Release: Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021
Contact: Nick DelleDonne ,
delledonne.n@comcast.net, 703 929 6656
Push for More Bike Lanes Faster is Dangerous Mistake
Our friends at Axios are missing the point. https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2021/12/15/dc-bike-lanes-advocates Protected bike lanes (PBL’s) can be dangerous. Studies are emerging that show they are inappropriate on some streets, and in some circumstances, they are dangerous. PBL’s cannot deliver on a false promise of child safety as Ross Elementary School PTAs claims. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/10/bike-lanes-are-not-best-way-protect-children-dc/
Protected Bik Lanes are inappropriate on city streets with frequent interruptions, like intersections, alleys and driveways and where the roads are complex.
On Monday, Dec. 13, at a press conference in Dupont Circle, Mayor Bowser tried to encourage small business, which is suffering in COVID pandemic, but she overlooks the crisis brewing around the corner on 17th St, NW, where the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) installed a reckless and dangerous Bike Plan that is confusing, punitive, creates traffic jams that prevent EMS arrivals, inhibits retail deliveries and is driving small business into the ground.
It is misleading for Axios to dismiss the palpable hazards to the community as a loss of parking. Patrons cannot find parking or the signs that would direct parking. Two senior women, one of whom had already gotten a $150 ticket, unable to unravel the confusion, drove away in dismay.
Yesterday, a disoriented senior in 50-degree temperatures wearing a T-shirt was trekking up 17th St. with a walker in the Protected Bike Lane looking for a weed and smoke shop. He was able to walk in the protected bike lane safely because, despite the confusion and mayhem the DDOT 17th St. Bike Plan is causing, there is no bike traffic in the Protected Bike Lane. See photo attached.
