Adams Morgan May Convert 18th Street Parking to Weekend Pick-Up Zones

• December 14th 2017

by Nena Perry-Brown

In August, the Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) in Adams Morgan floated the idea of closing off a portion of 18th Street to vehicular traffic during the weekends to make the popular nightlife strip safer for pedestrians, bicyclists and revelers. Now, a step is being taken to make some form of traffic control a reality on the street.

The ANC 1C Planning, Zoning and Transportation Committee has drafted a letter recommending that the full ANC study and solicit feedback on a draft proposal that would create designated pick-up and drop-off zones for vehicles on Friday and Saturday nights between 8pm and 4am. The plan would be to create up to five 120 foot-long vehicular zones along 18th Street between Columbia Road and Florida Avenue NW, utilizing existing parking or loading curbside areas.

The potential areas could include two zones on the eastern side of the street and one zone on the western side of the street on the block of 18th Street between Columbia and Kalorama Roads and one on each side of the street on the block between Kalorama Road and Florida Avenue. Each would be able to accommodate as many as 5 cars simultaneously.

The goal of the proposal is to ease congestion on the street that is partially due to an increase in ride-hailing services. The committee is also asking the ANC to study the effect of lowering the speed limit on that same stretch of 18th Street, however neither measure would preclude the idea of closing 18th to vehicular traffic on some nights, a notion proposed most recently after a hit-and-run incident in June.

The pick-up and drop-off proposal is similar to one which the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District, the Metropolitan Police Department, Department of Public Works and District Department of Transportation teamed up to begin implementing in Dupont Circle this fall, whereby the stretch of Connecticut Avenue between the Circle and Rhode Island Avenue will be closed to vehicular parking Thursday-Saturday nights between 10pm and 7am.

Correction: The Connecticut Avenue pilot program restricts parking during the weekend, not vehicular traffic.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/adams_morgan_may_convert_18th_street_parking_to_weekend_pick-up_zones/13372.