Like Slow Streets, Streateries, or car-free Beach Drive? DC Council wants to hear about it.
A Dupont Circle Streatery by angela n. licensed under Creative Commons.
A public roundtable on March 23 will focus on the creative transportation solutions DC has implemented during the pandemic, and whether they should carry on after it ends.
The roundtable will be hosted by Councilmember Mary Cheh, who is chair of the Committee on Transportation and the Environment. According to the public hearing notice, it will focus on:
- Streateries;
- Bus-only lanes;
- Slow Streets;
- And whether the National Park Service should permanently close Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park to cars.
Cheh’s director of communications, Kelly Whittier, said the conversation has the potential to touch on bike lane infrastructure as well.
As COVID-19 made indoor gathering and crowds dangerous, DC officials turned their attention to creating more outdoor public space for residents to walk, ride bicycles, and dine while maintaining social distancing.
Special permits, valid only during DC’s State of Emergency, have allowed restaurants to expand outdoor space for dining, and have allowed for the creation of streateries and dining plazas.
Meanwhile, “Slow Streets” have popped up all over the District (to mixed results). And thousands of pedestrians and bicyclists took advantage of car-free Beach Drive after the National Park Service closed it to vehicles in order to create more space to traverse Rock Creek Park (parts of it are still closed to vehicles).
A slow street on S St NW near Connecticut Ave. Image by angela n. licensed under Creative Commons.
So far, most of these changes are just temporary, made to last until the State of Emergency is lifted. But taking space from vehicles and making it available to people could have benefits after the pandemic, and advocates for active transportation and public space have been asking for initiatives like this for years. District Department of Transportation officials have said that they are considering keeping some of them after the pandemic.
The purpose of the roundtable, according to the hearing notice, is to hear from the public and from DDOT about “what transportation initiatives that began during the pandemic should continue.”
The hearing will be held virtually on March 23 at 12 p.m. Members of the public can submit written testimony to the official record before April 6, or testify at the roundtable (contact info is in the public hearing notice).
What pandemic transportation initiatives do you want to see continue?