Work Begins to Extend 15th Street Bike Lane

• October 29, 2010
• 4 Comments

by Mark Wellborn

DDOT has announced that the work to extend the contraflow bike lane on 15th Street down to Pennsylvania Avenue and up to W Street has begun.

The innovative bike lane, which is situated between parked cars and the curb in an effort to protect bicyclists, currently runs from Massachusetts Avenue to U Street. The goal of the lane is to accommodate two-way bike traffic on a one-way street.

DDOT says that the work to extend the lane will be complete by the end of November, and that plans are in place to eventually extend the lane north to Euclid Street.

Greater Greater Washington had a post last month that spoke to the effect that the bike lane has had on the speed of motorists along 15th Street:

“Since DDOT installed the cycle track, motorists have not been speeding as much on 15th Street. The 85th percentile speed was reduced from 35 mph in July 2009 to 28 mph in July 2010, and the percentage of motorists traveling above 25 mph has decreased from 66 percent to 26 percent.”

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/work_begins_to_extend_15th_street_bike_lane/2625

4 Comments

1. Janson said at 5:47 pm on Friday October 29, 2010:
   Huge crew of people working on 15th between about Swann up to U st this morning.

1. DC said at 7:17 pm on Friday October 29, 2010:
   The bike lane on 15th street is the most ridiculous engineering I have ever seen. Coming from DC Gov't is what expected.

1. jj said at 7:02 pm on Monday November 1, 2010:
   not sure of your reporting. the crews are erasing the painting on the pavement and eliminating the bike lane - they're also taking out the yellow markers separating the lane from the curb. if they were extending it, they'd leave it alone and, well, extend it, not erase it.

1. Mark Wellborn said at 7:10 pm on Monday November 1, 2010:
   @ jj -- Yes, that is part of the work to start extending it. DDOT tweeted as much on Friday. Thanks for the comment. Mark Wellborn Editor