Safe

Safer Streets - What Still Needs to be Done?

Safer Streets continues to be a priority.  Right now projects have kicked off for South Dakota Avenue and Taylor Street NE which have the potential to make these streets safer!  In DC a project isn't over until the installation is done, and these won't start installation until 2025 (at the earliest)!

Safer Streets - How Did I Do So Far?

Since elected, our neighborhood has gotten:

• June 2024: Installation of Speed Humps on 3800 Block of 20th Street NE, 3900 Block of 20th Street NE, 1900 Block of Quincy Street NE, and 2000 Block of Quincy Street NE (News Post on Coming Installation from April).

• February 28, 2024: New sidewalks installed adjacent to Bunker Hill Park

• December 12, 2023: Installation of Speed Hump on 2000 Randolph Street NE

• July-August 2023: Installation of New LED Streetlights throughout 5B01

• July 2023: Installation of Speed Humps on 1900 Block Varnum Street, 4300/4400 Blocks of 19th Street, and 4300 Block 20th Street NE

• March 1, 2023: Installation of new Automated Traffic Enforcement on 1600 Block Michigan Avenue NE

Read up on the issue and more: https://www.anc5b01.com/priorities/safer-streets

I sponsored, voted FOR, and secured Commission 5B's passage of:

• March 15, 2023: Resolution in support of Councilmember Parker's FY 2024 Budget Requests and Transit and Traffic Safety Priorities (adopted 5-0) 

I proudly voted FOR these Resolutions my colleagues on Commission 5B introduced:

• May 22, 2024: Resolution in Support of HAWK Signal Installation at Michigan Ave & Quincy Street NE and Rhode Island Ave & Thayer Street NE (adopted 7-0)

• March 20, 2024: Resolution for Traffic Safety near Burroughs Elementary School (adopted 7-0)

• March 20, 2024: Resolution for Traffic Safety near Bunker Hill Elementary School (adopted 7-0)

• November 15, 2024: Resolution: No Entry Signs at Alleys on 1000 Blocks of Taussig and Urell Place NE (adopted 4-0)

• May 17, 2023: Resolution Concerning Mayor’s Rerouting of Revenue Gains from Automated Traffic Enforcement (adopted 5-0)

• May 17, 2023: Resolution Urging DDOT to Release its Congestion Pricing Study (adopted 5-0)

• March 15, 2023: Resolution calling on the District Government to Survey and Fix Every (SAFE) Sidewalk (adopted 5-0)

How Does This Compare to What I Said in 2022?  How Can I Do Better in 2025?  Let Me Know!

Safety is something of importance to everyone, but also something everyone perceives differently.  I believe it is incredibly important for everyone to feel safe in their homes, their streets, and their community.  

The streets here and throughout Washington, DC continue to be unsafe for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians -- people.  We must do something to change the direction, because it keeps getting worse:

• Washington Post: Aug. 3, 2022 - "Study confirms what D.C. parents have known: Drivers don't care."

• Washington Post: July 23, 2022 - "Two memorials were planned for D.C. cyclists. Then a third was killed."

• Washington Post: Feb. 23, 2022 - "D.C. traffic deaths at 14-year high with low-income areas hardest hit."

Our community is not immune to this.  By my own count in 2021 there were 7 significant wrecks in our broader area, which resulted in 2 deaths: Armando Martinez-Ramos in March and Allison Hart in September.  Officially, Metro Police have recorded 95 wrecks in our area (Sept 15, 2020 to July 22, 2021)[1], but they only record what is reported to them.  A recent study by the DC Policy Center found this database was missing 1/3rd of crashes which were called into 911 but did not result in a policy report.[2]  So the problem is likely worse!

Our family is a 1 automobile family, and we try to bicycle, walk, and take transit as much as possible.  We would love to be able to bicycle everyone to school, which is only 1.3 miles away, but most of the time we cannot -- because it is not safe to do so.  My spouse has flat out told me she does not want to bicycle the kids herself because there is no safe route to do so!  I will bicycle the kids by myself (on an ebike with kid seats), but it is challenging and stressful.  Sometimes I just end up driving everyone, because we've worked ourselves into a situation where that is the best, worst option.  Thankfully we have never been hurt, but we have experienced numerous close calls.  I've personally seen the aftermath of wrecks in our area, and even when no one stuffers a major injury, there is often damage to public and private property -- as well as trash left strewn, sometimes for weeks.  Something else I have an opinion on.

my experience

I have personal experience with the challenges we face making our streets safer.  Since we moved here, neighbors told me of efforts to make Varnum Street safer they had undertaken in the past.  Living here, I saw firsthand dangerous driver behavior, especially at the intersection of 18th, Varnum, and Michigan NE.  I started submitting 311 requests in 2019, but they went nowhere.  I continued trying to figure out how to get someone to take action, but without success.

Then in September 2021, after another traffic wreck on our street, I was finally successful in navigating the process to get speed humps installed on in February.  I had submitted 311 requests in 2019, raised concerns in May including submitting Traffic Safety Questionnaires, and yet no action took place until there was another wreck at the exact spot of concern.  

We cannot continue to be REACTIVE in our approach to traffic safety.

Submitted Traffic Safety Assessments

Note: I have removed the 1st page of the form.  I submitted these in June 2021.  I have not yet seen improvements on Michigan Ave.

What can we do?  I envision proactively and aggressively identifying issues and ensuring District agencies implement safety improvements as needed.  I want to see an expansion of the Safe Routes to School.  I want to see roads redesigned to incentivize safer behavior so all people who use them can be safe and we drive the number of deaths in DC down to ZERO.

my street has safety problems!

Updated 7/31 - Confirmed the Traffic Safety Assessment Questionnaire is no longer required for speed humps

If you want safer streets, and know of a problem area, here's what you can do right now.  This is an adapted set of instructions from the Traffic Safety Investigation flier on the District Department of Transportation Website.

1. Submit a 311 request to DC.  Ensure you record the service number.  You can submit a 311 request online here.  You can also tweet your request to @dc311gov or call 311.  The type of service is: "Traffic Safety Investigation."

2. You will need to get and complete the Traffic Safety Assessment (TSA) Questionnaire.  The process may have changed since I did it, but if not, you have to hunt this down and complete it.

3. Once you have completed the form, you must submit it to your ANC Commissioner for endorsement.  Without this endorsement, your request will not move forward.  If you live in 5B01, our current Commissioner can be reached at 5b01@anc.dc.gov.  It is a good idea to ask for support.

4. Watch your 311 request for updates.  Try to get a POC at DDOT and ensure they get your endorsed TSA.  Be aware when the Traffic Safety Investigation concludes your 311 ticket will be closed.  If DDOT determines action is warranted, it will be tracked on the Traffic Safety Investigations Dashboard.

it's not just streets

Crosswalks and sidewalks throughout the neighborhood make walking, bicycling, scootering, and other modes of transportation difficult or in some cases impossible.  This makes our streets less safe!  I have submitted numerous 311 requests, including 17 alone during Sidewalk Palooza, to address these issues.

what i plan to do

The traffic safety assessment process is opaque, and if elected as your ANC Commissioner, I will work to make it, and all safety improvements, more transparent.

I also want to seek a more proactive and comprehensive approach.  The city should actively work to make streets safer, and not only take action when tragedy strikes.

The current approach puts the burden on YOU to identify issues, advocate for solutions, and relentlessly track them.  It also requires all of us to become traffic engineers.  I say the professionals should proactively be making our streets safer!

I want to change it.

Specifically i intend to

1. Work with neighbors and ensure issues are proactively reported and aggressively tracked.

2. Work with the Commission and seek to endorse, help put into action (if passed), and hold DC accountable to execute bills such as: the Safer Streets Amendment Act of 2022, Safe Routes to School Expansion Regulation Amendment Act, and the Walk Without Worry Amendment Act.

3. Work with neighbors to make streets safer through redesign when the opportunity arises, such as the work which was recently done in 5B05 on 12th Street NE to increase cross street visibility, decrease speeding, and still preserve much on-street parking.

4. Continue to advocate, educate, and raise awareness of the issue through meetings with neighbors, invitations to the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and other DC agencies to speak, and collect and build evidence and data to support change.