Street,
courtesy of Google Maps

Current conditions are not favorable for pedestrians or bicyclists. The sidewalk sections from 6th Street to West Virginia Avenue particularly narrow with street lights, signage, and steps restricting sidewalk egress. The current 6-lane configuration in this section also makes using the street difficult for bicyclists as cars typically travel above the posted limit. At the intersection for Florida Avenue and New York, bicycle and pedestrian crossing is very challenging. 

Map of study, courtesy of DDOT

According to the recent DCist article, "DDOT Project Manager Gabe Onyeador says the three alternatives that will be presented will include bike lanes, a cycletrack and wider sidewalks". Please feel free to let us know what you think about the study and what ways DDOT and the public can safely improvement Florida Avenue for pedestrians and bicycle users.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Opening on the Bicycle Advisory Council

BAC currently has an opening as a Ward 1 representative. This unpaid, volunteer position is open to residents of the District currently living in Ward 1 who are enthusiastic about bicycling, talk with the public and policy makers about bicycling and are able to attend six general and six committee meetings each year.

Those interested in becoming BAC members should first contact the office of the Ward 1 Council Member, Jim Graham or the DDOT Bicycle Program Specialist,  Mike Goodno.

Applicants are encouraged to attend a BAC Committee meeting in April or a meeting of the entire BAC in May. Dates for those will be posted as they become available on this site. In the meantime, feel free to contact the BAC Chairperson, Ellen Jones, by email ellenbethjones@gmail.com.

As required for all those who sit on boards or commissions, you must complete an Application for Legislative Appointment. The application should include a current resume or biographical sketch. 

In addition, you may also need to submit a waiver form allowing the Office of Boards and Commission to verify compliance with District tax filing requirements. These documents would be submitted to your Council Member as part of the review process. Thanks for your interest and good luck.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Minutes from the February BAC FAC Meeting

The Bicycle Facilities Committee (BAC-FAC) met Monday, February 10, 2014 from 6pm to 8pm at The Bier Baron, 1523 22nd Street, NW. 

The agenda included:
  1. Ongoing maintenance of bicycling infrastructure, particularly regarding the removal of snow, sand/grit and salt removal; 
  2. Review of the 2013 scorecard (bike lanes, connections, new projects, progress on existing projects, problem areas from the MoveDC plan; 
  3. The District Department of Transportation's bicycle infrastructure plans for 2014; and
  4. Potential BAC-FAC investigative rides for 2014.
Below are the meeting minutes. Please let us know if you have questions or comments.