Thanks to a reader for passing on:
“DDOT has proposed their plans for “fixing” the Dave Thomas Circle at Florida/New York/Eckington Place. They presented their plans on Tuesday night in NOMA and are looking for the public’s feedback by April 21st.”
Given how maddening Dave Thomas Circle has become – which of the five proposals below do you like best?
Which do you think they’ll go with?
Check out all the proposals after the jump. Read More
11th and Girard St, NW
“Dear PoPville,
I was happy to read about the positive response from emergency workers and bystanders after the four-car accident at 11th and Girard yesterday. As someone who lives nearby I find myself wondering why the obvious underlying cause of most accidents at this problematic intersection hasn’t been addressed: the lack of a four-way stop.
This is the only intersection on this stretch of 11th where there’s not a four-way stop or traffic light, which causes confusion for drivers going in all directions. Drivers on 11th will sometimes anticipate a stop sign that isn’t there and get rear-ended, and drivers crossing on Girard think there’s a four-way stop and often just drive out into oncoming traffic. There are frequent fender benders, near misses involving cars/cyclists/pedestrians, and every several months a major accident like the one yesterday. A car flipped at this intersection just this past November.
It’s not as if adding a four-way stop would have some major effect on traffic flow since there are lights or stop signs on every other block, and installing one seems like it must be cheaper than repeatedly sending emergency response teams.
I’ve put in a request for a new stop sign using DC’s service request site under Sign New Investigation. Has anyone used that service with any success? Any other advice on getting DDOT to install stop signs at dangerous and accident-prone intersections?”
Photo by PoPville flickr user Sandra Sitar
“Dear PoPville,
I just moved back to the area and am lucky enough to have my car. I live right in between DuPont, Logan, and U street. I’m very grateful to have my own method of transportation to get around, however: my frustration with the traffic and street layouts in this city are insurmountable. I get frustrated even just thinking about it, my nerves are totally shot every time I get in the car. Instead of this just being an unhelpful rant, I’ve thought a lot about this post and instead want to write about not only the problems, but possible solutions.
Lack of leading green arrows at traffic lights Read More
“Dear PoPville,
Can you ask your readers if they have any experience with the hazards of an intersection near the Convention Center? Attached is a photo looking across the intersection as a driver faces west from Mt. Vernon Place, NW (in front of the convention center), across 9th St. NW towards Massachusetts Ave. NW.
The design of the intersection forces two lanes of traffic to make a relatively sharp right onto Massachusetts Ave. as they cross 9th Avenue. The intersection narrows considerably at the turn (in fact the two lanes almost appear to narrow to one lane of traffic).
Recently, a driver of a car to the left of me crowded my lane in an effort to avoid cars coming in the opposite direction; I moved my car to the right, hit the curb, and slashed both my tires. I stopped at the Marriott Marquis and the employees there told me that the exact same thing happens at least once, and often twice, a week. This seems like a disaster waiting to happen, especially for pedestrians waiting on the northwest side.
Feedback would be helpful for me to forward to DDOT.”
Dysfunction Junction chronicles the most forlorn, baffling, and wonderful crossroads of our fair city. The column is written by Ben Ball, a transportation nerd in his spare time. He lives in LeDroit Park. Ben previously wrote about Florida/U St and 7th St/Georgia Ave.
This stretch of highway is proof positive that the inner loop was a terrible idea. Not only does it slice poor old Southeast in two, but the signage when you come in from Virginia is atrociously misleading. If you’ve made it to exit six, you’ve already had to make several rapid fire decisions with little or no warning. (Left exit to 14th St! Right exit to 12th St!) Then the fun begins.
At exit six, you have a hugely complex and counterintuitive decision to make. Option one is C Street SW/The House/US Capitol. C Street SW and the House of Representatives are of course on opposite sides of the Capitol building. It might make sense if that was the only option. But then there’s option two – 395 North/D Street NW/US Senate. D Street NW and the Senate are also on opposite sides of the Capitol building. Shouldn’t C Street SW and the Senate be on the same exit? And shouldn’t D Street NW and the House be on the other exit? It just doesn’t make sense. Before my head explodes, let me also point out that the House, Senate, and Capitol all refer to the same building. Read More
