I share many residents’ disappointment with DDOT's decision to exclude bike lanes from the current proposed safety enhancements on Connecticut Avenue. Around a year ago it became clear Mayor Bowser had reservations about the inclusion of bike lanes in the plan. I have consistently advocated to the mayor and her team that including bike lanes was an important component of the safety plan and as part of the broader effort to promote multimodal transportation, including through two public letters (December 2023 and February 2024). The mayor now proposes to go a different way. The suggestion is that there will be yet-to-be-described safety improvements and exploration of where a north/south bike route in upper northwest should be located. There are more unanswered questions than answers in the administration’s current posture. The question now is what happens next. First, we need to fully understand what DDOT is proposing, including how it might promote safety and how it might not, as well as getting some sense of DDOT’s thoughts about possible north/south bike routes. Second, we need to…
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