D.C. resident Lee Mayer is adamant that putting bike lanes on each side of Connecticut Avenue NW in Ward 3 will be disastrous for businesses in the Northwest neighborhoods of Woodley Park and Chevy Chase.
In an effort to head off the current project, met with Ward 3 Council member Matthew Frumin on Thursday afternoon.
Mayer said his group includes businesspeople and residents who oppose the proposed bike lanes.
He told 草莓传媒 that he left the meeting dissatisfied, accusing Frumin of 鈥渞epeating the tired and disproven marketing slogans of the bike advocates.鈥�
Frumin鈥檚 office said in an email to 草莓传媒 that Connecticut Avenue 鈥渘eeds to be safer, greener and more accessible for all road users.鈥�
Frumin鈥檚 statement said that he鈥檚 鈥渃ommitted to a design that incorporates protected bike lanes and pedestrian safety improvements, while also addressing concerns of small businesses.鈥�
On the issue of safety, Mayer said the D.C. District Department of Transportation has not done enough to deal with speeding along the Connecticut Avenue corridor and he鈥檇 be in favor of using speed cameras.
鈥淚 think that speed cameras along Connecticut Avenue are totally appropriate,鈥� he said.
The plans being considered by DDOT include a 2.7 mile stretch with the 鈥減rimary study area鈥� for the proposed bike lanes being between Legation to Calvert streets, which are currently home to a mix of business and residential blocks.
Under the plan, bike lanes would be added to the northbound and southbound lanes of Connecticut Avenue, and a parking lane would be included on one side of the street.
Supporters of the bike lanes, , say the primary goal is improving safety along Connecticut Avenue 鈥� not only for cyclists, but pedestrians and drivers as well.
Garrett Hennigan, WABA鈥檚 organizing manager, told 草莓传媒 that bike lanes don鈥檛 necessarily hurt businesses. Instead, he said, when streets are made more accessible to biking and walking, residents 鈥渓ike to come there. They like to eat at restaurants along those streets and they like to spend money.鈥�
But Mayer insists that if the bike lane designs for Connecticut Avenue in the DDOT’s last draft are installed, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to discourage more people from going to work downtown,鈥� and D.C. revenue will drop. Among the concerns businesses have, he said, was the loss of parking spaces along the proposed bike lane route.
鈥淒DOT plans on removing 469 parking spaces on Connecticut Avenue, and that is just from Calvert Street to Legation Street,鈥� said Mayer.
Hennigan disagrees with the notion that the loss of parking spaces is a losing proposition for businesses.
鈥淚t would be actually, an improvement in some ways, going from rush-hour restricted parking lanes, where you cannot park in front of your business or on the same block as a business you鈥檙e traveling to, to what is proposed 鈥� 24/7 parking on one side of the street for those commercial areas,” Hennigan said.
There is one point on which opponents and supporters of the bike lane agree: both sides have issues with how DDOT has handled some of their concerns, including the timing of the project. In April, DDOT announced that the plans were being revised but a final draft of the plans wouldn鈥檛 be done until the fall.
Hennigan complained that he feels there’s been a lack of transparency from DDOT.
鈥淲hat is the design that DDOT is moving ahead with? We don鈥檛 know,鈥� Hennigan said. 鈥淭here are ways to build safe, protected bike lanes on major streets like Connecticut Avenue, and there are ways to do it badly.”
Mayer, who鈥檚 been a sharp critic of the bike advocacy community, told 草莓传媒 that in his view 鈥淒DOT鈥檚 been less than candid with its plans.鈥�
that throughout 2020 and 2021 鈥渁pproximately 40 stakeholder and agency presentations took place鈥� and that the first public meeting took place in March 2021. The public comment period ended on May 8, 2021, and Mayor Muriel Bowser and DDOT announced the 鈥減referred concept鈥� in December 2021. That version is now undergoing review.
DDOT鈥檚 website adds that as of November 2022, 鈥淒DOT has held over 50 opportunities for community and agency engagement.鈥�
DDOT officials say the final plan for the bike lanes will be made public 鈥渋n the fall.” When asked for a specific date when the revised plans will be unveiled, DDOT public information officer German Vigil said no date has been set just yet.
