Friday Question of the Day

Thanks to Lisa for attending a meeting on the 15th St reconfiguration proposals. Lisa reports:

15th St NW – Make it a 2-way Street?

“Last night there was a presentation by DDOT about what to do with 15th St between Mass Ave and W St/Florida Ave/New Hampshire Ave intersection. Currently, it is a one-way, four-lane northbound street with timed lights, so cars and cabs can barrel down it without stopping, pretty much as fast as they want. Because of this – it is rare to see pedestrians on the sidewalks and bikers on the street. DDOT proposed several alternative plans for the street (see complete detail at http://www.ddot.dc.gov/ddot/cwp/view,a,1249,q,643030,ddotNav_GID,1586,ddotNav,%7C32399%7C.asp), including making it a two-way street. One of the four proposed alternatives included a 2-way cycle track like they have in Montreal, which more or less is a 2-way bike path on one side of the street, which looks pretty cool. Residents at the meeting were all over the place for a variety of reasons – some want to keep it a one-way street, and others are in favor of changing it to 2-way with bike lanes.

Long story short, there is rarely traffic and congestion on 15th St like you see on 16th and 14th streets. Maybe the road is being under-used. However, apparently there are about the same number of crashes on 15th as there are on 16th and 14th streets. So, what to do? DDOT is going to consider public comments and decide the fate of 15th St. If the timed lights change and bike lanes are added, I bet cab drivers won’t be too psyched, but the bikers will be pleased…”

So which proposal do you like best? Should they just leave it the way it is? Keep it one way but add bike lanes? Or make it two way?