[Lincolnparkdc] Update on Kentucky Ave Advisory Bike Lane Project (Kentucky to Independence) Some revisions and a planned community meeting
David Morris
figaromorris at gmail.com
Thu Oct 22 12:15:40 EDT 2020
For the purposes of this listserv, it might be best to move the (entirely
legitimate) concerns about traffic around the park to a separate thread,
where they might gain more focused attention from decision-makers. This
thread is focused on the intersection described in its subject line.
David
On Thu, Oct 22, 2020 at 12:02 PM Sharon Raimo <SRaimo at stcoletta.org> wrote:
> A stop sign might help.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Oct 22, 2020, at 11:19 AM, Lucia DiVenere <lucia.divenere at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
> It would help a lot if the raised crosswalks were really raised. The one
> at 12th and ECap SE is so minor of a bump that cars and trucks hardly even
> notice. They fly right through.
>
> Higher bumps with appropriate signage would cause traffic to slow down
> significantly.
>
> On Thu, Oct 22, 2020 at 10:55 AM Sharon Raimo <SRaimo at stcoletta.org>
> wrote:
>
>> I agree with Jenni completely even though my husband and I are in our
>> 70’s. We raised kids here and we get it.
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Oct 21, 2020, at 11:44 PM, David Morris <figaromorris at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> First of all, Steve, thank you for your update. I am glad to hear some of
>> these many concerns are being taken seriously.
>>
>> Jeni raises an excellent point. What is the need for a bike lane on the
>> portion of Kentucky north of Independence when bikers could make a far
>> safer straight shot from an eventual lane on the south portion onto the
>> existing lane on 13th? They would cross only one street instead of two. Why
>> encourage bikers to cross both Independence and 13th when after
>> reaching the park they end up in the same area anyway?
>>
>> This is really the damning flaw in this plan. *It creates an even more
>> unsafe traffic pattern than the current one, which its many markings and
>> plastic posts are then needed to address.* That makes no sense at all,
>> neither financialy nor for traffic safety.
>>
>> Reconfigure the intersection to make it safer for all traffic
>> participants. That is needed. But don't create a needless bike lane that
>> exposes bikers to northbound traffic on 13th and clutters and degrades the
>> streetscape in the process.
>>
>> David
>> 13th St SE
>>
>> On Wed, Oct 21, 2020 at 10:48 PM Jeni Schoemaker <jaschoemaker at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Steve,
>>>
>>> I was unable to email my concerns about the new plans earlier but wanted
>>> to voice a concern that my family and I have. With three little children,
>>> the thought of not being able to park on my own street terrifies me. It’s
>>> bad enough lugging an infant and two children from wherever I park on my
>>> street but now my neighbors are saying that they will all get handicapped
>>> parking spots for all of them because they are old which will leave nothing
>>> for our family. Independence is extremely difficult to park on because you
>>> can’t park there consistently due to street cleaning and most importantly,
>>> getting a child out of a car seat is virtually impossible. I can’t tell you
>>> how many times cars have honked at me/yelled at me for having my car door
>>> open so I could take my child in or out of their car seat. I’m also not
>>> sure how many families will use an exterior bike lane anyways. We typically
>>> ride in the side walks because we don’t feel safe in the bike lanes unless
>>> they are between sidewalks. I would be all for creating bike lanes that are
>>> protected.
>>>
>>> If the city is concerned for bikers (we are a biking family) and
>>> pedestrians, perhaps they should look at the loop around Lincoln park. I
>>> can’t even count the number of times that I have almost been hit trying to
>>> cross the street to or from the park. The worst was when I was crossing
>>> with a stroller and my daughter on a scooter who was 4 at the time. Someone
>>> wanted to make the light and missed my daughter by near inches. People got
>>> out of their cars screaming at the car that almost hit her (not her fault)
>>> and the man apologized but what is an apology going to do. He could have
>>> killed her. Similar experiences occurred with us weekly when my daughter
>>> attended Appletree. I have never had an issue with crossing the street by
>>> my house and I cross the street 10 or more times a day. I also bike often
>>> and again, we have never had an issue here but have had numerous issues
>>> around the park and on east Capitol. People have been hit walking and on
>>> bikes around the park and nothing has been done yet money and time is being
>>> waisted on an intersection that doesn’t have any issues. I’m also perplexed
>>> on why there would be a need for a bike lane going north on Kentucky. Once
>>> you get to the end of the street you can only take a right and 13th already
>>> has a bike lane. That just seems like a waist of money and time. I rarely
>>> see anyone even bike that direction on Kentucky and the only people who
>>> even drive that direction on Kentucky are people that live on that side of
>>> the street since it ends on a one way street. I would hope that the city
>>> would actually be looking at statistics rather then arbitrarily picking an
>>> intersection. Ask the people who live here about what needs to be fixed and
>>> I’m sure no one will say that there are issues with speeding on our street
>>> but perhaps on independence or the amount of people who drive the wrong
>>> direction down 13th.
>>>
>>> Jeni Schoemaker
>>> 146 13th SE
>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/146+13th+SE?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>> On Oct 21, 2020, at 7:51 PM, Holtzman, Steve (SMD 6B05) <6B05 at anc.dc.gov>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> Neighbors,
>>>
>>> To give you an update on where things stand with the Kentucky Avenue
>>> Advisory Bike Lane project ( as it pertains to 100 blocks of Kentucky, 13th
>>> and adjacent areas of Independence). While the (extended) public comment
>>> period ends tomorrow, two important developments of note in the last few
>>> days.
>>>
>>> 1. *There will be some changes in the design.* I know that for many,
>>> they won't be sufficient to meet your concerns.. However, Will Handsfield
>>> and his team are listening to what you are saying and are trying, within
>>> parameters of their project objectives, to adapt to a range of resident
>>> comments. I had a 2 hour meeting with Will last thursday and tried to
>>> underline many of the specific issues that residents of Kentucky and 13th
>>> had raised.But, more importantly,last week, by my rough count, 126
>>> thoughtful, detailed emails (from 37 households) were sent by all of you,
>>> with at least 40 sent or copied to Will as well as to Councilmember Allen.
>>> Last friday the DDOT team sat down to review the design and make efforts
>>> to accommodate some of the concerns raised by a multitude of
>>> residents.Three main things:
>>> 1. Numbers of parking spaces affected have been reduced. But,
>>> there are still a good number of losses remaining.(see pasted emails from
>>> Will below)
>>> 2. The number of flexi-posts to be installed has been cut in
>>> half. I don't have a good understanding of the esthetics of how they are
>>> doing this, i.e., interspacing flexposts with low profile "rubber wheel
>>> stops".
>>> 3. In response to several of your comments, the plan now
>>> includes installation of some additional flexposts at the western corner of
>>> East Capitol and Kentucky with the objective of trying to slow down some of
>>> the vehicles turning right onto Kentucky. (I don't know how many)
>>> 2. *the full diagrams of the adjusted design will not be ready until
>>> the end of next week* and will be shared as soon as we get them..
>>> However, I've pasted ,below this email, two emails from Will with
>>> preliminary information. One to me summarizing the flex-posts and some
>>> other aspects of their revisions. A more extensive one to Commissioner
>>> Oldenburg which includes a rough chart of the Independence Intersection and
>>> highlights (in red) the diagonal sidewalk added to the project two weeks
>>> ago (from 13th & Kentucky to eastside of 13th near Independence). The email
>>> also gives, based on the new adaptations, a rundown of parking spaces
>>> affected overall in the Independence /Kentucky /13th intersection area.
>>> Note this email does contains a number of bullet points which pertain to
>>> other segments of Kentucky Avenue and not to this area.
>>> 3. *We propose holding a virtual, localized commmunity meeting soon
>>> after the diagrams are available. Date not set yet, but sometime in first
>>> week of November. *While the Notice of Intent (NOI) period
>>> technically closes this thursday Oct 23, Will Handsfield has agreed to meet
>>> with residents of the 100 blocks of Kentucky and 13th St SE and adjacent
>>> Independence Ave SE residents in a zoom meeting to listen to your
>>> views, answer questions and dialogue with all of you. I asked him
>>> about the NOI deadline. *He noted that regardless of cutoff dates
>>> for NOI comments, he has the latitude as project manager to take on
>>> comments at any stage and is ready to do so.* Tom Woteki has agreed
>>> to host the meeting under the rubric of the Lincoln Park Listserv and post
>>> an invitation on the listserv when we get an exact date and agenda in the
>>> next few days. If that list leaves any gaps in household coverage, I'm
>>> hoping that all of you will also share the invitation with other neighbors
>>> who live in close proximity.
>>>
>>> I spent much of last night rereading all of your emails from the last
>>> week and the ones sent to Will after the first notice in early September. I
>>> do have a few observations I'd like to make but I'll do that in another
>>> email later tonight or tomorrow. Two quick things now. First, to be clear,
>>> I am not evaluating the revisions, only sharing them. Second, it's
>>> important to stress that we all share a common objective of making the
>>> roads safer for pedestrians, bicycles and cars. The goal of safety, as
>>> David Morris put it last week, is not the issue, it is the design for
>>> how to achieve it.( I would add to that... and ensuring an informed and
>>> inclusive dialogue on the costs and benefits which stem from policy
>>> decisions and transparently weighing the two against one another). In
>>> my view, for what it's worth, that's the most productive base for
>>> discussion to revolve around.
>>>
>>> Over the next few days, we'll work out a draft agenda for the meeting
>>> and send around for comments, suggestions. My thought was to propose a date
>>> soon after the new diagrams are available. Sunday November 1 (either
>>> afternoon or early evening) or November 5th. Any views?
>>>
>>> best,
>>>
>>> Steve
>>>
>>> Steve Holtzman, 6B05
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> *From:*Handsfield, Will (DDOT) <William.Handsfield2 at dc.gov>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *Sent:Friday, October 16, 2020 12:55 PM To:Holtzman, Steve (SMD 6B05)
>>> <6B05 at anc.dc.gov <6B05 at anc.dc.gov>> Subject:RE: Fyi latest *
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *We reduced the amount by more than half from the existing plan, but I
>>> don’t have an exact count. We will interspace some rubber wheel stops with
>>> the flex posts to create a virtual curb line, but having the vertical
>>> element is important to guide drivers around this new traffic feature. If
>>> it works, we can explore making the new curb lines permanent in the 2 – 4
>>> year timescale, but we first need to establish that pattern with safe
>>> equipment, and the flex post is tried and true at this very purpose. We
>>> also added the crosswalk we discussed, reduced the parking change on the SB
>>> lane north of Independence, and tightened up the parking set backs on NB
>>> 13th, those will be in the next drawing.*
>>>
>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/55+M+Street+SE,+Suite+500+%0D%0A+Washington,+DC+20003?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>
>>>
>>> *Will Handsfield, AICP Bicycle Program Specialist*
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *Planning & Sustainability Division District Department of
>>> Transportation 55 M Street SE, Suite 500
>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/55+M+Street+SE,+Suite+500+%0D%0AWashington,+DC+20003?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>> Washington, DC 20003
>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/55+M+Street+SE,+Suite+500+%0D%0AWashington,+DC+20003?entry=gmail&source=g>*
>>>
>>> *o. 202.671.3378*
>>>
>>>
>>> *m. 202.705.7845 e.will.handsfield at dc.gov <will.handsfield at dc.gov>*
>>>
>>> *w.ddot.dc.gov <http://ddot.dc.gov/>*
>>>
>>>
>>> *----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*
>>>
>>> *From:*Handsfield, Will (DDOT) <William.Handsfield2 at dc.gov>
>>>
>>> *Sent:*Friday, October 16, 2020 4:31 PM
>>> *To:*Oldenburg, Kirsten (SMD 6B04) <6B04 at anc.dc.gov>
>>> *Subject:*RE: Kentucky Ave Bike Lanes & Parking
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hey Kirsten,
>>>
>>>
>>> I just had a meeting this afternoon to revise the plan, and try and
>>> recover as much parking as possible while still meeting the DEM rules. We
>>> did get a few back. Here is my best estimate of spaces (22 feet long in
>>> our planning environment):
>>>
>>>
>>> - Removing 3 spaces on the east side and half a space on the west
>>> side of 13thwhere a new crosswalk will be installed as shown:
>>> <pastedImagebase640.png>
>>> - Removing 1.5 spaces (33’) from the west side of Kentucky south of
>>> Independence – these spaces are currently too close to the crosswalks, and
>>> our design engineers were in unanimous agreement that these spaces are
>>> “within” the intersection and should not be retained.
>>> - Removing 2 spaces (45’) from the west side of 13th/Kentucky south
>>> of Independence – same reasoning as above, they are both too close to
>>> existing crosswalks under our design and engineering manual (DEM) regs, and
>>> they are within the intersection.
>>> - The remaining “spaces” altered or reduced in the corridor are
>>> because they are too close to crosswalks under the DEM regs on this topic.
>>>
>>>
>>> - We will reduce the number of flex posts, and alternate flex posts
>>> and rubber wheel stops at 13th/Indy/KY in order to both establish
>>> this new pattern while reducing total flex posts used.
>>> - We will add flex posts at East Capitol to try and reduce the speed
>>> at which people turn onto Kentucky.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> For the latest information on the District Government’s response to
>>> COVID-19 (Coronavirus), please visit coronavirus.dc.gov.
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