view-file   

Friday, March 25, 2022

Re: Notification for the Installation of Park Pl NW Protected Bike Lane, Park Rd One-Way Westbound Conversion

 Notice # 22-121-PSD

Dear Chairpersons Wray and Mansaray,

Pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Amendment Act of 2000” D.C. LAW 13-249 (48 DCR 3491 April 20, 2001), the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is required to give a written notice of our intent to modify traffic and /or parking requirements.  This letter is being forwarded to you for the purpose of notification and solicitation of comments on our intent to implement the following in your jurisdiction.

DDOT proposes to:

• Install a curb-side running Protected Bike Lane along 5^th St NW and Park Pl NW from Grant Circle south to Hobart St NW (see Exhibit 2 below).
• Add a parking lane on Park Pl NW from Rock Creek Church Road south to Irving St NW, replacing a travel lane.
• Add one tree box in the parking lane on the west side of Park Pl on the 3200 and 3300 blk of Park Pl NW (two tree box additions total, one per block).
• Convert Park Rd NW from two-way operations to one-way westbound operations between Georgia Ave NW and Park Pl NW.
• Replace the eastbound travel lane on Park Rd NW with a Resident Permit Parking Lane (see Exhibit 3 below).
• Add a counterflow bike lane to Park Rd NW for eastbound bike traffic (see Exhibit 3 below).
• Maintain all existing parking restrictions on 5^th St NW, Park Pl NW, and Park Rd NW.

This segment is an important step in expanding the protected bike lane network, now also used

by scooters and other personal mobility devices.  It will connect the Crosstown Cycletrack to points north and south along 5^th and Park Pl NW.  This follows from the 2016 Crosstown Multimodal Transportation Study, which recommended closing a major gap in the bike network by building a safe north and south bound bikeway along the Park Pl/5^th St and Warder/7^th St NW corridor. In 2017, DDOT initiated a project to conduct safety, traffic, parking analysis, and public outreach to determine the alignment for this bikeway. This plan was developed with extensive public and interagency input, including a public open house and pop-up event that demonstrated the proposed protected bike lane on Kenyon NW. ANC commissioners were invited to (and many attended) the public meeting and pop-up event. A full timeline of outreach events is below: 

• Public Open House (June 12, 2018)
• Pop-up Event (September 21, 2018)
• Parkview UNC (November 7, 2018)
• ANC 1A Public Meeting on November 11^th, 2020
• ANC 1A Transportation Committee Public Meeting on January 26^th,2021
• ANC 4C Public Meeting on February 10^th, 2021
• ANC 1A Transportation Committee Public Meeting on May 25^th, 2021
• ANC 1A Transportation Committee Public Meeting on September 28^th, 2021
• ANC 1A Transportation Committee Public Meeting on November 23^rd, 2021
• ANC 1A Transportation Committee Public Meeting on March 22^nd, 2022

We anticipate the following benefits:

• Safety enhancements for all road users based on the clear delineation of space for bicycles and cars, allowing each to move predictably and without conflict.
• Creates low-stress east-west connection for bicycles, filling in a gap in the District’s bicycle lane network.
• Safety enhancements for all road users from slower vehicular speeds and improved compliance with traffic control devices.
• Improved canopy coverage from new street trees which will improve heat island effects and stormwater mitigation by reducing pervious surface along the corridor.

All comments on this subject matter must be filed in writing, not later than Monday, May 9^th 2022, thirty (30) business days after the date of this notice, with the District Department of Transportation Planning and Sustainability Division, 250 M Street, SE, 5^th Floor, Washington, DC, 20003 or via email at aaron.goldbeck@dc.gov.  If you would like to check the status of this Notice of Intent (NOI), please visit DDOT’s website at http://ddot.dc.gov/service/ddot-notice-intent. If you are having any trouble accessing the NOI site or are unable to do so, please contact the DDOT Customer Service Clearinghouse at 202-671-2800.

Sincerely,

Aaron Goldbeck

Bicycle Program Specialist

Planning and Sustainability Division

Project Delivery Administration

Cc:       Hon. Brianne Nadeau, DC Councilmember, Ward 1

Hon. Janeese Lewis George, DC Councilmember, Ward 4

Rashida Brown, Commissioner ANC 1A10

Kent Boese, Commissioner ANC 1A08

Clara Haskell Botstein, Commissioner ANC 4C08

Nyasha Smith, Secretary to the Council of the District of Columbia

Anna Chamberlin, DDOT Associate Director

George Branyan, DDOT Active Transportation Branch Manager

Garrett Hennigan, WABA Community Organizer

Kelly Jeong-Olson, DDOT Community Engagement Manager

Migon Bowie, DDOT Ward 1 Community Engagement Specialist

Moises Del’Rosario, Ward 1 MOCRS Liaison

Anthony Mitchell, Ward 4 MOCRS Liaison

Oscar Montiel, Constituent Services Director for Councilmember Nadeau

Tamira Benitez, Constituent Services Director for Councilmember Lewis George