dysfunction junction

When driving East/West on Upshur – Which is the proper way to make a left turn?

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

I had been meaning to email you to ask about left hand turns because it’s been bugging me for months. Someone posted a question about this on Greater Petworth the other day, and the community seems pretty divided about the issue. The fact that drivers can’t agree makes it very dangerous.

I went through the DMV Driver’s Manual and couldn’t find anything about it. I tried to find a place to ask a question on the DMV’s website, but the pulldown menu options didn’t match what I needed.

P.S. I think it’s the top option!”

“no signage until the merge, which has caused drivers to run over the white street markers”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

John McCormack Rd. NE, near Catholic University, has been changed from 2 ways to 1 way without proper signage and no notice that I am aware of. The avenue has become a one-way towards Michigan Ave. NE. There is no signage until the merge, which has caused drivers to run over the white street markers in order to enter Michigan Ave.NE; (more…)

“would also love for somebody (DDOT, ANC, somebody?) to realize that the current signage (or lack thereof) is unhelpful.”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

On one end of Alaska Ave in NW DC, it intersects 16th St; on the other, it briefly merges with Kalmia Rd, then intersects Georgia Ave. there are arrows painted at each of these two ends–and i’ve tried to draw what they look like. Over the past few years I’ve asked my neighbors what those painted arrows on Kalmia mean, and I’ve gotten a variety of answers. how do you interpret them? (more…)

“terrible intersection design at Georgia Ave and Park Rd NW”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

Can we please discuss the terrible intersection design at Georgia Ave and Park Rd NW? The signage and signals make it so unclear what drivers should do and I witness daily road rage incidents because of it.

Are drivers supposed to come to a complete stop after turning onto Georgia Ave since they are immediately presented with a red light and you typically aren’t allowed to turn left across traffic on a red? Some drivers come to an immediate stop once they turn right onto Georgia Ave, which angers drivers behind them, and I’ve seen some of those angry drivers speed around the stopped cars (more…)

“The light changes in 9 seconds”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

Anyone who has ever driven down Park Rd NW knows there is a chronic back up between 14 and 16 St NW due to the Pine St NW light. The light changes in 9 seconds (I’m not joking!!) and causes a ridiculous back up. How can we have it changed to a different time to promote traffic flow?!

“Yet another DC Traffic Question”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

Another Capitol Hill oddity is right off Stanton Park. The right turn off of C St NE: is it two turn lanes divided by a bike lane, or just one lane? If you want to turn right onto 6th Street NE and then an immediate left onto Maryland (see the red dashed line below), which lane should you turn from? (more…)

14th and U: “The police officer was YELLING at pedestrians not to cross, even when we had the light, so that she could let cars turn left”

By Prince Of Petworth


14th and U Street, NW

“Dear PoPville,

Wondering if you know what’s happening at 14th and U. We used to have a turn signal there. It was removed a while back.

Now there is regularly a police officer there directing traffic. Last Saturday, I was out running errands by foot. The police officer was YELLING at pedestrians not to cross, even when we had the light, so that she could let cars turn left. It wasn’t particularly backed up. It meant that a lot of people were confused about whether they could cross and would then try to run while she was letting people go. It was a hot mess.

This is a highly trafficked pedestrian area. Why is DDOT prioritizing car traffic there? If they want people to cross safely and drivers to turn left safely, this is not a good solution. Maybe we need that fancy intersection they have in Chinatown.” Ed. Note: There’s also a barnes dance crossing in Columbia Heights. Not a bad idea here!

“it’s now impossible to get a crosswalk light to cross Florida”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

Many readers probably know that the cross walk on R st NW and Florida is already not great to begin with — Florida is a busy street and the left turning cars get confused by the diagonal intersection. There’s only one crosswalk instead of two to cross on R, and the pedestrian light only turns to walk if you push the button. If you don’t push the button, the walk sign never comes on, and the green traffic light stays on for only about half the time it would otherwise, so there’s not enough time to cross the street.

About a week ago or so, the crosswalk button got stuck in the “on” position, and now it doesn’t seem to be triggering the walk signal at all. So it’s now impossible to get a crosswalk light to cross Florida. I’ve been running across when the R St traffic light turns green, but only get about halfway across the street by the time it turns yellow.

I wrote to 311 and haven’t heard back. I hope you can bring attention to this dangerous traffic situation!”

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