Allison St. - Proposed resolution & final reminder to share input
Plus - special guest at ANC 4D's meeting this month
All,
I wanted to share two quick transportation-related updates with you all, and ask you to chime in with input if you have any. First…
DDOT’s proposal to redirect Allison St. to be one-way between Kansas Ave. and Georgia Ave. NW
I’ve previously covered the challenges of the Kansas / 8th / Allison intersection here, and DDOT’s first proposal to improve this intersection via re-directing Allison St. traffic here and here. Below I’ll recap the problem, describe the draft resolution I plan to consider at ANC 4D’s meeting next week, and remind readers to please, please chime in with feedback, by the end of the week if possible.
To recap, as part of an effort to improve safety at this notoriously stressful intersection, DDOT proposes to make Allison St. NW one-way between Kansas Ave. and Georgia Ave. NW. This will eliminate one of the major conflicts at the intersection - between southbound traffic on 8th St. NW and eastbound traffic on Allison St. NW, who currently cannot see each other without entering the intersection. It will also make the intersection slightly less complicated, by ensuring that traffic is entering it from four directions rather than five.
To date, I (and DDOT) have heard some support from residents, but we have also heard concerns from residents about this proposal, which tend to fall into two groups of concerns:
That this proposal doesn’t do enough to fix the very real safety problems at the intersection, or
That this proposal doesn’t adopt the specific solutions that some residents believe would best address the problems at the intersection
To the first set of concerns, I wholeheartedly agree. The proposal to make Allison St. one-way away from the intersection does not address all the concerns that residents (including me) have about this intersection. Residents who use this intersection have been advocating for many years for safety improvements here, and making Allison St. one-way is not a silver bullet for addressing all those concerns.
Fortunately, as DDOT told ANC 4D last month, the agency is taking seriously the concerns about the design at this intersection, and plans to design and propose additional improvements to this intersection in coming months that will further improve safety. In particular, DDOT has said that it plans to propose ways to shorten crosswalks and extend curbs in the intersection to improve pedestrian safety. ANC 4D looks forward to reviewing DDOT’s proposals when they are ready.
To my mind, the important question right now is not whether the proposal to reroute Allison St. is sufficient to fix all the problems at this intersection - it’s not. It’s a question of whether DDOT’s proposal makes the intersection safer, even if there is more work to do. To date, my inclination has been to agree with DDOT that the proposal is a step in the right direction. I believe eliminating one of the most significant visibility challenges in the intersection and reducing the intersection’s complexity will make it safer for all road users to traverse, even if I also think there is more to be done. As somebody who regularly enters this intersection southbound on 8th St., I am very confident that making Allison St. one-way westbound from the intersection will reduce (not eliminate) the chances that I am involved in a crash in the intersection.
With that in mind, I have drafted a proposed resolution for ANC 4D that reminds DDOT of the safety challenges at this intersection, and provides measured support for DDOT’s proposal while re-iterating that only re-routing traffic on Allison St. would not be responsive to community concerns, suggesting that DDOT think creatively and expansively about how to harden/signpost a new Allison St. to minimize driver confusion, and asking DDOT to consider only making Allison St. one-way for one block (between 8th and 9th St., but not between 9th and Georgia), in order to preserve the safe signalized crossing at Georgia Ave. and reduce confusion for drivers on Georgia Ave.
It is really important that I and DDOT hear from you about this plan. Please share your feedback with me at 4D06@anc.dc.gov and with DDOT at kornelius.anderson@dc.gov. The sooner you can get input to us (especially this week!) the better, especially since ANC 4D will be considering this resolution at our next meeting on May 15. The deadline to submit comments to DDOT is May 20.
The other set of criticisms from residents has been that their specific proposals for how to redesign the intersection have not been adopted. Here, my reaction is mostly that there are many ways to skin a cat; some residents would like to see a traffic light at the intersection, some residents would like to see a tiny roundabout, some residents would like to see a hardened median on Kansas Ave that prevents certain turns within the intersection. I think all of these ideas would have pros and cons, and some may be more or less feasible than others. DDOT’s current proposals - to redirect traffic one-way in the short-term, and shorten crosswalks and extend curbs in the medium-term (all things that ANC 4D has previously suggested to DDOT) - are proposals that I feel confident will improve safety at the intersection, and that I know DDOT’s engineers believe to be viable interventions. While there may be additional other changes to the intersection that could improve safety, my inclination is to let DDOT complete and implement its redesign process rather than oppose their efforts from the start because they don’t undertake one specific intervention that I favor.
DDOT Acting Director Kershbaum to attend ANC 4D’s May 15 meeting
That’s mostly it, that’s the update. We expect Acting Director Kershbaum will briefly present to ANC 4D about DDOT’s priorities in the upcoming budget, and take some limited set of questions from ANC 4D Commissioners & residents. Please join us if you would like to hear from her! I personally hope to ask Director Kershbaum about traffic safety in Sherman Circle, as well as the broader retrenchment within DDOT on safe infrastructure for bicycle traffic within the District and what that means for families who choose to get around the District by bike.
Thank you as always for your time and energy, and look forward to hearing from you all!