Person bicycling at 9th and R streets NW by Elvert Barnes licensed under Creative Commons.

The DC Council could send a very strong message to the Bowser administration, insiting it move forward on a north-south protected bikeway on 9th Street NW through downtown and Shaw, under a new emergency bill slated for consideration December 3.

As Martin Di Caro wrote recently, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) finished a study of options for a north-south bikeway connecting the eastern side of downtown to neighborhoods to the north in 2017, but further design did not progress. Di Caro and Street Justice’s Gordon Chaffin found sources who say mayoral advisor Beverly Perry froze out the project. The DC Council appropriated $300,000 in the current budget for final design, but there has still been no action.

Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (Ward 1) wrote an emergency bill to get it moving. It’s also being co-introduced by Mary Cheh (Ward 3), who chairs the transportation committee; Jack Evans (Ward 2) and Charles Allen (Ward 6), whose wards along with Nadeau’s contain the bikeway; and at-large councilmembers Elissa Silverman and David Grosso.

Like a similar emergency bill earlier this year which forced action on the bikeway on Florida Avenue NE, this would forbid DDOT from moving money from one project to another without explicit council approval after August 1, 2020, unless it has finished design and put out a contract to construct the bikeway. I’m told that is plenty of time for the necessary engineering design work.

The preferred option would create a two-way protected bikeway on the east side of 9th between Pennsylvania Avenue NW and Florida Avenue NW. It generally involves changing a lane of parking south of Mount Vernon Square to become the bikeway; north of Mount Vernon Square, parking would remain but there would be one instead of two northbound driving lanes.

Forcing DDOT to go to the council before moving around money doesn’t directly make the bikeway happen, but it’s one of the few direct levers of power the council has to compel the executive. The mayor could still order DDOT not to build the bikeway, but then the council would be taking a much stronger hand in other everyday DDOT actions. Most of all, this bill gives the council a way to send a clear message (if it votes in favor) that it wants this project done now, with no further delay.

Nadeau said in a statement, “A continual source of frustration for my constituents, myself, and many of my colleagues on this council is the frequency with which projects have been delayed indefinitely or abandoned at the first sign of resistance. The District’s 2006 Bike Master Plan called for ten new miles of protected bike lanes each year. Instead the District is on pace to install a mere ten miles total by 2024. That delay puts lives at risk. Something is wrong with this picture.”

Timeline of public engagement and analysis for the project. Image by Nspiregreen/DDOT.

Emergency bills, under the DC Home Rule Act, must garner two-thirds of members voting for a resolution called an “emergency declaration.” (Emergency bills also last only 90 days, so there is an accompanying “temporary” bill which extends the period to 225 days; this does not require a two-thirds vote.)

The emergency declaration here points out that a bikeway in this area was listed in the MoveDC plan as a top-tier project. It says there have been 5,000 crashes in this area, including 200 pedestrian and 250 bike-related since 2014. And, it says, the District has committed to a Vision Zero safety policy and this will make the area safer.

The bill will come up at the next lesiglative meeting, on December 3. We think the council should pass this bill then. If you live in DC, please click below to contact your ward and at-large councilmembers and ask them to vote for this bill.

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