D.C. Bicycle Advisory Council

The Dupont Circle and Logan Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANC) jointly announce a public meeting for residents, business owners and organizations to discuss bicycle safety issues in the community Thursday, September 27, 7:00p to 9:00p. The meeting will be head at the Chastleton Ballroom, 1701 16th Street NW. With biking for transit expanding rapidly in our community, many issues, concerns, and questions have arisen. Some topics for discussion are: The District’s plans to make DC more bike/pedestrian-friendly; any plans or ideas for the Dupont-Logan area and its residents. The laws/rules about street/sidewalk biking; consequences for those who break them. Whether any of these laws/rules should be revised or updated by the City Council. New bike lanes: Where/when are they coming and where else are they needed. Tips for dealing with the new 2-way bike lanes for bikers, drivers, and pedestrians. Lastly, a comprehensive discussion regarding the expansion of bike pa...

The District Department of Transportation will host a meeting Thursday, September 27 to discuss and solicit input on the Virginia Avenue Tunnel Environmental Impact Statement and Section 106 Evaluation. While this project focuses on the reconstruction of the CSX Transportation freight rail tunnel, the rebuilding of Virginia Avenue SE offers an opportunity for the inclusion of bike infrastructure. The meeting will be held at the Capitol Skyline Hotel, 10 Eye Street SW, 6:00p until 8:00p.  This meeting will include a brief presentation and introductory remarks, “breakout” workshop sessions with the study team, and a concluding question and answer session. The introductory presentation will start very shortly after 6:00p. Both verbal and written comments will be taken at the meeting. Comment forms will be available at the public meeting and can be submitted on-site, via provided self-addressed/postage paid envelopes, or by email to contact@virginiaavenuetunnel.com . Questions abo...

Met Branch Trail at S Street Pocket Park The Facilities Committee and its chair Jeanie Osburn would like to invite you join District Department of Transportation staff member Heather Deutsch on a bike tour of Ward 5. The " Gimme 5! " ride will travel to some of Ward 5's well-known and best-kept-secret sites.  This ride is in partnership with Cultural Tourism - a nonprofit organization helping DC residents and visitors discover, experience and celebrate the city’s art, culture, and heritage. The ride is Saturday, September 29, 2012 from 1PM - 4PM beginning and ending at the NoMa-Gallaudet U (New York Ave) Metrorail Station (Near the 2nd and Florida Avenue entrance). The ride will travel along the Metropolitan Branch Trail, stop in for a tour of Chocolate City Brewing Company , cruise through "Little Rome" ( Washington Trinity University , St. Paul's College , the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception , Catholic Unive...

Thursday, September 14, 2012 was the third and reportedly final meeting regarding the M Street Southeast / Southwest Transportation Study. Sponsored by the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), the purpose of the meeting was to show the public major alternatives and metrics used to to recreate the streetscape on M Street and selected adjacent streets in that area in the near term and over the next 20 to 30 years. According to the meeting documentation , the M Street corridor, a roughly 1.7-square-mile area along M Street SE/SW, and the Southwest waterfront from 12th Street, SE to 14th Street, SW and from the Southwest / Southeast Freeway south to the Anacostia River / Washington Channel, will experience a dramatic increase in the residential and commercial population. Upon initial review, it appears that each alternative appears problematic.  Of the three alternatives presented, only alternative two included provisions for a cycletrack located on M Street....

How should DC’s automated traffic enforcement program be designed to maximize roadway safety while minimizing public perception that the program is unfair, punitive, or designed to maximize revenue? CMs Tommy Wells and Mary Cheh are co-chairing a task force to recommend legislative changes to the automated (camera) traffic enforcement program to better meet this goal. At the recent meeting of the BAC Safety, Education, and Enforcement Committee, a number of possibilities were discussed.  Opinions on various proposals varied widely, however, the committee had broad agreement on two ideas which we decided to prioritize: 1) improving the justification of locations based on safety issues and 2) graduated fines for initial offenses (e.g., first one or first one at a particular location). Note that the table includes several ideas with comments which were not discussed at the meeting (because they have been raised since the meeting). Priority Proposals Comments Justification of...

The bimonthly legislative committee meeting at Union Pub on Capitol Hill has been canceled. The next meeting will be held in October. Please let us know if you have questions.

This post serves as notes from the June meeting of the BAC SEE Comittee. I apologize for not recording attendees. Over the last month, the BAC Safety, Education and Enforcment Committee has been extremely busy. On May 30, the DC Council Committee on the Judiciary had a hearing on pedestrian and bicycle safety. [link here: http://dcbac.blogspot.com/2012/05/bac-testifies-at-dc-council-hearing-on.html ] One of the big outcomes of that meeting was that CM Phil Mendelson (now council chair) asked MPD, BAC, PAC, and WABA to work together to put together proposals for traffic safety benchmarks. Since then, there has been a flurry of work on this issue by BAC and PAC. Second, we’ve been building relationships with the MPD District Captains responsible for coordinating traffic enforcement in their districts - please help build up these relationships. Third, we discussed the current state of bicycle theft data and some of the work being done to combat bike theft. Action needed : Please prov...