save connecticut ave in the news...

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K Street in Washington DC is again at the center of the intensifying conflict between cycling activists who want protected bike lanes and residents who want to maintain direct curbside access and street parking. On December 19th, neighbors organized by the K Street Collective gathered to protest the installation of a new extension of the existing protected bike lane that they say will radically change the street and impair the quality of life in this Northeast neighborhood. This new segment of bike lane will be built between 6th and 8th Streets Northeast.

Save Connecticut Ave has been reporting on this topic since early 2022 because we view it as a cautionary tale for Connecticut Avenue --  DDOT has stated to us that the K St NW bike lane is its model for the Connecticut Avenue plan. Our first article on the human crisis on K Street includes an 11 minute documentary featuring candid interviews with residents and footage of how the bike lanes have changed daily life there.

K Street residents object that the new installation will deny them nearby parking and force them to walk far at night through crime-ridden streets to find distant places to park. A senior disabled resident was just denied a parking space at her home because of the new curbside bike lane – this despite the fact that alternate bike routes for cyclists on Eye Street and Florida Ave already exist and the fact that bicycle ridership on the street is light.

The conflict is a new development in the ongoing struggle on K Street between cycling activists, who are strongly supported by DDOT and elected officials, and the elderly, disabled and often disadvantaged residents who live on the corridor. It also pits established Black residents against predominantly white and young new arrivals. We published an article "Bike Lanes and Privilege" which cites Census Bureau data and other sources showing that in DC cyclists are disproportionately white, affluent and highly educated. Meanwhile, the two types of transportation that are most disrupted by protected bike lanes, bus and car, are the main modes of commuting for 72% of the city's Black population. 

The plight of the Black residents of K Street has fallen on deaf ears at DDOT and with DC council member Charles Allen. As a result of the initial outcry over the K Street NW bike lane, DC council member Allen and DDOT staff toured the bike lane to hear concerns.  Allen and the DDOT staff arrived on bicycles, in stark contrast to the neighborhood residents using wheelchairs, walkers and canes. Now, 18 months later, Allen and DDOT have tuned out residents' concerns and proceeded with the current installation of this new piece of bike lane in K Street NE. 

We hope that ongoing attention to the crisis on K Street will bring justice for a group of long-time DC residents who have been outmaneuvered by well-funded bike lobby groups such as WABA, whose largest source of funding is the DC government. Allen, who chairs the DC Council's transportation committee, has been aggressive in protecting and expanding WABA's millions of dollars of subsidies. WABA, in an email to subscribers on on 4/27/22 titled "We Made Major Progress in the FY 24 DC Budget," congratulated itself on its successful lobbying to get everything it wanted during a difficult funding climate when many programs were cut. It concluded, "We want to thank Council Member Charles Allen and the Transportation & the Environment committee for moving us forward this budget season and reversing most of what was originally lost in the Mayor’s budget." WABA last year bestowed its Vision Zero Award on Allen. Vision Zero is widely considered a failure in terms of results as traffic fatalities continue to increase. But for WABA it has been a great success as Allen uses his role on the Council to funnel millions of Vision Zero funding directly to WABA. 

If you would like to write to Council Member Allen to share your view that scarce DC transportation funds should not be used to support special interest lobby groups you can reach him at callen@dccouncil.gov