In a discussion last night, Nov. 12, at the Transportation Town Hall in Ward 7, Sharon Kershbaum, director of the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) reported to an overflow crowd that the mammoth East Capitol Street improvement project will not have a bike lane. She said the federal government will not allow federal money to be spent on bike lanes. It is the first public statement from a DC official to confirm recent reports of federal opposition to road designs with bike lanes.
Ward 7 Councilmember Wendell Felder began the session trying to limit the discussion to the East Capitol St. project, but other compelling issues like road design, traffic congestion, bus service and bike lanes surfaced. A common complaint voiced by Barbara Morgan was that removing traffic lanes is dangerous. She described an incident where a fire truck could not get to a fire on Minnesota Avenue because of the traffic congestion after DDOT had removed a traffic lane. Shamika Smith objected to removing traffic lanes and parking on busy streets.
Repeatedly attendees asked DDOT to visit the site in a walking or riding tour with neighbors because the new designs do not meet the needs of the community. DDOT presenter Williams explained that the project would be reviewed one year after it’s installed, but Sherice Muhammad said it would be better to fix the plan before installation, rather than dig it up afterwards. Only one attendee said used Metro bus to get to the meeting. Laura Richards complained that Anacostia is notorious for poor bus service, so that residents who try to get along without a car are badly served by DC’s public service alternative.
More than one comment was that too much time was devoted to a dense presentation difficult to follow while those in the attendance who wanted to speak were limited to one minute. One said we could do a better with AI simulation.
Last night’s Town Hall serves to begin a month of public workshops on DC’s new Strategic Bikeways Plan, which will start tonight and run through December 11 with a meeting in each Ward. Ward 4 Public Workshop, will be held tonight, Thurs., November 13, 6–8 pm, at Raymond Recreation Center, 3725 10th Street NW. Register here. https://bikelanes.ddot.dc.gov/pages/strategicbikeplan
Schedule of Ward Workshops
· Thurs., November 13, Ward 4 Public Workshop, , 6–8 pm, Raymond Recreation Center, 3725 10th Street NW
- Monday, November 17, Ward 8 Public Workshop, 6–8 pm, RISE Demonstration Center, 2739 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE
- Thursday, November 20, Ward 2 Public Workshop, 6–8 pm, MLK Library, 901 G Street NW
- Tuesday, December 2, Ward 1 Public Workshop, 6–8 pm, St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church, 1525 Newton Street NW
- Wednesday, December 3, Ward 6 Public Workshop, 6–8 pm, Southwest Library, 900 Wesley Place SW
- Tuesday, December 9, Ward 5, 6-8 pm, https://bikelanes.ddot.dc.gov/pages/strategicbikeplan Bunker Hill Elementary,1401 Michigan Avenue NE.
- Wednesday, December 10, Ward 3 Public Workshop, 6–8 pm, UDC, 4000 Connecticut Avenue NW
- Thursday, December 11, Ward 7 Public Workshop, 6–8 pm, Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church, 3000 Pennsylvania Avenue SE.
DCSafeStreetsCoalition.org protests the removal of traffic lanes and the installation of protected bike lanes. We champion bike regulation and world class public transit.
Nick DelleDonne
703 929 6656
11-13-25