Adams Morgan business owner Shawn Fenty videotaped traffic on Columbia Road and in a letter invited the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) to defend the disaster called the new Rapid Bus Plan.
Fenty writes, “Here is just 30 seconds of video which I took Oct. 21, and is representative of how the traffic now flows in the 1800 block of Columbia Rd. NW since the installation of your ‘Columbia Rd. Rapid Bus Project.’ The video shows a taxi making a U-turn in front of a bus, and then the cab, followed by the bus and a fire truck all drive westbound on Columbia Rd fully into the eastbound lane to get around two parked 18-wheeler delivery trucks parked in the westbound lane.
“It is completely unsafe, and it is just one example of the many ways in which it is so much more dangerous than what was here before. What you have done is criminal, and it is every bit the disaster that we told you it would be. It really is hard to imagine how it could be worse if you were maliciously making the street more congested and dangerous for all stakeholders.
“We request an onsite walk-through with you to defend to the community what you have done, and how you think it achieves the stated goals of the project, which was sold to the community as improving traffic efficiency and safety; or an immediate removal of the project before someone is seriously injured!”
Nick DelleDonne
October 23, 2024