Photo courtesy Eric GillilandD.C.’s new downtown bike lane project received approval from the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board this week, allowing the lanes to be included in the region’s broader transportation planning models.
The approval means the new bike lanes will move forward as a pilot project, which District Dept. of Transportation officials say should run for about a year. During the pilot period, DDOT will collect data and feedback on how the lanes work, especially in terms of how many cyclists take advantage of them.
With the national Bike to Work Day event planned for Friday, the city had been hoping to open the first of the new lanes, which will run down the center of Pennsylvania Ave., this week, but as WTOP’s Adam Tuss reported earlier today, the opening has since been delayed.
“We still want to minimize the impact on traffic. We’re looking for a way to make more room for the cars,” said Jim Sebastian, DDOT’s bicycle program manager.
DDOT will spend the next three to four weeks reconfiguring the median to make sure there is room for both bikes and cars, according to Sebastian. While initial plans for the lanes had called for removable barriers and/or colored paint, those details are no longer being included.
