Major changes are coming to 14th Street in Columbia Heights starting this summer, including dedicated bus lanes, redesigned bike lanes, and pick-up and drop-off areas intended to address congestion in one of the city’s most bustling corridors.

In terms of population, the stretch of 14th Street NW from downtown to Columbia Heights is one of the densest areas in the city, featuring mixed-use developments and large apartment buildings. It’s also one of the busiest for foot and car traffic. In 2017, the intersection of 14th and Irving streets NW, where the neighborhood’s Metro station is located, typically saw 3,500 pedestrians and 1,500 vehicles during the busiest hour of the afternoon.

That hustle and bustle has been linked to a high number of traffic crashes along the corridor, with a number of intersections in that area routinely ranking among the most dangerous in the city. In 2018, the 14th and Irving intersection was one of three intersections citywide that witnessed the highest number of crashes involving a pedestrian, at eight each, WTOP reported. Meanwhile, the intersection of 14th Street NW and Columbia Road NW, just a block south, was among the most dangerous intersections for cyclists and scooter riders that year.

This situation could improve, thanks to a variety of new street designs announced by the District Department of Transportation.

DDOT is planning to add dedicated bus lanes on 14th Street NW between Euclid and Newton streets NW on a pilot basis for a year. Spanning over half a mile, the bus lanes will be painted in red and cyclists and scooter riders will be allowed to use them, just like the dedicated bus lanes downtown on H and I streets NW. Flex posts will also separate the lanes from other traffic.

Installing the lanes will require removing 64 street parking spaces and merging the roadway with existing bike lanes, according to DDOT.

Planners expect the new lanes will speed up bus service on 14th Street NW, including that provided by the 52, 54, and 59 Metrobus routes and the D.C. Circulator’s Woodley Park-Adams Morgan-McPherson Square route. Together, more than 15,500 riders take those routes daily, DDOT says. “Currently, the average bus speed on 14th Street NW travels 7.6 mph, but speed is reduced by almost half—to just 3.6 mph—between Euclid and Newton Streets NW,” the agency says in a release.

Bus stops will also be consolidated to occur every other block instead of every block, and city transportation officials will study the impact of the lanes over the following year.

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Additional changes slated for the corridor include designated pick-up and drop-off zones for ride-hailing cars and taxis on both sides of 14th Street NW, near the D.C. USA shopping center that houses Target, Best Buy, and other stores.

A new northbound left-turn lane will be added at Newton Street NW, and shared lane markings for bikes and cars will be installed between Monroe and Newton streets NW. A traffic island north of Park Road NW will be removed and redesigned.

The improvements are set to begin this summer, in quick succession of one another, says a DDOT spokesperson. A more specific timeline wasn’t immediately provided.

Residents have until April 2 to publicly comment on these plans to DDOT. The agency says it has worked with Metro on the bus changes and that the overall designs are part of its Vision Zero initiative to eliminate traffic deaths by 2024.