January 14, 2008
Reverse The Reversible Lanes?
The Cleveland Park listserv is teeming with arguments both in favor of and against eliminating the reversible traffic lanes on Connecticut Avenue. Detractors claim the lanes to be unsafe for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists alike; of course, others (read: commuters) are crying bloody murder at the potential increase in traffic jams during the morning and evening rush hour on one of the city's main arterial roadways.
Some of the posters in the thread believe that the reversible lanes are vital to keeping the traffic flow on the Avenue at a reasonable flow, especially during peak traffic times - this argument should ring true to those of us who not only use one of the District's major traffic vessels for commuting to and from work, but also for commuting between neighborhoods in Northwest (not to mention one of the most frequently accessed entrances to the Beltway). But those residents who have children express concern about the potential disaster waiting to happen for small ones who need to cross the Avenue to get to school.
Many different compromises and solutions have been tossed around: better demarcating the lanes to use, using a DDOT truck to place 4x4 pylons in the lane lines to demarcate the lane changes (a practice commonly seen on urban bridges like Golden Gate in San Francisco), stepping up police ticketing of cars that simply idle in the curb lane during rush hour, and pressuring Metro to, you know, fix itself to make it more appealing to drivers traveling along the Red Line/Connecticut corridor.
There will be a community meeting held at the Cleveland Park Library (3310 Connecticut Avenue NW) on February 7th at 6:30 p.m. for residents to discuss the matter with representatives of DDOT and the Police Department.
Have any of you ever accidentally gotten in the wrong lane or almost struck due to the lane changes? Or is this just a terrible idea?
Photo by billadler.
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Less lanes = more idling cars = more pollution. Getting rid of the lanes will not get rid of the commuters. Although I agree that a better demarcation of the center divider during rush hour is greatly needed.
Less lanes = more use of sidestreets to get around clogged Connecticut Avenue = lots more angry residents.
They need to: 1) demarcate the lanes better; 2) put up better signage to warn of the switching lanes; 3) have cops roll down the street during the lane switching (like they do on Canal Road, although that is the Park Police); 4) ban left lane turns; 5) better time lights along the street; and 6) have tow trucks standing by to tow any cars parked along the street in prohibited hours.
They should get rid of the reversible lanes for a month. The neighborhood will be soiling itself in rage once the gridlock spills over into Cleveland Park's precious side streets.
A car coming directly at me flashing its lights and honking its horn is the only indication I need that I have to get into another lane. Perhaps this is too subtle for most commuters? Perhaps some sort of surface-to-surface missile is needed here.
Forgot to add: If they just created some left turn pockets, traffic would flow better and make things much safer.
How does the alternation of lanes have any bearing on the sweet innocent children trying to cross the street? Are they jaywalking by running across, trying to synchronize their crossing with the flow of traffic? Or are they following the crosswalk sign like they're supposed to, which would not be affected by traffic flow whatsoever? The "But the children! Think of the children!" play for sympathy is a little weak.
Last year, the inbound (7-9:30 am) reversible lanes on Capitol Hill (Constitution Avenue) were eliminated. There has been an appreciable increase in traffic on other arterials as a results (C St NE; East Capitol; Penn Ave).
Conneticut Ave is a commercial corridor and that won't be changing. DDOT needs to better manage how the lanes function (signage, barriers, etc). I think it was about a year ago that DCIST ran a story about how DDOT didn't even know how many reversible lanes existed in DC.
On the other hand, it would be nice to have Rock Creek Park maintain at least one non-rush hour lane in the opposite direction at all times. Favoring Maryland communters both in/out of the city at the expense of DC residents who have a reverse commute is not fair.
What's it called?
Monorail!
Once again...
Monorail!
But Main Street's still all cracked and broken...
Sorry, Mom, the mob has spoken!
Monorail!
Monorail!
Monorail!
Monorail!
If you drive Connecticut Avenue all the time maybe the reversible lanes make sense. If you don't, though, they're quite confusing. I found myself on Connecticut during rush hour the day after Thanksgiving. Since traffic was light, it was indeed only the "car coming directly at me flashing its lights and honking its horn" that made me finally figure out which lanes the xs and os were meant to correspond to (I couldn't tell whether the parking lane was included.)
I don't have any problem with the concept, but it needs to be done better so that the "newbies" don't get flustered and screw up traffic. This would mean signs tipping people off well in advance of when the division begins, as opposed to one block beforehand when all the other cars have already closed ranks against you in anger.
Undoing something this important to traffic-flow is ridiculous. If anybody is this scared of a head-on collision caused by reversible lanes, they can just stay in the far-right lane.
Or, you know, pay close attention to whether or not a car is barreling towards them head-first. The danger isn't so much in a collision as someone getting pissed off, honking, and giving the finger while someone else awkwardly and apologetically merges back into traffic.
Speaking of traffic jams in Cleveland Park, WTF happened with opening Klingle Road? Did they not have the money to repair it, or did the keep-it-closed crowd get some "think of the children" court injunction?
Last year, the inbound (7-9:30 am) reversible lanes on Capitol Hill (Constitution Avenue) were eliminated. There has been an appreciable increase in traffic on other arterials as a results (C St NE; East Capitol; Penn Ave).
I live on the Hill and hadn't really seen much of a change, but what I did notice was that the morning fustercluck where Constitution empties out onto Maryland Ave moves very smoothly now without that extra lane of traffic.
Oh, and I don't buy the pedestrian argument. And I just plain don't give a shit about bicyclists; they're the ultimate road hazard in all cases anyway.
I lived around cleveland park until just recently when my house caught on fire, and that neighborhood is full of people who have only themselves in mind. i agree with monkeyrotica, let the lanes go away for a month, and see what they want after that. They will be sorry they even said a word. As for the kids thing, jaywalking is a bigger problem than the lanes, for instance the block right infront of the uptown. Correct me if I am wrong, but that is one of the worst jaywalking areas in the city. Use the damn cross walks, its not that hard.
It's not rocket science, drivers, just hang up your damn phone and follow the signs like we used to do in the olden days.
You haven't seen jaywalking until you've driven down H St. NE. The jaywalkers there are on top of their game.
VJ, be careful what you say about cyclists. THey will come after you with keys in the car-scratch position. And they will be justified. Drivers on their phones are the road hazards. Cyclists have a lot more to lose in a collision and are usually much more careful than say, the Escalade-drivin' menaces from the suburbs.
Even knowing that the lanes reverse during rush hour and being a local hasn't prevented me from being headed southbound in a northbound lane during rush hour. It's happened a couple times when I've turned onto Connecticut from a cross street. They really need better markings. It's way too easy to make that mistake.
I've also never been clear on whether a left turn from southbound Connecticut onto, say, Porter is supposed to be legal during evening rush hour. I've had to do it a few times and I always feel like an ass blocking the one moving southbound lane, since people like to park illegally in the other southbound lane right there. You still get the turn arrow at the light, though, so it seems like they intend for that turn to be legal.
I do (heart) the Cleveland Park listserve members who come up with various pie-in-the-sky approaches on how to "fix" Connecticut Avenue, when there's little indication that anything is broken to begin with. It'd be great if more people took Metro. It would also be great if Giselle Bundchen served me waffles every morning. Let's see which happens first.
The contraflow lane is perfectly fine as it is, and keeps traffic moving very smoothly for a major commuting artery at the height of rush hour. If anything, the reversible lane should be held up as a great success in moving cars efficiently. Yes, the signage could be better, since the "use 2 lanes/use 4 lanes" signs aren't always apparent on first use, and the striping is just plain ambiguous. Most of this issue has come about from losing 2 lanes on the Klingle Bridge over the last year, turning it from a 4/2 to a 3/1 (with a lane shift) rush hour configuration, which is confusing to shift back and forth. The solution is to install more of the overhead lane markers like the ones currently in use at the bridge.
As far as accidents go, I have neither seen nor heard of any head-ons in the reversible lane. The most common cause of accidents are people turning left from lane 3, and cutting across someone going straight in lane 4. (like this: 12/4321).
Left turns from south Connecticut to Porter are perfectly fine, since you have the arrow. Yes, you block the lane, but that's the way life is. Left turns from north Connecticut to Porter are forbidden at all times (look for the small sign near the bus stop on the far side).
I have an idea!
Lets just tear down all the businesses on Connecticut Ave and make it a 12 lane superhighway with a pedestrian bridge on top.
Problem solved - no more traffic nightmares and no worries about pedestrians crossing.
ces12 for mayor.
I drive on CT Ave southbound during the evening rush every workday and honestly there needs to be more tow trucks towing cars that are either parked or idle on the road. I've also had to ask cops to move their cars when they stop drivers in the southbound direction.
It's just asinine stupidity by drivers that keeps the problems on CT Ave. But honestly the lane switching is the best solution. You still get sidewalks and crosswalks and if the pedestrians use them the area remains walking friendly.
Woodley Park resident here...
I find that its usually commercial vehicles blocking the outermost lanes during rush hour around here.
UPS
7-Eleven deliveries
US Postal Service
all come to mind as frequent violators.
I've always wondered how exactly they do the switchover to reverse the direction of lanes at the right times. What if my clock is five minutes fast, and I decide that I have the lane, contrary to people coming the other direction? I guess I need to give area drivers more credit, since you never hear of any head-on collisions.
From my experience with Constitution Ave NE, the worst part of reversible lanes is "except holidays." Monday "holidays observed" as declared by OPM are not general knowledge amongst civilians and tourists, and things get dangerous.
Oh, Connecticut Avenue? Double-deck the sucker.
VJ, be careful what you say about cyclists. THey will come after you with keys in the car-scratch position.
Oooh, scawwie. What's next, a potato in the tailpipe?
two wrongs don't make a right
but three rights make a left
The city definately needs better enforcement of the cell phone law... i was hit while on my bike this summer by a woman who was on her cell phone. I almost flipped a s**t at her, then she waved 200 dollars in my face and i was up and going.