The Post digs in to the D.C. Department of Transportation’s plans to unveil a new pedestrian strategy today that aims to reduce accidents and injuries in the city’s most dangerous intersections and crosswalks.

The plan includes a mix of efforts, including things like restriping crosswalks, changing signal timings, installing more Rapid Flash Beacons, and other tactics that target 61 “high hazard” traffic intersections. Some of the intersections and crossings mentioned in the story include Howard Road SE near the Anacostia Metro station, the area around Verizon Center in Chinatown, 14th and U streets NW, and Benning Road and Minnesota Avenue NE.

After last year’s deadly year for pedestrians, a plan of this sort feels overdue. We haven’t yet seen the entire list of 61 crosswalk areas, and we’ll update when we get a copy of it, but one thing that strikes us is that it seems really important not just to focus on busy intersections where a lot more accidents take place, but also on crosswalks that aren’t located at intersections but rather traverse some of the wider avenues in areas where drivers tend to speed up. If I had to choose my most personally terrifying crosswalk in the city, it would probably be the one that connects R Street NW across Florida Ave. as you approach the Bloomingdale Farmer’s Market triangle park and the Big Bear Cafe from the west. No one slows down or gives pedestrians any leeway in the crosswalk, and there are virtually no additional signs indicating drivers ought to exercise more caution. A close second would be the top of Mt. Pleasant Street at Park Road, although that intersection was where one of last year’s fatal Metrobus accidents occurred, and it is definitely on DDOT’s list for improvements.

Which intersections and/or crosswalks scare you the most?

Photo by Dan_DC