Image by Rachel Maisler used with permission.

For months, even years, DC bicyclists had been blocked from using the protected bike lane on 1st Street NE next to Union Station. This sliver of cycletrack was perpetually blocked by vehicles of all shapes and sizes: mail trucks, armored trucks, tractor trailers, and everything in between, and well documented on Twitter.

“Just a minute,” drivers would tell bike lane users as they unloaded their wares into Union Station. Meanwhile, bicyclists were pushed onto the sidewalk or worse, oncoming traffic, to avoid collision with these masses of metal blocking their passage.

There were mountains of reports to 311 about the bike lane being blocked. After (what felt like) an eternity of pleas and prayers, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) installed K-71 bollards on Oct. 23, 2019. Surely, these beefier plastic barriers would keep interlopers out of the protected bike lane.

Unfortunately, as many bike lane users can attest, plastic isn’t protection. Within two weeks of their installation, the bollards had been obliterated by delivery truck drivers.

Enough was enough. Under the cover of darkness on November 11, 2019, two tactical urbanists from the DC Department of Transformation (DCDOTRA) met by the Amtrak loading dock entrance at Union Station on 1st Street NE. They found one still-standing K-71 bollard and installed their latest tactic: an orange corn broom with googly eyes and a sign reading “PLEASE DON’T RUN ME OVER.” June the Broom was born.

Overnight, June the Broom became an instant #bikedc celebrity. Bicyclists from around the District made the pilgrimage to see the googly-eyed bike lane protector. Soon, members of the “Broom Family” began appearing in other bike lanes around the District. They carried messages to drivers and encouraged bicyclists. As a representative from DCDOTRA told DCist at the time, “they humanize the cost of blocking the bike lane.”

Bobby protected students riding on 4th St NE to the Two Rivers Public Charter School.

Lil’ Frankie and Bjorn brought cheer to bicyclists using DC’s most popular protected bike lane on 15th Street NW.

Carol called for safe streets in the shadow of DC’s first bike signal at the intersection of 16th Street, U Street, and New Hampshire Avenue, NW.

Salem staked themself out in front of the DDOT offices.

June the Broom went missing around November 21, 2019, but for 10 glorious days, June the Broom stopped drivers from parking in the 1st Street cycletrack. June effectively protected a bike lane where no DDOT treatment had ever succeeded. The broom drew media attention from near and far, including “Bicycling Magazine.” And their legacy lives on to this day.

In December 2019, Mike the Broom took over June’s post and continued to protect the bike lane for another month or so. Like their predecessor, Mike proved successful in keeping trucks out of the bike lane.

Come February of 2020, DDOT began installing concrete wheel stops along the protected bike lane, just north of June’s post. And in mid-September, DDOT had installed a physical concrete barrier and a few more flexiposts.

Image courtesy of DCDOTRA.

June the Broom had saved the 1st Street NE protected bike lane.

Tagged: bicycling, dc, roads

Rachel Maisler is an avid city cyclist and advocate who enjoys exploring DC and beyond. She represented Ward 4 on the Bicycle Advisory Council from 2017-2024, serving several years as chair. Rachel also served on the Age-Friendly DC Task Force. When she's not fighting for safe roads, Rachel is a health policy wonk. Rachel has lived inside the Beltway since 2005 and currently resides in Petworth.

Matthew Sampson is a graduate student at the Urban and Regional Planning program at Georgetown University. As a native of San Diego, he has grown to love the quirks of life on the East Coast. He is a pedestrian and bicycle activist who wants to enable a car-free lifestyle for more residents in the DMV area. Matthew is the commissioner of the 2B01 seat in the Dupont ANC.