A couple of days ago, I received an email from a group calling itself “Save Kansas Avenue.” They sent this email in response to last week’s post about the updated design for the Kansas Avenue bike lane project. They said they wanted to share information from the perspective of some of the directly impacted residents, and they passed along the flyer created for the community meeting organized on December 10. Primarily they say that DDOT did not do sufficient community engagement over the life of this project and that many residents were not aware of this project until after construction began a few weeks ago.
(I published a post about the Notice of Intent for this project back in 2022. The NOI is the point when the public weighs in. I do not know what kind of outreach was done at that point and over the years to let people know about this project. I also published a post in September of this year with an update about the construction timeline that was slated for October. Again, I do not know what kind of outreach was done at that point to convey the construction timeline. The email from the Save Kansas Avenue group stated that over the past three years, DDOT has engaged only with ANC commissioners and the charter schools in the area (and they say that the charter schools are opposed to the protected bike lanes) and that residents did not get any notice about construction before it started.)
On December 5, DDOT provided detailed responses to resident concerns in a letter (linked in last week’s blog post) explaining what design changes the agency planned to make. Residents organized a community meeting on December 10 where DDOT gave a presentation about the updated design. I did not attend that meeting. The presentation is available on the Kansas Avenue bike lane project website.
See DDOT Community Organized Kansas Avenue Bike Lane Meeting Presentation (December 2025).
The Save Kansas Avenue group wanted to let me know that even with DDOT’s updated design they are still against the project. They wrote:
[T]he community is still against it because of the hazardous conditions it has caused with the removal of the street medians to accommodate the bike lanes. Additionally, we see a great opportunity with the city by instead of installing protected bike lanes, the city could install a multi use trail at the Fort Slocum Park by expanding the sidewalk by 4 feet. This would not only accommodate pedestrians and cyclists, but also tie it to the adjacent Metro Branch Trail and would be better for the local community.
Included in the December 10th presentation is a slide about DDOT’s commitments going forward. Unclear what will ultimately happen given the continued concerns from these residents.
Next Stop...Riggs Park 
Thank you for sharing the perspective of those most directly impacted by this project. For the majority of the neighborhood to be unaware of something of this magnitude for three years highlights the need for better community engagement. We are now asking the City Council to pass legislation requiring DDOT to directly notify residents within a certain radius of any major traffic installation during the planning process. While NOIs (Notices of Intent) may be public, it is important to remember that a third of the population in DC is functionally illiterate, with corresponding rates of digital illiteracy. Posting NOIs online or on blogs is therefore not the most effective way to reach residents.
DDOT has placed flyers on doors for upcoming pavement projects, the city sends mailers for leaf pickup, and utility companies routinely distribute flyers when work is scheduled in a neighborhood. These are best practices for informing residents and are far more reliable than relying solely on ANCs, which may or may not have biases related to specific projects and have been shown to be falling short of this responsibility citywide.
Thank you again for sharing our perspective. Transparency and inclusion can save significant time and taxpayer dollars. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. #SaveKansasAvenue Savekansasavenue@gmail.com