Thursday, March 07, 2019

DDOT: Traffic Calming Measures - Ward 5 Bloomingdale Neighborhood

From: Barnes, Dianne (SMD 5E09) <5e09 anc.dc.gov="">
<5e09 anc.dc.gov=""> Sent: Thursday, March 7, 2019 5:55 PM
To: Barnes, Dianne (SMD 5E09) <5e09 anc.dc.gov="">
Subject: Fw: Following Up 03/07/2019 - RE: Traffic Calming Measures - Ward 5 Bloomingdale Neighborhood 

Community Awareness:  Please review and share.

 Respectfully Submitted By,
 C. Dianne Barnes, Commissioner
 Cell: 202-409-7155
 Email:  5E09@anc.dc.gov 



From: Solano, Gilberto (DDOT)
Sent: Thursday, March 7, 2019 2:01 PM
To: Isby, Latissha (MPD); fspenn@yahoo.com; monica.veney2@usdoj.gov; Adegunleye, Charles (MPD); Thomas, Bradley Ashton (SMD 5E05); Barnes, Dianne (SMD 5E09)
Cc: Cheolas, Nick (SMD 5E01); Williams, Patricia (SMD 5E02); Segmen, Cortney (SMD 5E03); Pinkney, Sylvia (SMD 5E04); Thomas, Bradley Ashton (SMD 5E05); Lewis, Karla M. (SMD 5E06); Holliday, Bertha G. (SMD 5E07); Brannum, Robert (SMD 5E08); Barnes, Dianne (SMD 5E09); Jones, Nancy Darlene (ANC 5E10)
Subject: Following Up 03/07/2019 - RE: Traffic Calming Measures - Ward 5 Bloomingdale Neighborhood 

Good afternoon ANC/MPD/BCA – 

I hope this email finds you well.

I have created a Potential Traffic Calming Measure (PTCM) checklist or template for the Advisory Neighborhood Commission, Bloomingdale Civic Association (BCA), and Metropolitan Police Department. Maybe the checklist will help you guide the conservation between all stakeholders as you gather and analyze the existing transportation challenges/impacts/conditions; and community concerns.


Background

Below are some historical challenges faced by the Bloomingdale Community: 

o   Heavily trafficked arterials that bisect their communities;

o   Dangerous pedestrian crossings to amenities and destinations;

o   Narrow and broken sidewalks;

o   Limited access to Metrorail and Metrobuses slowed by general congestion;

o   Missing or discontinuous bicycle pathways; and

o   Sewage backups and flooding during severe storm events

o   Additional green space, trees, and contemporary stormwater management solutions

When discussing proposed traffic calming measures, it’s important to identify the cut-through traffic and four major arterials that made it hard for residents to get to schools and parks. Traffic management studies have shown that collaborative input from traffic engineers, residents, and enforcement (metropolitan police department) creates a solid foundation to design streets that work for people of all ages and abilities, connecting people to places like schools, recreation centers, retail and transit services. 

Bloomingdale is an oblong neighborhood extending downhill from the McMillan Resevoir to Florida Avenue (the historic “boundary street”). The downhill topography has contributed to the significant sewage back ups the neighborhood has suffered in recent years during heavy rain events. The neighborhood has a regular grid of streets. Heavy traffic volumes are common along the north-south streets and particularly First Street NW. Past traffic calming interventions on the east-west streets have significantly reduced the opportunity for commuter traffic to divert onto these local streets.

Potential Traffic Calming Measures (PTCM)

Numbered below are some examples of potential traffic calming measures, (some examples may not apply specifically to Bloomingdale):

1.    Narrowing traffic lanes makes slower speeds seem more natural to drivers and are less intrusive than other treatments that limit speed or restrict route choice.
    • Lane narrowing can be created by extending sidewalks, adding bollards or planters, or adding a bike lane or on-street parking
    • Curb extensions (bulbouts) narrow the width of the roadway at pedestrian crossings
    • Chokers are curb extensions that narrow roadways to a single lane at certain points
    • Road diets remove a lane from the street. For example, allowing parking on one or both sides of a street to reduce the number of driving lanes.
    • Pedestrian refuges or small islands in the middle of the street can help reduce lane widths.
    • Converting one-way streets into two-way streets forces opposing traffic into close proximity, which requires more careful driving.

o   Construction of polymer cement overlay to change asphalt to brick texture and color to indicate a high-traffic crosswalk

2.    Raising a portion of a road surface can create discomfort for drivers travelling at high speeds. Both the height of the deflection and the steepness affect the severity of vehicle displacement (vertical deflection): 
    • Speed bumps, sometimes split or offset in the middle to avoid delaying emergency vehicles
    • Speed humps, parabolic devices that are less aggressive than speed bumps.
    • Speed cushions, two or three small speed humps sitting in a line across the road that slow cars down but allows wider emergency vehicles to straddle them so as not to slow emergency response time.
    • Speed tables, long flat-topped speed humps that slow cars more gradually than humps
    • Raised pedestrian crossings, which act as speed tables, often situated at intersections.
    • Speed dips, sunken instead of raised
    • Changing the surface material or texture (for example, the selective use of brick, cobblestone, or polymer cement overlay). Changes in texture may also include changes in color to highlight to drivers that they are in a pedestrian-centric zone.
3.    Horizontal deflection, i.e. make the vehicle swerve slightly: 


    •  Chicanes, which create a horizontal deflection that causes vehicles to slow as they would for a curve.Pedestrian refuges again can provide horizontal deflection, as can curb extensions and chokers.
    • ADA needs and requirements (i.e. wheelchair accessibility is maintained through the curb extension and allow sufficient space)
4.    Block or restrict access:
    • Median diverters to prevent left turns or through movements into a residential area.
    • Converting an intersection into a cul-de-sac or dead end.
    • Boom barrier, restricting through traffic to authorized vehicles only.
    • Closing of streets to create pedestrian zones.
5.    Signage Fabrication - Enforcement and education measures for traffic calming include: 

o   Reducing speed limits near institutions such as schools and hospitals

o   Vehicle activated sign, signs which react with a message if they detect a vehicle exceeding a pre-determined speed. Embedded pavement flashing-light systems which react to pedestrian presence at crossings to signal drivers and increase awareness.

o   Education can mean publicity campaigns or targeted road user training.

o   Speed limit enforcement techniques include: direct police action, automated systems such as speed cameras or vehicle activated signs or traffic lights triggered by traffic exceeding a preset speed threshold. 

6.    Safe and designated bicycle connections, particularly to and from the downtown to the south and west and a need for community bicycling corridors – those suitable for youths, families, and novice or cautious cyclists uncomfortable mixing with or adjacent to general traffic. 

7.    Additional green space, trees, and contemporary stormwater management solutions.  

In 2018 UD DOT launched two pilot projects that were aimed at integrating traditional crash data with crowd-sourced traffic data that can be more quickly collected and analyzed. DOT’s objective explored whether the crowd-sourced traffic data can be used as a “reliable, timely indicator” of traffic crashes and crash risk. 

In 2019 US DOT analyzed the data collected from the pilot projects and determined “Waze data produce reasonably good estimates of police-reported crashes.” This pilot has laid the foundation needed for a future nationwide scale-up of a crash count tool.”

Let me know if you have any questions. At your convenience please forward a copy of the BCA’s meeting minutes from 02/25/19.

Below “Next Steps” as presented by Ms. Dalphy, Transportation Engineer to the Bloomingdale neighborhood on 02/25/19.



Thank you.
Gilberto Solano
Transportation Planner
Planning and Sustainability Division (PSD)
District Department of Transportation
55 M Street SE, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20003
o. 202.478.5715
f. 202.671.0617
e. gilberto.solano@dc.gov 
w. ddot.dc.gov


From: Solano, Gilberto (DDOT)
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2019 1:09 PM
To: sarah graddy
Cc: Isby, Latissha (MPD); 'fspenn@yahoo.com'; 'monica.veney2@usdoj.gov'; Adegunleye, Charles (MPD); Thomas, Bradley Ashton (SMD 5E05); Barnes, Dianne (SMD 5E09)
Subject: Traffic Calming Inquiry - Ward 5

Hi Ms. Graddy,

Thank you for your call this morning.

Please complete “Traffic Safety Investigation Application Form”, and forward to DDOT’s traffic safety team at traffic.calming@dc.gov.  

Per our conversation feel free to provide me with additional information.

A traffic calming assessment concerns a residential neighborhood block and any measures installed that will affect neighbors on the block, therefore 75% of households on the block are required to sign a petition to establish minimum neighborhood support and consensus as part of the assessment application. Only one signature per household will be considered. It is important to understand that a completed petition doesn’t necessarily guarantee that calming measures will be installed on the study street, but it does allow the District to proceed with a traffic study knowing that there is a consensus among residents.

All traffic concerns which result in a traffic safety or traffic calming assessment have a service level agreement of 120 days. This period allows for DDOT staff to review the initial application ensuring its completeness, engage with the petitioners on the concerns, conduct data collection activities that are limited to certain days and times, and complete a thorough study.

I have copied your ANC/SMD and PSA representatives to keep them in the loop (see below tables).

5th District MPD

MPD Representatives
Phone
Email
Station Operations, Sergeant Sanetta Parker
(202) 698-0150
Citizens Advisory Council (CAC)
Fifth District Chair
Ms. Frances Penn
(202) 832-7672
Hit and Run Investigations, Olumide Charles Adegunleye
(202) 698-0170
Monica Veney, Community Outreach Specialist
(202) 698-0145
Community Outreach Coordinator (MPD)
Latissha Isby
(202) 360-5731 (cell)
(202) 698-0289 (office)





ANC5E 2019-2020 Commissioners

Single Member District
Name
Address
Phone
Email
5E01
Nick Cheolas

Washington, DC
5E02
Patricia Williams
401 Edgewood Street NE
Washington, DC 20017
5E03
Cortney Segmen

Washington, DC
5E04
Sylvia Pinkney
34 R Street NE
Washington, DC 20002
5E05
Bradley Thomas, Chair
107 P Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
5E06
Karla M. Lewis

Washington, DC
5E07
Bertha Holliday
49 T Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
5E08
Robert Brannum
158 Adams Street NW
Washington, DC
5E09
C. Dianne Barnes, Vice Chair
41 Adams Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
5E10
Nancy Jones

Washington, DC

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you.

Gilberto Solano 
Transportation Planner
Planning and Sustainability Division (PSD)
District Department of Transportation
55 M Street SE, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20003
o. 202.478.5715
f. 202.671.0617
w. ddot.dc.gov

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