DC plans fixes to new 14th Street bike lanes

The District Department of Transportation is planning new changes to a 14th Street NW redesign to address hazards for cyclists at the street’s busy intersections.

“We are in the process of adding some additional safety measures for cyclists along the 14th Street corridor,” DDOT Director Jeff Marootian said Tuesday. “We expect those to go in in the upcoming weeks.”

The one-mile renovation between Thomas Circle and Florida Avenue NW has been adding bus islands that physically separate bike lanes from car lanes at intersections.

Cyclists traveling along 14th Street are separated from car traffic on one side of the intersections, but return to unprotected lanes on the other side. Many cyclists have noted that the design leaves them vulnerable to drivers who make turns without noticing the bike lane between the bus island and the sidewalk.

DDOT’s additional improvements include:

• Extending the bus boarding island, including adding flex posts to discourage drivers from making right turns in front of buses, and to provide more protection within the intersection.
• More signage, including signs telling drivers not to make right turns around buses
• Installing off-sidewalk corrals for dockless scooters and bikes

The 14th Street NW Streetscape project has been under construction since mid-2018, adding bus islands, tree boxes, ADA-compliant ramps, streetlights, and crosswalks. Some of the bus islands and bikeways are already built out.

Of particular concern to some cyclists were intersections like the busy one at 14th and P streets:

I guess my question with something like this is what process (if anything) does @DDOTDC have in place to respond when a design doesn’t seem to work as intended https://t.co/53sU5eHHTK

— sharrowsDC (@sharrowsDC) February 4, 2020

“The project is still under construction, so we anticipate making all of these changes before the entirety of the construction project is finished,” Marootian said. “We’re looking at roughly by the end of March.”