WASHINGTON — There are two sides to every story and in this case – two different stances on protected bike lanes for Columbia Road in Northwest D.C. Columbia Road NW Bus Priority is a part of DDOT’s Bicycle Lane program that has built more than 100 miles of bike lanes in the District. In 2009, it began to install protected bike lanes, (PBLs) also known as cycle tracks or separate bike lanes.
“Don’t rip our neighborhood apart, it mostly works perfectly well. Come in and do some tweaks to make it safer,” the President of Kalorama Citizens Association, Denis James said.
“That’s amazing,” said Hope Bigda-Peyton, who lives nearby. “That would be so helpful.”
Hope Bigda-Petyon said DDOT's current plan to add protected bike lanes would make her feel safe. She said she commutes to work on her bike and to her friends’ houses.
“Just recently I’ve had a couple of minor accidents with other bicycles or trucks or other pedestrians when there’s not a protected bike lane,” Bigda-Petyon said.
The president of Kalorama Citizens Association says he's heard too many concerns from people who live here and own businesses. One of the biggest worries on his mind is the traffic slowing down.
“They’d only be one lane in East direction and if you’re behind a bus, you can’t go faster than the bus and there’s no room for you to go around the bus and if a firetruck or police car is behind the bus that’s how fast they can go too,” James said.
Another point on the list of concerns is the elimination of some bus stops in the heart of residential shopping.
“So, this will be removed,” James said. “You’ll have to go out into traffic to get onto a raised concrete platform.”
James also said several business owners along the business strip on Columbia Road have expressed concerns about this project too. He notes many of the places are small family-owned shops.
“I think it will be less safe with the design that they have offered,” Fleet Feet Owner, Shawn Fenty said. “It will harm businesses we’d lose half of the parking that we have in this community.”
Fenty says he and his business are advocates for fitness, health, and safety but this plan doesn't align with that.
“The way the neighborhood is set up now, it allows for a flexible use of space and people can make their way through and if everyone is patient and works with each other, we get through just fine,” Fenty explained. “I ride my bicycle to work just fine through this neighborhood every day.”
Both Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners Peter Wood and Jacke Falsechini say they hear those concerns but also push back.
“It’s really inefficient so they’re trying to balance the needs of people, wanting bus stops, close to their homes and not having one literally less than a block every other block so attempts to do that,” Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, Peter Woods said. “This is just an added bonus to the bike lanes that are already here just to make them so they’re safer to use.”
"We know that this is a high accident corridor for bikers and so we’re doing everything we can to try to make our neighborhood safer,” Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, Jake Faleschini said.
DDOT hasn’t released the final plan for these bike planes. Commissioner Faleschini said that should happen in June then DDOT would have a public meeting to explain it.
Meanwhile, the neighborhood offered this resolution that more than 50 people are in favor of, according to James:
"Now, Kalorama Citizens Association (KCA) urges DDOT to adopt the simple aspects of a true safety plan which will make Columbia Road safer for all users, instead of proceeding with its protected bike lane proposal:
- Instead of installing Protected Bike Lanes, DDOT should repave the roadway, which is safer for cyclists, motorists of all kinds, scooters and pedestrians;
- Additional safety measures like the pushbutton crosswalk lights which flash at the Champlain and Biltmore crossings. They could also be installed at 20th, 19th, Belmont, 17th and Quarry;
- Make [a] crosswalk from Columbia across to Kalorama Park a raised speed table to help protect the many children (and others) who cross there;
- Leave all existing parking in place with the exception that in a few locations, a space or two gets removed to allow the buses to pull in tight to the stop at the curb. This would also provide maximum safety for riders and other pedestrians who would not be asked to catch the bus out in the middle of traffic. This also allows other traffic to bypass the stopped bus.
- Allow buses to get a "head start" at selected traffic signals. [This has been done at U street at 15th St., NW, eastbound, for instance];
- Apply bright reflective color to [the] entirety of existing bike lanes;
- Don't create [a] northeast-bound bus lane, just install a left-turn single at the so-called "Little Harvard Street" that buses and all other traffic can use to more readily make their way from Columbia Road on towards Mt. Pleasant or Harvard Street, etc.;
- Do not move or eliminate any existing bus stops and keep them all on the public sidewalks. This is an obvious safety measure to protect pedestrians.
- Convert a reasonable amount of parking into loading zones in the densest commercial areas to stop trucks from double-parking;
- Enforce all traffic rules equally."
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