Four meetings and a hearing: Tell DDOT to get moving on DC bike lanes!
The next few weeks will be busy with public meetings for four DDOT projects, a key Council hearing with DDOT Director Sharon Kershbaum, and a WABA meetup with Councilmember Doni Crawford.
Through it all, our focus is Safety First. Our message is that DDOT must ensure that project designs meet safety standards and should unfreeze paused projects. Please add your voice via upcoming project meetings, via WABA’s Safety First letter-writing campaign, and by contacting your ANCs and Council representatives.
Let’s start with project meetings. DDOT will present updates – some online, some in-person – for four projects as follows:
- Tuesday, February 17 (in-person): Benning Road Bridges and Transportation Improvements Project Open House (Ward 7)
Phase 1 of the project would replace the obsolete Willie J. Hardy Bridge over DC‐295 (Anacostia Freeway) and CSX freight rail tracks with enhanced pedestrian and bicycle facilities. Show up to make sure the bike and pedestrian facilities meet safety standards.
- Tuesday, February 17 (online) & Wednesday, February 18 (in-person): 11th Street NW Bike Project Meetings (Wards 1 & 2)
DDOT proposes to convert existing non‑protected bike lanes into curbside protected bike lanes (PBLs) and replace a segment of sharrows with a dedicated bike lane and a contraflow lane. 11th St NW is already a busy biking corridor; Show up to encourage DDOT to finish this safety project ASAP so bicyclists of all ages and abilities will feel more comfortable.
Join us for an informal get-together after the February 18th meeting at near-by Dacha Beer Garden starting at 7 pm. RSVP here.
- Wednesday, February 18 (online) & Saturday, February 21 (in-person): Pennsylvania Ave SE and Minnesota Ave SE Intersection Safety Improvement Project Meetings (Ward 7)
An initial design for this long-delayed project was released in 2018. Unfortunately DDOT did not update the design to reflect moveDC 2021 safety standards, so we’re asking for an upgrade to include protected bike lanes as called for by moveDC.
- Wednesday, February 25 (online): Palisades Trolley Trail and Foundry Trestle Bridge (Ward 3)
DDOT will present on the project at an online Palisades Community Association Town Hall. The PCA states, “The plan has been approved—this is a notification meeting only, not further input.”
Please also join us on February 18th at the DC Council’s DDOT performance-oversight hearing at the Wilson Building, starting at 9:30 am. This session will feature testimony from DDOT Director Sharon Kershbaum. Show up in a WABA t-shirt to send a message to DDOT leadership, and to the members of Committee on Transportation and the Environment, that we need DDOT to return to a Safety First transportation policy and unfreeze the projects they’ve paused.
Send that message now to Mayor Bowser and DDOT Director Sharon Kershbaum via WABA’s Safety First campaign!
Finally, please join us for WABA’s second bicycling advocates meetup of 2026, taking place Tuesday, March 3, 5:30-7:30 pm in Adams Morgan. We’ll have two special guests, At-Large Councilmember Doni Crawford and Christina Whitehouse, Bike Lane Uprising founder, who’ll be visiting from Chicago. Click here for information and to register.
As always, please get in touch if you have questions or concerns.