ABOUT THE PROJECT Downtown West seeks to improve east-west travel for pedestrians and cyclists on Pennsylvania Avenue NW and persons using public transit along H and I Streets NW. K St. NW North I St. NW Foggy Bottom- GWU Pennsylvania Ave. NW West H St. NW McPherson Square New York Ave. NW Pennsylvania Ave. NW: H Street NW: Improve travel for cyclists: Develop alternatives for a cycle track (separated bicycle lanes) Improve travel for buses: Assess the feasibility of a contraflow westbound bus lane Improve the pedestrian realm: Identify opportunities to improve the pedestrian realm, including green infrastructure 21St St. NW 19th St. NW 17th St. NW 14th St. NW 13th St. NW Identify necessary operational improvements including at the intersections with New York Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue Federal Triangle Archives- Navy Memorial Pennsylvania Avenue looking southeast Pennsylvania Avenue and H Street Pennsylvania Avenue and H Street H Street NW looking west New York Avenue NW at 15th Street NW
STUDY SCHEDULE AND PUBLIC OUTREACH Identify Issues & Collect Data PUBLIC KICK-OFF MEETING June 15, 2016 CAG MEETING #1 Early Fall 2016 Develop Alternatives CAG MEETING #2 Fall 2016 PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT EVENTS Fall 2016 Evaluate Alternatives CAG MEETING #3 Late 2016 / Early 2017 Select Recommended FINAL PUBLIC MEETING Spring 2017 Alternative Public Kick-Off and Final Public Meetings: Evening meetings with a formal presentation. CAG Meetings: Citizens Advisory Group (CAG) meetings, which are open to the public. DDOT has convened a CAG to provide guidance and feedback throughout the project. The CAG is made up of representatives from the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Councils, and the Business Improvement Districts located in the Study Area. Public Engagement Events: Pop-up style meetings out in the Study Area throughout the day.
BUILDING ON PREVIOUS WORK H/I Street Bus Improvements Pennsylvania Avenue West of the White House Study movedc, DDOT s long-range multimodal transportation plan, identified the following modal priorities and investments in the study area: Pennsylvania Avenue NW: Tier 1 bicycle-priority corridor and proposed cycle track H and I Streets NW: Transit-priority corridors with dedicated bus lanes The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and DDOT examined the feasibility of bus-only lanes on H and I Streets NW through downtown in the 2013 H/I Streets Bus Improvements Final Technical Report. Four alternatives were evaluated in terms of their benefits to transit riders, impacts on other modes, operational concerns, and cost. The Golden Triangle Business Improvement District completed a vision plan entitled Pennsylvania Avenue West of the White House, which outlined existing conditions along the corridor and developed conceptual planning recommendations based on the following objectives: Create destinations Facilitate new connections Design to pedestrian scale Harness sustainability Balance transportation Activate the parks Building upon the 2013 H/I Streets Bus Improvements Report, DDOT is performing additional feasibility analysis on the H Street contraflow bus-only lane as part of the Downtown West Study and, if warranted, will advance the contraflow lane to conceptual design.
DRAFT GOAL STATEMENT & OBJECTIVES Goal Statement The Study s goal is to improve east-west travel for pedestrians and cyclists on Pennsylvania Avenue NW and persons using public transit along H and I Streets NW. The Study seeks to achieve this goal by developing alternatives based on public and stakeholder input. The alternatives will be evaluated in terms of benefits to pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users; possible impacts on other users of the corridors; and safety. The Study s anticipated outcome will be a preferred set of improvements on H Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW that build on previous studies in the area and achieve the objectives presented below. Pennsylvania Avenue NW at 17th Street NW Bollards and street furniture in front of World Bank New York Avenue NW and H Street NW H Street NW looking west Re(Cycle) at 1901 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Pedestrian crossing at I Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW Objectives 1 Improve pedestrian and cyclist comfort, safety, and mobility on Pennsylvania Avenue NW. 2 Improve the pedestrian realm and sustainability of Pennsylvania Avenue NW. 3 Evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a contraflow bus lane on H Street NW between New York Avenue NW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. 4 Prioritize pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users while maintaining operations for other modes. 5 Develop a feasible and implementable conceptual plan. (Photo Credit: French Twist D.C.)
INTRO TO STREETMIX How would you reconfigure Pennsylvania Avenue? Try your hand at creating alternative cross-sections! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Name the street and set the width at 130 feet. Think about who needs to use the street you design (Pedestrians? Bicycles? Buses? Parking?). Choose from the street pieces at the bottom of the screen (sidewalks, trees, etc.). Drag and drop them into place. Careful not to exceed the width of the street! Resize them as desired. Repeat until you ve got Pennsylvania Avenue the way you like it. Save your street. Print it out and add it to the display! Can t Wait for a Workstation? Ask us for a printed worksheet you can mark up, mixup, then add to the display. SAMPLE STREET
STUDY AREA QUICK FACTS H and I Streets NW H and I Streets NW are served by over 30 bus routes, including six corridors in WMATA s Priority Corridor Network plan. Bethesda WMATA Priority Corridor Network Plan Petworth West Hyattsville Daily bus trips on H, I, and K Streets NW through downtown account for approximately 25% of all daily WMATA Metrobus trips and 20% of daily ridership. The combined Metrobus frequency on H and I Streets NW averages to a bus every minute in the peak period and a bus every two minutes in the off-peak. Friendship Heights Tenleytown - AU North U St Dupont Circle McPherson Square Fort Totten Columbia Heights U St/African-Amer Civil War Memorial/Cardozo Shaw - Howard U P St Mt. Vernon Sq. Convention Center M St Brookland-CUA Rhode Island Ave- Brentwood New York Ave-Florida Ave-Gallaudet U New Carrollton Average bus travel speeds range between 3 and 8 MPH in the peak period. H and I Streets NW combined carry over 60,000 bus riders and about 30,000 vehicles per day. PCN Corridor Metrorail stations served by PCN Non-Metrorail activity centers served by PCN Foggy Bottom - GWU West Metro Center Federal Triangle Smithsonian I St Gallery Pl - Chinatown G St Archives - Navy Mem l-penn Quarter L Enfant Plaza Union Station D St Eastern Market Minnesota Ave Capitol Heights Addison Road- Seat Pleasant M St Potomac Pennsylvania Avenue NW Pennsylvania Avenue NW carries about 19,000 vehicles per day and has 6 travel lanes. K Street NW east of Mt. Vernon Square also carries 19,000 vehicles per day, but has two travel lanes and left turn pockets. There are currently no bicycle facilities south of the L and M Street cycle tracks west of the White House. Since the installation of the cycle track on Pennsylvania Avenue NW east of the White House, peak hour bicycle counts have outpaced citywide counts. The skewed intersections along the corridor result in long pedestrian crossing distances of up to 100 feet. Pennsylvania Avenue NW is home to several large institutions as well as four National Park Service triangle parks, contributing to an inconsistent pedestrian realm. Bike Counts on Pennsylvania Ave. NW Before & After Cycle Track Implementation (east of the White House) Peak Hour Bicycle Count 300 250 200 150 100 50 Installation Date 0 Oct 2008 Apr 2009 Oct 2009 Apr 2010 Oct 2010 Apr 2011 Oct 2011 Apr 2012 Oct 2012 Apr 2013 Oct 2013 Apr 2014 Oct 2014 Apr 2015 Oct 2015 Apr 2016 6th St & 7th St 14th St & 15th St DC Average Peak Hour Installation Date