Envision Adams Morgan - Draft Transportation Working Group Baseline Report

7/27/2019 Envision Adams Morgan - Draft Transportation Working Group Baseline Report

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Envision Adams Morgan:Working Group On Transportation Issues

INTRODUCTIONThe neighborhood now called Adams Morgan began to be urbanized in the late 19th century aspublic transportation started to make the area more accessible to the already settled areas ofWashington City. Distance from the center and the rise in elevation had until then limiteddevelopment in the area to large estates. With the coming of electric streetcars in 1892 theneighborhoods first housing boom took off. The history of Adams Morgan has been closelylinked with transportation concerns ever since. In 2006 a comprehensive report on AdamsMorgans transportation problems was done as part of the preparation for the eventual 18 th

Street Streetscape project. 1 Many of the recommendations of that report regarding 18th Streetwere implemented or were discarded after careful study. However, the problems identifiedoutside of the immediate streetscape area largely still exist and the study, which was funded bythe Federal Highway Administration (FHA), will serve as a baseline for the Envision AdamsMorgan working group study. This note will look in turn at mass transit in Adams Morgan and

then at more individual forms of transportation: private cars, bicycles and walking.2

MASS TRANSITThe Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) --provides the Adams Morgan area with its basic public transportationsystem in the form of the Metro Bus System and the Metro SubwaySystem that provide service for both able bodied and handicappedpassengers. A complex system of grants and payments from threeregional authorities, plus that of the Federal Highway Administration and the DistrictDepartment of Transportation (DDOT) primarily fund the WMATA system. The US Congress, theDC Council, the National Capitol Planning Commission (NCPC) and the Metropolitan Council ofGovernments (COG) also impact WMATAs plans and policies. WMATA is the Federal, state, anddistrict statutory authority as the areas lead planning and coordinating body for transportationmatters. The DC Public School (DCPS) system is also a major provider of bus services for schoolchildren in Adams Morgan and citywide, and various agencies, including WMATA, provide

1 18 th Street Adams Morgan Transportation and Parking Study Final Recommendations Report , HNTBDistrict of Columbia, P.C., March 2006. This report drew on Adams-Morgan Parking, Transit and TrafficImprovement Design Project , 1991. http://www.scribd.com/collections/3615360/Transportation-and-Transit-Working-Group

2 Tables and a map from theESRI Community Analyst on transportation in Adams Morgan will be availableon the working groups website.http://www.scribd.com/collections/3615360/Transportation-and-Transit-Working-Group


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special jitneys for elderly and handicapped passengers for both point-to-point travel andconnections to bus stops and subway stations.

Metro Buses

Adams Morgan is presently served by 13 bus routes travelingnorth/south on 16th and 18th Streets and Connecticut Avenue(from California to Florida) and east/west on Columbia Road. Thisrepresents a reduction of five routes from those listed in the 2006study and the addition of two new rush hour buses, the 43 onColumbia Road and the S9 on 16th Street. This is in contrast to the2006 DDOT report, which recommended overall enhanced bus service for Adams Morgan.Recent developments have also featured the elimination of any non-rush hour and weekend busservice between the Taft Bridge and the Connecticut Avenue Hilton. The only positiveimprovement in bus service for Adams Morgan has been the Circulator connection traveling

between Woodley Park and Columbia Heights through Adams Morgan (see below) toMcPherson Square.

Current problems with bus service, in addition to that now experienced by Connecticut Avenueresidents, includes:

lack of on-time buses and the absence of real time displays of estimated arrivaltimes for all Metro buses at bus stops and shelters--like the displays at Metrosubway stations. Happily, a contract was finally awarded in February 2013 by DDOTto get this service operational;

morning, late afternoon, and evening rush hour problems with 42s and S2 and S4buses that are too jam-packed to stop for additional passengers, especially on16thStreet for the S buses, and Connecticut Avenue for the 42 -- and sometimes the 43,a rush hour bus that has been recently added and has served to greatly improveColumbia Road and Connecticut Avenue service. In addition, these problems arebeginning to be alleviated on the S line by the addition of two southbound S2 and S4buses on 16th Street that start at Euclid Street and terminate at Farragut Square.These additional buses operate between the hours of 7:45 and 9:15 a.m.; further,additional Metro buses, including stretch buses, are being provided for the eveningnorthbound rush hour and late night employment shift changes along the 16th

Street corridor between P Street and Park Road; scheduling changes that reflectservice-worker shift changes on the 42 line are badly needed;

frequency remains a problem even on the good lines, especially in the late evening--north bound for service workers and south bound for entertainment venuetravelers;

bunching remains a problem on the 42/43, S1/S2/S4 and 90s lines;


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basic maintenance of fare card machines on all of the older buses and cleanliness onthe 18th and Florida/U 90 buses is poor;

comfort and operating conditioning on the new Metro buses is a greatimprovement. Older Metro buses do not always have operating air conditioning and

have very uncomfortable seats;

at many of the stops, DPW has placed trash collection receptacles directly in front ofwhere passengers get on and off the bus;

there are too few bus shelters and too few bus stops. The DDOT report stronglysupported more bus shelters but recommendedfewer bus stops;

signage, especially indicating bus routes thatstop at Metro subway stations, should be

improved. This was another strongrecommendation from the DDOT report andremains to be implemented. The only majorimplementation has been the inclusion ofthrough Adams Morgan on buses and subwaystops;

the absence of informational outreach informing Adams Morgan residents andvisitors of the routes and schedules of such little known Metro buses as the H1 (therush hour bus that runs through Adams Morgan on Columbia Road and Connecticut

Avenue between Brookland and Potomac Park) and how to transfer to Dupont Circlebuses when traveling to Georgetown and Howard Universities and to Sibley andGeorgetown Hospitals using P and Q Street bus stops for the D2 and the G2, forexample, and where to catch the Circulator bus to the Georgetown business district;the stop is below Dupont Circle on 19th and N Streets.

the lack of traffic safety improvements, especially at the dangerous intersections of18th at Columbia and Adams Mill Roads and that of Florida Avenue and U/VernonStreets. There are also current safety concerns regarding the sharing of center lanesamong turning vehicles, large delivery trucks, and Metro buses on 18th Street and

Columbia Road. The only safety improvement dating from the DDOT 2006 report isthe elimination of the slip lane for right turns from Columbia onto Adams Mill,which has the unintended consequence of making it difficult for buses turning leftfrom Columbia Road and pedestrians crossing Adams Mill and 18th Street.

Other recent improvements have included the introduction of SmartTrip cards for bus as well assubway usage and the elimination of paper transfers.


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Metro Subway SystemMetros subway system is a joy for users--when it is fully operational and is running on schedule;otherwise it is simply tolerable. Fundamental problems include:

poor maintenance of all aspects of the system--especially rails and switching

mechanisms, passenger cars, and escalators and elevators and including, surprisingly,the integrity of subway station walls and ceilings;

a poor safety record system-wide, with major incidents at both Dupont Circle andWoodley Park stations (not to mention the tragic accident in June of 2009 near TakomaPark where 9 people died);

Metros unpreparedness for snow and ice, causing it to shut down above ground servicewhile below ground continues in full operation;

infrequent trains on holidays and weekends, especially when major track work and

maintenance is scheduled;

the failure of WMATA to aggressively lead in the development and coordination of asystematic approach to shuttle and feeder buses to subway stations;

the lack of funds that would enable WMATA to run any kind of 24 hour, seven day aweek schedule.

DCPS and Special Needs Bus ServicesMore needs to be done to ensure that safety and timeliness are at high performance levels inthese important areas of bus and subway services.

Fares in the WMATA SystemOnly seniors and young students get good deals on public transportation fares within theDistrict; fares are especially onerous on those who commute to work from beyond the Districtline. For low-wage workers, who are forced into the outer suburbs due to housing costs, thisdisproportionate transportation cost as acondition of work is egregiously unfair.

Circulator Bus ServiceThe Circulator's distinct red buses are unlike anyother public transit service around townwithlow floors, big windows and multiple doors foreasy on-and-off service. Also, passengers don'tneed a bus schedule; the Circulator comes every10 minutes and each ride only costs $1. Metrorailriders using SmartTrip cards are also eligible fordiscounted transfer fares.


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The Circulator is the product of a unique public/private partnership between the DistrictDepartment of Transportation, DC Surface Transit, Inc. and the various Business ImprovementDistricts (BIDs) throughout DC. The idea for a quick, efficient, low-cost, public-transit systemoriginated in the National Capital Planning Commission's 1997 "Extending the Legacy: PlanningAmerica's Capital for the 21st Century" vision for the District. The Downtown Business

Improvement District (Downtown BID) was an early champion of its implementation.

Now more than a decade later the DC Circulator is expanding to link cultural, entertainment andbusiness destinations within the city's central core and District neighborhoods. Two new routeswere added in March 2009 and the most recent, in October 2011. Now there are five Circulatorroutes in all, providing easy connections to neighborhoods throughout the District and intoRosslyn, Virginia. This dynamic transit system promotes ease of movement in our world-classcapital city and complements Metro's transit services throughout the region.

The Woodley Park-Adams Morgan-McPherson Square route was added in March 2009. The

route hours are:

Sunday - Thursday: 7am Midnight andFriday and Saturday: 7am 3:30am.

It makes stops in the following locations in Adams Morgan:Originating at Woodley Park in the direction of McPherson Squ are

18th St. NW/Calvert RoadColumbia Rd/Ontario Street NW

Originating at McPherson Square in the direction of Woodley Park

Columbia Rd NW/Ontario StreetColumbia Rd/18th St. NW/Adams Mill Road

Since the Woodley Park/Adams Morgan/McPherson Square route began in March of 2009, thepeak monthly ridership was 152,700 passengers in October 2011. The average monthly ridershipon this route is about 130,000 passengers.

Streetcar Service 3

In the first half of the twentieth century, the District had a robust streetcar network with more

than 200 miles of track and multiple companies providing service. But, like many US cities, theDistrict shelved the streetcars in favor of buses and the last day of streetcar service in the citywas January 28, 1962.

3 Sources:http://ddot.dc.gov/DC/DDOT/About+DDOT/Publications/DC+Transit+Future

http://ddot.dc.gov/DC/DDOT/On+Your+Street/Mass+Transit+in+DC/DC+Streetcar/DC+Streetcar+Overview


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Today, many regret the shortsighted decision-making that silenced streetcar lines across thecountry and streetcars are now making a comeback. Streetcars are running once again in placeslike Portland, Seattle, and Tampa and theyve been credited with boosting economicdevelopment along their routes.

Here in the District, the streetcar construction that is underway now is rooted in a planningprocess that began several years ago to shape the future of transit in the city. Thecomprehensive District of Columbia Transit Improvements Alternatives Analysis (DCAA)studiedgaps in transit and identified ways to better meet the needs of residents. Out of that, DDOTbegan focusing on expanding transit service with the DC Circulator, express Metro bus routes,bus rapid transit, and streetcar.

The streetcar offers an array of benefits. First, it will make it easier for residents to movebetween neighborhoods. It will also spur economic development. Unlike buses, fixed rail lineshave demonstrated they can be catalysts to attract investments in housing, retail andcommercial properties.

The goals of the new DC Streetcar system are simple:

Link neighborhoods with a modern, convenient and attractive transportation alternative(basically streetcar is sexy and studies have shown that people who wont ride the buswill ride the streetcar).

Provide quality service to attract and reach new transit ridership.

Offer a broader range of transit options for District residents

Reduce short inner-city auto trips, parking demand, traffic congestion, and air pollution.

Encourage economic development and affordable housing options along streetcarcorridors.

Without streetcars, the prospects for public transportation in the District are much lesspromising. The forecast calls for a 32 percent increase in the number of transportation trips inthe District by 2030. Already, many Metro bus routes and Metrorail lines are operating at orabove capacity, and congestion on two Metrorail lines was expected to becomeunmanageable by 2013. It is clear there is a need for more transit service and the DC Streetcaris an investment that will pay tremendous dividends for District residents.

The DC Streetcar Development Plan is organized into three phases:

First Phase includes Anacostia Line, H and Benning Road, along with UnionStation/Mount Vernon Square, K Street, M Street SE, MLK Jr Avenue, and Lower GeorgiaAvenue.


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Second Phase includes Georgia Avenue, Congress Heights, Florida Avenue, U Street toCalvert Street (Adams Morgan portion), Rhode Island Avenue South and North andGeorgetown.

Third Phase includes Minnesota Avenue, Bolling AFB, Columbia Road (Adams Morgan

portion), Michigan Avenue and 7th

Street.

There is not a timeline yet for the second and third phases that would include Adams Morganstreets.

AUTOMOBILESThe 2006 DDOT report made clear that too many cars are coming into Adams Morgan for thestreet network to absorb and that there are insufficient parking spaces for residents and visitorsalike. Mayor Grays transportation vision for DC also encourages less reliance on the automobileand more walking and use of public transportation. Too many carsentering Adams Morgan with nowhere to park creates a volume oftraffic on the streets and aggressive behavior on the part of the driversgenerating a safety problem.

Many of the problems created by too many cars such as speeding, illegalturns, illegal parking, creation of ad hoc loading zones, and ignoring redlights, stops signs and pedestrian crosswalks are against the law. Theview of many residents is that the Metropolitan Police Department doesnot adequately enforce the existing traffic laws.

In Adams Morgan there has been a very limited adoption of traffic calming strategies compared

to some other DC neighborhoods. Traffic calming devices include roundabouts, speed bumps,speed cameras, rumble strips, pedestrian refuge areas, raised crosswalks, and one-way streets.The 18th Street streetscape project led to some marginal improvements along that thoroughfarebut otherwise calming efforts are mostly absent from Adams Morgan other than speed bumpson Lanier Place and on Champlain Street under the Marie Reed Schools overpass. In contrast, inSheridan-Kalorama there are speed bumps on Kalorama Road and California Street.

There is a limited network of one-way streets in Adams Morgan compared to the Dupont-LoganCircle area where a large number of crosstown streets are one-way. Such streets can calm trafficbut the 2006 report did not recommend the expansion of the existing network taking the viewthat the cons largely counterbalanced the pros. However, the increasing volume of traffic hasexacerbated the problems on narrow streets since that time. The one-way street in front ofHarris-Teeter helped that area with the higher traffic volume. With the construction of theAdams Morgan Historic Hotel, traffic will increase on Champlain and Euclid Streets. Newhousing along 17th Street will also increase traffic volume. Additional one-way streets could alsoreduce the opportunities for taxis and others to circle the neighborhood excessively.


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The 2006 report devoted considerable time to looking at the gateways to Adams Morgan,specifically the intersections of 18th Street with Columbia Road and Florida Avenue. While viewsdiffer on their effectiveness, some improvements were made at Florida Avenue and 18th Street.Except for the backlogs of cars coming north on 18th Street turning right on Florida having aproblem because the right-turn lane is very short, the situation was improved in that area,

particularly for pedestrian safety. However, the intersection of 18th and Columbia is stillunsatisfactory. For a number of reasons including the large expanse of the intersection, carsoften dont yield to pedestrians.

Recently the community has learned that Columbia Road between Champlain Street and MozartPlace will become even more heavily used for loading zones with the construction of newcondos and retail space at the location of the old Ontario Theater. DDOT needs to clarify therules for loading zones along 18th Street and Columbia Road (e.g., is unloading from the middleof the street legal? Are there time restrictions?) and MPD needs to enforce the law.

Parking

Parking meters exist in most of the commercial areas of Adams Morgan and so there appears tobe limited scope for increasing the coverage area. However, the time that the meters are in useas well as the cost could be changed. The use of peak-load pricing (also known as performanceparking) has begun to be implemented in DC and would appear tobe a useful option for Adams Morgan. However, peak pricingwould only make sense if the meters were in use during AdamsMorgans peak hours including weekday evenings and onweekends.

Garage spacethere is very limited off-street paid parking inAdams Morgan. Presently there are 254 garage spaces at1711 Florida Avenue and 271 spaces in the 18th Street garagein Adams Morgan. Given land usage there would appear to belittle scope for increasing the number of commercial parkinggarages in Adams Morgan. However, the effect on parkingshould be taken into consideration as the communitydiscusses development projects for 1711 Florida Avenue,which is currently a parking garage. In the past, theredevelopment of the Marie Reed Community Center has been discussed including theconstruction of a parking garage. Such a re-development project would likely face communityopposition for a number of reasons. To encourage daytime business in Adams Morgan there is adaytime parking discount at the 18th Street garage. With validation from any Adams Morganbusiness (no purchase necessary) customers can park for up to 4 hours for $7 (5 p.m. exitrequired) or up to 2 hours for $3. This is available 7 days a week.

In 2012, the DC Council finalized legislative changes to the Residential Parking Program (RPP)program in Adams Morgan that provides for supplying each of the roughly 7,000 households


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within ANC1C (Adams Morgan) with a visitor pass putting furtherpressure on available street parking. The new regulations also createdresident-only parking on one side of streets designated RPP. Giventhat RPP is only in effect during 7:30 am-8: 30 pm during weekdayswhen parking is not in such short supply, the institution of the

residents only zones did not have a large effect. It did however put bigpressure on local nonprofit organizations that rely on volunteersdriving to assist them during the day. Following the communityprocess that Georgetown used for managing its parking regulationscould be a good example for Adams Morgan.

Recently the DC Office of Planning has proposed to remove therequirement for developers to provide minimum amounts of parkingin certain newly named zones (i.e. mixed-use transit zones and apartment transit zones) andlocations close to Metro stops or high service bus corridors. This step may not be suited for an

area such as Adams Morgan where parking is in short supply. However, this is consistent withthe DC Office of Planning and DDOTs objectives to reduce the number of vehicles driving thestreets of DC and encourage people to use mass-transit and other means of transportation.

Recently the issue of valet parking has arisen in part because of the unsatisfactory conduct ofone of the operators of valet service. If the vision for Adams Morgan is one of reducing thenumber of cars entering Adams Morgan, particularly during the entertainment zones peakhours, then increasing the use of valet parking may be questionable. Taxis would seem to be anattractive alternative. Alternatively, valet can be seen as a positive amenity that helpsdiscourage drivers from circling looking for parking. Some high-end restaurants across the city

rely heavily on valet parking to bring customers to them.

Finally, the reservation of certain spaces for car-share companies such as ZipCar is a parkingissue, but this subject is covered in another portion of the working groups report. Whether ornot ZipCar parking should be allowed at public parking locations is a subject of controversy.

BICYCLESBicycles are an important and growing mode of transportation in Adams Morgan and acrossDC. As evidenced by DCs Bicycle Master Plan (April 2005), Adams Morgan Transportation andParking Study (March 2006), and the Mayors Vision for a Sustainable DC, our city government isintent on promoting and expanding bicycle use throughout the District. For example, in hissustainable vision plan, the Mayor set a goal that by 2032 at least 75% of all trips originating inthe city will be by walking, biking, transit, or other clean transportation alternative, and that theDistrict will complete 80 miles of bike lanes.


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The promotion of bicycles is also evident in thecitys rapidly growing Capital Bikeshare program,which was launched in August 2008 and nowincludes over 175 stations providing over 1670bicycles to over 24,000 annual members in DC and

Northern Virginia. In Adams Morgan, there are 6Capital Bikeshare stations.

Within the last five years, other than CapitalBikeshare, the Streetscape Project has likely had thelargest impact on bicycles in Adams Morgan. For example, the project created bike lanes,provided additional bike racks, and created bicycle-friendly traffic calming intersections.

We now have bicycle lanes along the major streets of Adams Morgan, including the followinglocations:

Calvert Street, going to Rock Creek Park and its bike path

Columbia Road

And several secondary streets, such as Euclid Street, W Street and Adams Mill Road.

One problem, though, that cyclists sometimes encounter concerns the continuity of the localbike lanes, which on occasion will fairly abruptly disappear from the street, or will shift theirlocation on the roadway without notice.

The Capital Bikeshare program of rental bikes has been

expanding with stations now at 18th Street and ColumbiaRoad; at Columbia Road and Belmont Road; on18 th Streetoutside of the Marie Reed Center; at16 th Street at Harvard;and at the intersection of Florida Avenue and Ontario Road.Additionally, the street-surface bike logo or sharrow hasbeen placed along many major streets. A sharrow (a blend of share and arrow) is a shared-lanemarking on alane of apaved road's surface indicating that bicyclists may use any portion of thefull width of the lane.

There are also a number of bike racks throughout Adams Morgan, especially at Columbia and

Ontario near the offices of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA), and at the MarieReed Center. The number of racks continues to grow.

Looking to the future, bicycles offer a healthy, clean form of transportation that has thepotential to ease significantly the burdens of traffic and pollution. However, this growth mustbe done responsibly. In a multi-modal transportation system such as ours, expanding cyclingnot only has costs (e.g., signage, bike racks, and bike lanes), but may also increase safety hazardsand risks. Without the proper facilities and rules in place, cyclists pose increased safety risks to


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themselves and others, including pedestrians and drivers. This safety concern is particularlyrelevant to Adams Morgan, which, according to the 2006 study, had some of the higher-volumebike crash locations in the District.

Other items for consideration:

Bicycle Safety and Access

DC Law & Legislative History Bicycle Policy Modernization Amendment Act of 2008Bicycle Registration Reform Amendment Act of 2008Bicycle Safety Amendment Act of 2008Child Helmet Safety Amendment Act of 2000

DC Municipal RegulationDCMR 18-12: Bicycles, Motorized Bicycles, and Miscellaneous Vehicles

General InformationDC Bike Program Fact Sheet Summer 2012Safe Bicycling in the Washington Area Brochure

Standards & SpecificationsBicycle Facility Design GuideTransportation Plans & StudiesDC Bicycle Master Plan

Bicycle Parking DC Law & Legislative History

Bicycle Commuter and Parking Expansion Amendment Act of 2007Bicycle Commuter and Parking Expansion Amendment Act of 2010

DC Municipal RegulationDCMR 11-2119: Off-Street Parking RequirementsDCMR 18-1208: Bicycles RacksDCMR 18-1209: Parking Bicycles on Public SpaceDCMR 18-1210: Removal of Bicycles from Public SpaceDCMR 18-4028: Bicycle Racks

General InformationFAQ: Bike Racks & Other Street Furniture Mayoral OrderBicycle Commuter and Parking Expansion Amendment Act of 2007Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)Bicycle Rack Placement in Public Space


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Standards & SpecificationsBicycle Rack Design GuideBicycle Parking Guidelines

WALKING

Adams Morgan, with its close in-town location, is an area that generally has a very good layoutfor pedestrian travel. The Adams Morgan locale is made up of four distinct, smallerneighborhoods which were all built up about 1900 when walking was the natural and typicalway of getting around locally.

Today we are also fortunate that the District government is wellaware of the importance of neighborhood travel, and is in its dailyoperations of maintenance and improvement routinely looking outfor the welfare of its walking residents. The Mayors Vision for aSustainable DC issued in 2012 identifies transportation as one of the

major components to consider when planning better use of energy.The report notes that walking and biking can reduce obesity and canhelp to maintain a persons overall health. As mentioned earlier,this study sets a goal of having 75% of all city trips be by walking,biking or transit.

Since walking was the basic neighborhood mode of travel whenAdams Morgan was first developed, all of the streets of the areawere designed to have sidewalks, and over the years any new workhas been generally well planned, and mostly well maintained with respect to pedestrian travel.At intersections, the corners have always been well marked and properly signed and signaled.The alleys were usually not designed for short-cut travel, but this sometimes did occur, from thebeginning and happens now too, so this is a factor in alley upkeep.

Currently, the District continues to maintain the areas sidewalks in a generally good manner,and to monitor the needs of walkers and wheelchairs at intersections. Unfortunately, sidewalksare almost always considered a secondary-part of the roadways in this area (as well as in mostother neighborhoods). This treatment sometimes does not give walkers the priority attentionthey should probably have at certain key locations, in particular along the routes to the twoMetro stations. There is also the issue of interactions between bicycles and walkers bothneeding space. Sometime bikers use the roadway, sometimes the sidewalk; the rules for allshould be made plain and then followed.

One way to look at the walking pattern is to break it into two parts: internal travel, and travel toleave or enter the neighborhood. Inside walking is fairly basic and straightforward. The cityssystem of traffic control is generally good. Going outside the neighborhood, to Metro orelsewhere, is perhaps the more important issue to look at here. The somewhat specialconfiguration of the area streets that enclose Adams Morgan means that on all sides there are


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well-defined entrance and exit walking-routes into the neighborhood. Making these majorroutes each a clear and easy travel pathway is key. There are several ways of doing this,including the citys recent new use of the beige pebble-surface sidewalks here, which isdefinitely a good idea. Continued use of this surface on the main routes surrounding AdamsMorgan would be helpful, for example, along Columbia Road, especially going toward the

Columbia Heights Metro; along the rest of Calvert Street going to Woodley Park, and perhaps ona few other streets. In addition, the area has a couple of complex intersections, and pedestrianscould be given a simplified walking pattern at these spots. For example, the intersections atCalvert and Adams Mill, and also at 16th and Columbia, could be reconfigured to make themmore pleasant for pedestrians, and could even be designed to act as gateway entrances toAdams Morgan.

The recent major reconstruction of 18 th Street was very well done, and has been a nice benefitto drivers, walkers, and businesses. (If perhaps not so helpful to parkers.) For pedestrians theimprovement is dramatic. The old sidewalks there were uneven, cluttered and in many spots,

and very narrow. The new work is clear and cleanly constructed. Its surprising how muchclearer the street view is when the sidewalk pattern is uniform and gives the walker a straightview down the street. The businesses also benefit: their shops are easier to see, and the severalsidewalk cafes can now be set up without crowding out the sidewalk travel space.

In contrast is Columbia Road. Today the sidewalks of this main thoroughfare through AdamsMorgan are a mixture of good and bad. There are areas that have not been evenly maintained,and could use some improvements. For example, between Mintwood and 16th there arestretches that should be properly re-built to give the walkers a better travel space, and to makethe walkways easier for the businesses to use. The south side of Columbia between Ontario and

Champlain is a visible example of a problem spot.

The city has done a good job recently of re-building the areas alleyways. These, as in mostlocales, are something of a continuing problem (trash, lurking, etc.), and fresh ideas about whatmight be done would be beneficial.

With local schools, there is some walking involved, and as this function has evolved over theyears, a satisfactory travel plan has naturally evolved. In addition, many students are bused ordropped off by car.

Some issues to consider for walkers are: the visual pleasantness, safety, and ease of the walking.

This can easily be noted with a simple stroll along the major routes. Generally, lighting is verygood. But the city could check more routinely and more often to ensure that obstructions,especially with sidewalk vending, do not block, or become permanent. Broken or bent city signsshould be fixed promptly, and graffiti promptly removed. Traffic signs, as needed, should becorrectly re-aligned. Private signs should be monitored too, and not be allowed to block thesidewalk. When street and sidewalk construction occurs, the city should always be mindful of


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the quality of the construction being done and not accept poor, damaged, or graffiti-marredwork from the contractors doing the job.

Overall, the District government has done some careful planning to help support pedestriantravel in Adams Morgan, and with citizen input the city should be encouraged to look at

ways of making even more improvements.

Envision Adams Morgan - Draft Transportation Working Group Baseline Report

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