Washington, D.C., entered into phase two of the District’s reopening plan on June 22, allowing indoor dining, gym, libraries, and houses of worship to reopen with restrictions. Despite having fewer businesses open and fewer drivers on the road, we have lost more lives to date this year on roadways—a problem residents on 11th Street are unfortunately too familiar with.
To help mediate the issue, ANC-1A Commissioners Michael Wray (1A-09), Angelica Castañon (1A-06), and Ward-1 Councilmember Nadeau’s office have proposed the temporary closure of 11th Street to cars between Kenyon and Monroe Street NW—a decision that has caused mixed reactions from the community.
On one hand, many neighbors welcome the idea of closing 11th Street to traffic because of the number of reported traffic accidents in the intersection, and because it gives neighbors an opportunity to practice social distancing while still being able to enjoy the surrounding local businesses.
On the other hand, many residents feel that closing 11th Street will only add to the problem rather than fix it. Neighbors have expressed concerns over the limited amount of street parking available and some drivers fear that closing 11th Street will divert traffic on to surrounding streets like Sherman Ave, which has already been converted into a single lane street, or 14th Street, creating a bigger problem than what already exists.
“I have lived in this area for 46 years. I’ve seen a lot of change, and I believe that would not be a good one. I use that street everyday and so do a lot of people that live around here. You want recreation, use the park or the school field. Leave the street alone,” said Mary Barnes, a resident of Columbia Heights since 1974.
According to Commissioner Michael Wray, the fact that 11th Street is also a bus route for the H8 and 64 bus lines may make closing the street complicated. “I think that may hinder efforts to have anything more than the park-lets like those at Makan and Queens English,” said Commissioner Michael Wray. “Those are available to other 11th Street restaurants if they feel they are ready to use them. I plan to keep asking about it depending on how the recovery phases progresses.”
While the District has provided guidance for what is possible in a public space, the District Department Of Transportation (DDOT) has not yet developed a workable plan. “It has all the types of configurations, but the bus routes in ANC1A made all of our commercial streets ineligible,” explained Commissioner Wray. “We asked the DDOT Director if there was more flexibility, but did not get additional guidance beyond the park-lets style.”
6 Comments
Frankly, after the debacle created on Sherman (the middle island full of plants that were not taken care of and then the new construction that is leaving the middle of the road a mess – and, yes, I believe they will leave it a mes) I am very opposed to any closure of any part of 11th Street.
11th Street only goes so far so it is used (for the most part) by individuals who live north of U but before the end.
Closing it would only inconvenience residents and as stated make parking worse.
Both sides have a point. I’ve lived car-free since 1975, so it would certainly be in my interest to have fewer cars roaring about. It would also –er — drive home the realization that cars and cities are a poor mix and something has to be done about it. We have bike lanes, Ubers, city scooters, adequate public transit and of course feet. I’m a musician and I have biked my gear to gigs in a Burley. If an amp or a drum was too heavy for that I bought a lighter one. One of the biggest attractions of city living is the possibility of living car-free. (I’m also a retired journalist and I wrote a lot about this, and my sources for that statement were always real estate developers, not a group noted for tree hugging.) Having said all that, it will probably exacerbate parking problems, but I think that motorists are intelligent enough to figure out ways to live with that…
I do not believe we should close 11th Street between Kenyon and Monroe. The disruption to the H8 and 64 bus routes is not worth the effort. I have lived in the neighborhood over 30 years. In that time, I have seen multiple accommodations to make the area more ‘friendly’: southbound 11th street going from two lanes to one; the addition of bike lanes, the addition of bike racks in the street; the addition of rental bikes; and most recently the parking dining areas.
Maybe take more advantage of parklets and expand sidewalk areas along this route
I’ve lived in Columbia Heights since 1979 and have seen a lot of positive changes over the years including the elimination of the requirement for residents to have to move their cars for 21/2 hours each morning and afternoon to facilitate traffic flow into and out of Downtown. But I’m against this proposal because it will only increase traffic snarls not only on Sherman Ave and 14th St but also on 13th St as well as Kenyon and Park Rd. Traffic is already extremely heavy and encumbered by the recent safety i.e. pole markers that force cars to turn wider radius’s onto narrow streets, wider grass medians (Kenyon St), and bicycle lane additions. Add to that, this proposal will further strain an already heavily saturated parking situation by removing those parking spaces. Where are those residents, visitors, and service vehicles supposed to park when there is little to no off street parking available in this area, hence the forced need to find parking on alternate neighboring streets which then impacts those residents to find parking near their own homes. I support social distancing but strongly feel that rerouting bus routes and increasing unnecessarily inconveniences on surrounding neighborhoods totally unacceptable.
Maybe take more advantage of parklets and expand sidewalk areas along this route