[From our partners at Cleveland Park Smart Growth]
Following a horrific crash, our partners at Cleveland Park Smart Growth are urging DDOT to limit Connecticut Ave to four lanes and reinstate parking during rush hour, until the street is redesigned with protected bike lanes. The city hasn’t acted since ANC 3C passed a resolution last year urging DDOT to reinstate rush-hour parking to make the street safer.
Talking points:
Please lift the rush-hour parking restrictions on Connecticut Ave until the protected bike lanes are installed. This will help curb traffic speeds, and data and experience show it will not paralyze traffic flow and will have benefits beyond safety improvements:1) In January, DDOT showed us traffic counts from Nov 2022. At peak morning rush -hour, 8am, cars inbound were 33% fewer this past November than pre-pandemic (2,000 per hour vs 3,000 per hour).
2) Recent experience with a curb lane closure due to the Cleveland Park Streetscape project demonstrated that morning traffic still flowed without noticeable delays.
3) On top of the safety improvements, the lifting of rush-hour parking restrictions will allow more time for commercial loading and pick-up-drop-off for the businesses along the corridor. When bike lanes are installed there will be one-side parking 24/7. Unless DDOT intervenes, there is no curb access during rush-hour. This is an opportunity to help businesses today.
Thanks for all you do!