DC Safe Streets Coalition: Pause DC Rogue Bike Plans
17th St. Bike Plan – The Worst in DC after 4 Years
Council Oversight Hearings Today
The 17th St. Bike Plan in Dupont Circle is the worst plan in the city, and while it is generally recognized to be an impossible mess, the city seems incapable of fixing it. 17th St. is a congested commercial stretch where deliveries are constant, where trucks park and unload cargo in the intersections, and where, half a block from an elementary school, road users of every kind are at risk. That is not safe. That is not a plan.
The Dupont Circle Citizens Association overwhelmingly passed a resolution two years ago asking the city to remove the Protected Bike Lane. The spokesman for Dupont Circle Main Streets, an avid biker, noted that the bike lane was hardly used and should be removed. The owner of the hardware store on 17th St., which has lost all of its street parking, says there isn’t room on 17th St. for everything.
Last year at this hearing, Council member Brooke Pinto complained that after three years, deliveries were a problem. The Director of DDOT responded that he knew. Today no changes have been made.
Last week, we asked Laura McNeil, DDOT’s freight project manager, about deliveries on 17th St. Ms McNeil was the first project manager for the 17th St Bike Plan. She said it takes a while to work out the problems. It’s been four years. How much time does it take?
At a recent ANC meeting, considering the bike plan for M St., SW, Bike Plan Manager Will Handsfield speculated that maybe in 20 years, delivery contractors will make deliveries with smaller trucks. Really? Is that your plan? Do delivery contractors know you are waiting for them to invest in a new fleet of trucks? Are we all waiting for something that may never happen?
The last manager of the 17th St. Bike Plan, Regina Arlotto, has not responded to the resolution of the Dupont Circle Citizens Association to remove the protected bike lane. At a recent public meeting, she insisted she was not responsible for the problems on 17th St. because she was the last project manager.
The lessons we take from this are:
Lesson 1. DDOT is incapable of recognizing a mistake and is unwilling to fix it. Higher-level management must be held accountable.
Lesson 2. While we want to provide safe passage for bikers, there are many alternate routes in DC, and DDOT refuses to consider them. Not every street needs a bike lane.
Lesson 3. Protected Bike Lanes, which provide dedicated space for bikes, are not suitable for congested, commercial, urban streets.
DC Safe Streets Coalition calls for a pause in DC bike plans and a comprehensive review of the program. DC needs a Town Hall on Bike Lanes to inform the public and engage with the community on what amounts to a radical change in city traffic. We never asked for this. We never authorized it. This is a rogue program.
Nick DelleDonne
DC Safe Streets Coalition
703 929 6656
Feb. 9, 2024