Comments submitted in response to the Penn Ave West Streetscape Project 2019 initial concept design presentation:
My major concern is that, like elsewhere in the city, this process risks taking far too long. It has already been five years since the West of the White House Study.
While we don’t know all the details of what happened at Murrow Park last week, it’s clear that speed was a factor, and the wide-open, low-traffic nature of Pennsylvania Avenue encourages very high speeds. In addition to expediting the design process, DDOT should use temporary materials — jersey barriers and/or water barricades if necessary — to create the narrowed space for motor vehicles and added protections for people riding bikes, walking, and sitting on benches in the corridor as soon as possible.
We have seen on Canal Road that DDOT can move quickly to build and rebuild infrastructure for drivers. We have seen on Florida Avenue that DDOT can move quickly in the wake of the death of a well-known advocate. Hopefully it will not take any more deaths, or giant holes torn in the earth itself, to move ahead on protecting people on Pennsylvania while the permanent designs are finalized.
As for the designs themselves:
- While I very much look forward to the new rows of median trees on this mostly-hardscape corridor, I am also concerned about how narrow the proposed bike lanes are. Lanes that aren’t wide enough to ride side-by-side make it very difficult for those of us who can hear to converse, let alone for Deaf riders using sign language. I am also concerned about the District’s ability to sweep these lanes of tree matter in the fall and spring and to plow snow in the winter. I would therefore suggest taking a foot or two of the new medians (and/or the wider outside general lanes) and make the bike lanes at least 7’ wide.
- I appreciate the greatly enlarged sidewalk areas at the corners, especially at H St (north) and I St (north). Thank you especially for eliminating the slip lane for turns from westbound PA Ave to eastbound H St. I am however slightly concerned about visibility for people biking NW on PA Ave past the curb between I St and 21st St, especially at night, and wonder if it might be possible to use some sort of reflective treatment on the curb face or at the edge of the sidewalk to make it more visible to riders.
- It seems as though you only intend to use bike signals at 17th St. What is the plan for the other intersections? There are several with right turns across the bikeway. Rather than confusing ‘bikes use ped signal’ signage like on 15th St NW, please just add bike signals wherever possible. Relatedly, please consider having the signals in the corridor timed for the average bike rider and Metrobus—around 12–15 mph—rather than for passenger vehicles.
- Please consider raised crosswalks, especially at the often-high speed, oblique intersections with H and I Streets.
- Finally, not every person on a bike will ride the corridor from end to end. Please make sure every intersection has a queuing area for riders making 2-stage/Copenhagen left turns, or some other way for people to come out of the bikeway and make a turn across the intersection without having to merge across multiple lanes of motorized traffic
Thank you,
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