Photo by Joe Danielewicz

DDOT is tweaking the bike lanes currently being installed between the White House and the Capitol on Pennsylvania Ave.

DCist reported the first public glimpse of the plans in March. While the majority of the plans remain intact, there are some small but significant changes.

• The median area where cyclists travel has been moved more toward the center rather than on the outside of the median. In most places, cyclists will be protected by a buffer from traffic.

• Moving the bike lanes toward the middle of the median gives planners more space to add left turn lanes for cars.

John Lisle, spokesperson for DDOT, says the changes come from seeing the layout on the actual street. Planners feared the bike lanes and buffers were so wide drivers might drive in the reserved area. “We believe the updated designs are safer,” Lisle said in an email.

Not everyone is pleased with the new plans. Writing at Greater Greater Washington, transit and smart growth advocate David Alpert says the revised lanes could be more dangerous.

The narrower lanes appear to be much less safe for cyclists. In some places, such as between 13th and 14th Streets, there is no buffer at all between traffic and the lanes.

This could be okay if the Commission on Fine Arts had allowed DDOT to install a physical separator, such as poles, but they rejected that as well despite the existence of many existing poles, at the pedestrian refuges and for traffic lights, on the avenue today.

The bike lanes should be completed by the middle of June. They are part of a pilot program that may last as long as a year while DDOT collects data and public feedback. More changes are possible once the program concludes.

The new blueprints are posted on DDOT’s website, where you can also give feedback on the plans.