DDOT’s Eye Street SE Redesign Meeting tomorrow night

Posted on December 14, 2016 by allwalksdc

Proposed re-arrangement of lanes

From WashCycle:

I St. SE Redesign Meeting with DDOT – Please attend!

Wednesday, December 14th at 6:30PM at 70 Capitol Yards Lobby

Does I St. between NJ Ave. and S. Capitol St. drive you crazy? Are you frustrated with the unsafe pedestrian crosswalk, double-parked cars in the bike lanes, limited visibility from the garages, broken stop signs, lack of a traffic light, and more? This is your chance to review DDOT’s proposed changes, give specific feedback, and make sure that your concerns are addressed. You walk, bike, and drive this street every day. It’s vital that you attend and be a part of the solution.

A Safer Bike Lane on Eye St. between NJ Ave. & S. Capitol St.
DDOT is proposing switching the location of the bike lane and the parking lane. If you look at the attached drawing, the new sequence would be sidewalk, bike lane, parking lane, driving lanes, parking lane, bike lane, sidewalk.

Vox Reports US Falling Behind Peer Countries in Preventing Traffic Fatalities

Posted on November 30, 2016 by allwalksdc

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Figure via Vox

A Vox Media article reports that the US is falling behind its peer countries in preventing traffic fatalities. Low gas prices are thought to be responsible for a recent increase in US traffic fatalities from the 2012 low of 33,500. Interesting, research suggests distracted driving has not increased in recent years.

The article claims that countries with the lowest fatality rates:

a) live more compactly,
b) design roads to favor more vulnerable users such as bikers and pedestrians, and
c) enact laws and regulations that also favor these vulnerable road users.

The article cites DC as an example of an American city making some changes to reduce our traffic fatality rate, such as providing designated space for bicycling, which has an added benefit of slowing down car traffic. Speed plays a particular role in fatalities, as shown in the following graphic.

via #Love30 Canada

But US engineering standards still promote wide, straight streets that encourage high speeds, even in cities where children play and people walk to get to where they’re going.

DC has already lost 9 pedestrians on our streets this year, and more must be done to slow down vehicle traffic and provide safe places for people to walk or roll and to cross streets.

Ward 7 Livability Study Continues This Saturday

Posted on November 16, 2016 by allwalksdc

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DDOT will host its 2^nd public workshop in Ward 7 for the Far Southeast III Livability Study on Saturday, November 19^th from 10:00am-12:00pm. The purpose of this 2^nd workshop is to get feedback from the public about transportation improvements planned for the study area. Please share your desire for better pedestrian spaces!

When: Saturday, November 19, 2016, 10:00am-12:00pm
Where: Plummer Elementary School
4601 Texas Avenue SE, Washington DC 20019 Stay connected via the project website!

Neighborhoods in the Far Southeast III study area include Fort Dupont, Fort Davis, Twining, Greenway, Benning Heights, Civic Betterment, Benning Ridge, Marshall Heights, and Capitol View.

Safety Doesn’t Mean Pedestrian-Shaming

Posted on November 14, 2016 by allwalksdc

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Every year there are more and more cars on the streets of cities. To avoid chaos and accidents, special traffic rules have been developed. If you are writing an essay on pedestrian responsibilities and protecting their rights, but you have run out of ideas, you can always ask the write my essay service for help. Most authors have master's degrees in their fields, and there are Ph.D. cadres and academics who serve clients in graduate school and professional school.

The rights of pedestrians are a very important issue that should be given maximum attention. To make your study tasks less distracting, you can transfer their completion to the best essay helper website. They have created a separate button on the website so that visitors can easily find reviews left by previous customers. Here you can find reviews not only about finished articles but also about the whole team.

Being a pedestrian is a big responsibility. Road traffic is a complex process, but its safety depends on the actions of each person, and therefore on you. You must strictly follow the rules of the road. Road safety is a huge set of measures that ultimately ensure the safety of all road users. The correct road behavior for both pedestrians and drivers is very important, and an essay writer service can help with writing an essay on this or a related topic. If the client is not satisfied with the quality of the paper, he can request an unlimited revision within ten days of the essay being approved. A safety campaign by the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board calls attention to the risks of dangerous driving, but sometimes it puts the blame in the wrong place, implying that pedestrians must wear special reflective clothing if they don’t want to be killed while walking:

On Twitter, DC resident Colin Browne pointed out the wrong-headedness of focusing on pedestrian behavior when cars hit pedestrians:

Thanks, Colin! We agree.

Have Your Say in DC’s Comprehensive Plan Monday!

Posted on November 11, 2016 by allwalksdc

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The DC Office of Planning (OP) is amending the District’s Comprehensive Plan, a 20-year framework that guides future growth and development in the city and shapes the places we live, work, shop, and play. OP launched the second amendment cycle to the Comprehensive Plan this year to ensure that the Plan remains responsive to the needs of the community.

Want more walkable neighborhoods? The last chance to give your input is coming up on November 14th. Don’t forget to RSVP.

When: November 14 (6 pm-8:30 pm)
Where: Luke C. Moore High School, 1001 Monroe Street NE
Getting there: The Brookland Metro station is closed for SafeTrack, so try buses, bikes, cab or carshare.

You can also share your ideas in the

DDOT Begins Safety Act Data Disclosures

Posted on November 9, 2016 by allwalksdc

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We are happy to report that the DC Department of Transportation has begun taking steps to implement the new requirements of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Amendment Act of 2016, which became law on October 8.

Among other things, the new law requires DDOT to publish a weekly report on its website showing public space permits issued for construction projects and other activities that would block a street, sidewalk, bike lane, or bike path in DC.

An interactive map (pictured above) that shows locations where such blockages occur is up and running on the DDOT website https://geospatial.dcgis.dc.gov/templates/dcfinder/s2.html?appid=a17962c8f8554e469697324c736c9505

The map went online in August, according to Michelle Evans Phipps, a communications specialist with DDOT. “It’s updated automatically every day,” she told All Walks DC.

Collision Data Disclosures

The new law also mandates that DDOT publish monthly reports with information about vehicle collisions, including when and where the collision occurred, the number of people killed or injured, and why the collision occurred.

The intent of the provisions is to allow DDOT, with citizen input, to establish and make improvements at bicycle and pedestrian “priority areas,” meaning those areas with high volume vehicular-pedestrian-bicycle traffic and collisions.

Jonathan M. Rogers, a policy analyst in the DDOT director’s office, told All Walks DC that DDOT will soon begin publishing these reports.

However, he said the department first needs to make sure it does not violate health privacy act requirements when it discloses certain personal information about victims. “We’ll continue to publish the crash and violation data in the open data format in the meantime,” he said. The information buyessay is available at https://opendata.dc.gov/

All Walks DC was part of a 15-member working group that advised DC Council Member Mary Cheh, a chief sponsor of the safety measure, on aspects of the proposed legislation, which was introduced in September 2015.

Other provisions in the law include:

integration of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure throughout the District in a “Complete Streets Policy”
taxi and vehicle-for-hire instruction, updating such services on their obligations not to block pedestrian and bicycle activity
a new traffic offense for aggressive driving
a program for individuals convicted of drunk driving that could result in the installation of an ignition interlock device in their vehicle for repeated violations
creation of a Crash Review Task Force to review every crash handled by the Metropolitan Police Department’s Major Crash Unit and recommend changes to DC law or policies to reduce the number of crashes.