Neighbor Gavin shared that Metro has a survey out about walking and biking to Metro. Please take a few minutes to recommend improvements for the area around Fort Totten station in the comment box in the survey.

Link: Walking and Biking to Metro Survey

From District Department of Transportation

Bike to Work Day is Thursday, May 15, 2025. There will be a pit stop at Fort Totten Metro Station from 6-9am!

The first 18,000 who register and attend at a pit stop receive a FREE T-shirt. Free giveaways, food, and beverages at participating locations, while supplies last.

Passing along information that may be of interest to others:

Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA)Bicycling Advocates Meetup

May 6, 2025

5:30 pm-7:00 pm

Brightwood Bottle & Pizza/ANXO

711 Kennedy Street NW

Join WABA for their next DC meetup in Brightwood. This will be an informal social event. Stop by any time but register to let WABA know you are coming.

From Metro

Metrorail weekend service for Saturday, April 19 through Sunday, April 20

Advisory Effective: 4/19/25 – 4/20/25

Hours: Sat 7 a.m. – 1 a.m.; Sun 7 a.m. – Midnight

Service-At-A-Glance   

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) recently installed a short two-way cycletrack on the south side of Riggs Road between 1st Place NE and South Dakota Avenue NE. DDOT initially proposed installing the cycletrack back in 2022. Plans stalled due to staffing issues before DDOT reissued a Notice of Intent in 2023. Plans always included retaining a portion of the dedicated right-turn lane from Riggs onto South Dakota.

I used the cycletrack earlier this week. The nice thing about it is that it does provide a way for people to connect to the Met Branch Trail from east of South Dakota Avenue without having to share the narrow sidewalk with pedestrians.

It seems like drivers are getting used to it. A couple of ancillary effects of the new cycletrack are that drivers can no longer use the dedicated right-turn lane from Riggs onto 1st Place NE to drive straight ahead to South Dakota as they used to do. They can no longer change lanes in the middle of the intersection like they used to do. And just from my initial observation, it seems like there is a little less speeding down the slight hill towards South Dakota. People realize they need to drive a bit more carefully through this area.

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) has issued a Notice of Intent (NOI 25-03-TSA) to install a new crosswalk at 8th and Jefferson Street NE. Send comments in support to alexander.webb@dc.gov by April 24, 2025.

[Ed. Note: I scheduled a few posts about mundane things to run today. I do want to acknowledge the terrible loss of life following the accident at National Airport and extend sympathies to everyone impacted.]

Metro is seeking input on its proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget. For details and to submit comments/complete the public survey, visit wmata.com/budget. Provide feedback by 5:00 pm on February 10, 2025.

Community Resources

• Flyer for Metro Proposed FY 2026 Budget

• Notice of Hearing for Metro Proposed FY2026 Budget

Public Hearings

Metro is having hearings on the budget proposal during the first week of February. The Notice of Hearing contains instructions on how to sign up to testify.

• Monday, February 3, 2025, 6 p.m. 

Metro Building at Eisenhower, 2401 Mill Road, Alexandria, VA 22314  

Metro staff will be available at 5:30 p.m. for an open house.  

• Tuesday, February 4, 2025, 6 p.m.  

Metro L’Enfant Plaza Headquarters, 300 7th Street SW, Washington, DC 20024  

Metro staff will be available at 5:30 p.m. for an open house. 

• Tuesday, February 4, 2025, 12 p.m.

Virtual only (via telephone or video); no open house 

• Wednesday, February 5, 2025, 6 p.m. 

Metro Building at New Carrollton, 4100 Garden City Drive, Hyattsville, MD 20785  

Metro staff will be available at 5:30 p.m. for an open house.  

All hearings will be broadcast online at wmata.com/budget or youtube.com/metroforward.

Proposed Changes

Metro’s summary of proposed changes:

• Extend half of Yellow Line trains to Greenbelt
• Split Silver Line service between Downtown Largo and New Carrollton
• Additional peak service on Red and Silver lines
• Increase Weekend Hours of Operation
• Implementing the Better Bus Network redesign
• Introduce an open payment fare system, allowing taps from credit and debit cards

The big news is that Metro is proposing to run half of Yellow Line trains to Greenbelt, with the other half ending at their current terminus at Mt. Vernon Square. Please comment in support of this proposed change.

Metro is proposing to increase peak service on the red line during the busiest times:

Operate Red Line trains up to every 4 minutes, from every 5 minutes, during the busiest portions of weekday rush periods to provide additional capacity in both directions of travel. Red Line trains would continue to operate every 5 minutes during the remainder of peak service.

I personally think Metro needs to increase service more than proposed, given the constant drumbeat about workers returning to the office five days a week and the fact that trains are already crowded during rush hour right now.

Also, Metro seems to have a problem with red line trains overshooting the platform lately. When trains stop beyond the platform, trains end up getting delayed up and down the line. This has happened seemingly three days in a row now, and I saw it happen by a long shot while waiting for a train at Judiciary Square a couple of weeks ago. Metro is running a lot of six-car trains during rush hour for reasons and when there are delays, the trains get dangerously crowded. Rush hour service on the red line has been pretty bad every day this week.

The proposed budget would also implement the “Better Bus Network,” which includes changes to bus routes and bus stops in our neighborhood. We previously discussed those changes on the blog. The budget proposal states that bus service changes have already been approved by Metro’s board. People can still comment if they would like.

Finally, Metro still needs a dedicated source of funding.

Docket Materials

• Notice of Public Hearing
• Proposed Capital Budget
• Proposed Metrobus Changes
• Proposed Metrorail Changes
• Proposed MetroAccess Changes
• Proposed Fare and Parking Changes
• Proposed FY2026 Budget Book

Submit comments by 5:00 pm on February 10, 2025, at wmata.com/budget.

Starting December 20, 2024, Metro will close select downtown stations on the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines for an 11-day construction project.

Key Details:

· December 20-26: Farragut West, McPherson Square, and the lower level of Metro Center will be closed.

· December 27-30: The closures expand to include Federal Triangle, Smithsonian, and L’Enfant Plaza (lower level).

· Stations will reopen December 31.

During the closure, free shuttle buses will replace train service. The project includes replacing fasteners, welding joints, upgrading platform lighting, and more.

View information at wmata.com/majorconstruction.

Yesterday, Metro’s board approved the Better Bus network redesign. Metro will begin implementing the plan in summer 2025. The Better Bus Resource page contains route information/maps by state and other handy documents.

• District of Columbia Routes
• Maryland Routes
• Virginia Routes

Bus Stop Consolidation

View Metro’s bus stop consolidation report (November 2024).

In the redesign, Metro continues to propose eliminating several neighborhood bus stops, as discussed in this post. But Metro now proposes to retain the stop at Chillum Place & Eastern Avenue NE that was originally slated for removal.

I am personally annoyed about the planned removal of the stop at South Dakota and Galloway. Riggs Park residents will have to either walk up the steep dirt hill to the stop at Galloway & 4th or walk to the stop at South Dakota & Farragut and stand at a stop on a narrow sidewalk without a bench or shelter. Alas.

(Yesterday, Councilmember Zachary Parker sent a letter to Metro leadership with some initial concerns about some of the proposed stop removals in Ward 5. The letter mentions the stops at Riggs/Rock Creek Church and Riggs/Blair).

New Naming Convention

Metro is moving forward with the new naming convention. Routes are named based on the following criteria:

• The first character represents general area:
  • D or C (District of Columbia, with D generally corresponding
    to routes serving Downtown and C with Crosstown routes)
  • M (Montgomery)
  • P (Prince George’s)
  • A (Arlington and Alexandria)
  • F (Fairfax County, City of Fairfax, and Falls Church)
• The second character represents a number that clusters
  routes along the same corridor or in the same neighborhood
• The third character distinguishes it from other routes in that
  cluster; an X represents limited-stop service

Neighborhood Bus Route Crosswalk: Existing Route –> Approximate Proposed Route

E2 –> C71 Fort Totten – Union Station via Ivy City
E4 –> C81 Sibley Hospital – Fort Totten
80 –> D30 Fort Totten – Federal Triangle via North Capitol Street
64 –> D44 Fort Totten – Federal Triangle via 11 Street NW
K2 –> C77 Takoma – Fort Totten
K6, K9 –> M60 White Oak Medical Center – Fort Totten via New Hampshire Avenue
K6, K9 –> M6X White Oak FDA – Fort Totten
R1, R2 –> P15 Riggs Road – Adelphi via Riggs Road)
R1, R2 –> P16 White Oak Medical Center – Fort Totten via Riggs Road
F6 –> P32 Fort Totten – Greenbelt
F6 –> P35 Fort Totten – New Carrollton
K2 –> P42 Takoma – New Carrollton

Route Changes

Neighbor Gavin and I took a quick look at some of the final route changes for the neighborhood. A few differ from what Metro proposed earlier this year. Entirely possible missed some things or got something wrong. Metro made some tweaks to the Maryland lines that serve Fort Totten station, but I did not look super closely at them.

Metro prepared a handy response summary providing a bit of rationale for some of their decisions.

Service on Riggs Road/Chillum Place/Nicholson Street/Eastern Avenue NE (E2 –>C71)

Metro is moving forward with chopping the upper NE/NW route E4 crosstown loop to Riggs Park. Seems planners could not quite figure out what to do about service between Fort Totten station and Eastern Avenue NE, despite the several comments asking them to keep at least one crosstown loop to Riggs Park so that people can actually travel crosstown and get to locations like grocery stores, schools, library, and their homes without having to transfer buses.

Previously Metro proposed adding the eastern tail of the current loop to a route that would go out to Maryland. In the final plan, Metro goes in a completely different direction by putting the eastern tail onto route C71, a route most similar to existing route E2 that runs between Fort Totten and Union Station via Ivy City. Looks like the route will no longer travel down Gallatin Street NE. Instead, the route will service South Dakota, Riggs, Chillum Place, Eastern, and Nicholson.

Service 7 days/week. Frequency 20-30 weekdays; 30 minutes on weekends.

Crosstown Route (E4 –>C81)

There will be just one upper NE/NW crosstown loop serving Fort Totten station. Route C81 will serve locations between Fort Totten station and Sibley Hospital. There will no longer be direct crosstown service to Friendship Heights station.

Service 7 days/week. Frequency of 20 minutes most of the time.

Lamond Service (K2 –> C77)

Metro previously proposed eliminating route K2 between Takoma and Fort Totten station. The final plan adopts new route C77, which will be similar to existing route K2.

Route C77 will run only on weekdays during rush hour. Frequency of 20 minutes.

Some Thoughts

This network redesign was a hefty task. I appreciate the level of outreach that Metro conducted and the various online tools developed to help make sense of all of the proposed changes and provide feedback. I also appreciated the comment/response summary documents. It is clear how much work went into collecting and analyzing all of the feedback and coming up with a final plan designed to meet several objectives. So while I would like to think of the bus as my personal chauffeur, I get that there have to be adjustments and tradeoffs.

Hopefully sooner rather than later, Metro will be able to enjoy a more sensible funding structure, and we can get a visionary network that the city and region deserve. On the Metrorail side, looking forward to the purple line in opening in a few years. Also, Metro is talking publicly about possibly restoring some yellow service to Fort Totten station.

In the meantime, Metro will be preparing to implement the bus network changes in summer 2025.

From Metro (updated, blue/yellow line trains will serve Pentagon station)

Metrorail weekend service for Saturday, November 16 through Sunday, November 17

Advisory Effective: 11/16/24 – 11/17/24

Hours: Sat 7 a.m. – 1 a.m.; Sun 7 a.m. – Midnight

Service-At-A-Glance

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) has launched a new project website for the South Dakota Avenue Corridor Safety Project.

Link: https://sdcorridorsafetyproject.ddot.dc.gov.

DDOT will study South Dakota Avenue NE from Bladensburg Road to Riggs Road NE for potential safety improvements. Currently DDOT has funding for design and construction of improvements on just the southern portion of the corridor, from Bladensburg to Taylor Street NE.

View details, concept plans, meeting slides, and timeline information on the project website.

From DDOT

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will host a public meeting to provide information on the phase-out of the DC Circulator service.  

For more information about this project please visit: dccirculator.com or contact Deborah Monts deborah.monts@dc.gov. 

WHAT: DC Circulator Phase – Out Public Meeting 

WHEN and WHERE: 

Thursday, September 19, 2024

Virtual Webinar

Join link: https://tinyurl.com/DCCirculatorMeeting

Webinar number: 2312 367 8110

Webinar password: jpJyUR4vd42 (57598748 when dialing from a phone or video system)

Join by phone

+1-202-860-2110 United States Toll (Washington D.C.)

1-650-479-3208 Call-in toll number (US/Canada)

Access code: 231 236 78110

TIME: 2:00pm – 3:00pm  

TO PARTICIPATE IN THE MEETING: Join the webinar through the link or phone numbers above.

Share your thoughts about Vision Zero and safe streets.

The DC Offices of Vision Zero and Highway Safety are working to develop a new plan to reshape street safety efforts. Staff are holding listening sessions to work closely with communities and stakeholders to identify problems and build solutions. These discussions will be part of the top-to-bottom update of the District’s Vision Zero Plan and DC Strategic Highway Safety Plan. 

There will be in-person listening sessions across the city. View the full line-up. 

The Ward 5 listening session will be on September 21, 10:30am-11:30am at Lamond-Riggs Library.

Complete the online survey here by September 23, 2024, at noon. 

Metro reopened stations on the red line between Takoma and Glenmont on September 1.

Metro news release: https://wmata.com/about/news/Four-Red-Line-stations-reopen-Sept-1-MTA-Purple-Line-construction-continues-at-Silver-Spring.cfm

Thankfully, that means that the large number of charter buses idling on Galloway Street and along South Dakota Avenue, damaging neighborhood roads, and creating safety hazards in the neighborhood are now gone. Hopefully the next time Metro decides to shut down nearby stations, they will utilize their huge parking lot at Fort Totten station for shuttle buses instead of housing a bunch of buses in the neighborhood.

[Ed. Note: Republishing this post because today, August 15, is the last day to submit comments for the first phase of engagement on the South Dakota Avenue Corridor Safety Project. There is still time to provide feedback to DDOT to make sure we address speeding through street design, get needed improvements at key intersections in the neighborhood, and work towards developing a corridor that safely supports multiple means of moving around the neighborhood outside of just private vehicles.]

DDOT is looking at ways to address safety issues on South Dakota Avenue from Bladensburg Road NE to Riggs Road NE.

• DDOT South Dakota Avenue Safety Study Kickoff Meeting Presentation Slides
• DDOT South Dakota Avenue Safety Study One Pager

Let DDOT know what you think about what is needed along the corridor by completing this questionnaire and providing information on this public input map (where you can identify important changes you’d like to see at specific intersections like more visible crosswalks, better pedestrian accommodations, etc).

Councilmember Parker earmarked funds in the FY2024 budget for a road diet on the corridor. While much of the media attention has been erroneously focused on bike lanes, the alternatives for a road diet include potential parking lanes where there are none currently, as well. It is worth taking a look at the presentation slides to see all of the alternatives, including how DDOT could potentially address traffic diversion to side streets or address congestion through, for example, signal timing.

Most agree speeding is a problem on South Dakota. There is a relatively low volume of vehicles during off-peak hours, which makes the wide road ripe for speeding. There are too many crashes and near misses. People feel unsafe crossing the street. Too many pedestrians have been injured or killed walking along the corridor. People want to be able to safely walk and bike to points along the corridor. Everyone wants the situation to be addressed. The question is how to get there.

Project Scope

DDOT is going to study the entire corridor, examine three concepts for a road diet, select one concept, and design and build the concept on one portion of the corridor. DDOT will also make spot improvements at certain intersections, which is why it is really important to indicate on the map where improvements are needed. DDOT plans to start construction on the southern end (near Bladensburg) because they state that is where there is highest need.

DDOT is going to study three options for the corridor.

Option One: 3 lanes with full-time parking

Option one would have three lanes with parking on each side of the street.

• Maintains one lane in each direction
• Uses curbside space for full-time parking
• Center space can be left turn lanes or pedestrian islands depending on needs

(Currently, no parking is allowed on South Dakota except for limited parking on the west side of South Dakota between Galloway and Ingraham (soon extending to Kennedy). A couple of churches closer to the southern end of the corridor use a lane for parking on Sundays.)

Option Two: 3 lanes with parking and two-way protected bike lanes

Option two would have three lanes with parking and a two-way protected bike lane:

• Maintains one travel lane in each direction
• Uses curbside on one curb face for protected bike lanes
• Uses opposite curb for parking
• Center space can be left turn lanes or pedestrian islands depending on need

Option Three: 3 lanes with protected bike lanes in each direction

Option three would have three lanes with protected bike lanes in each direction.

• Maintains one lane in each direction
• Uses curbside space for protected bike lanes
• Center space can be left turn lanes or pedestrian islands depending on needs

Project Timeline

DDOT plans to gather data, explore concepts, and gather input before holding a second round of public meetings in fall 2024, having a third round of public meetings in winter 2024/2025, beginning work on design plans in spring 2025, and finally starting construction just on the southern end in summer 2025.

Though DDOT is going to focus the limited construction money on the southern end of the corridor to start, please take the time to provide input to DDOT about neighborhood issues through this public engagement effort. In particular, I think that highlighting problematic intersections and needed safety, mobility, and access improvements in the neighborhood on the public map will be useful given that we know there are no immediate plans for bike lanes on SDA in the neighborhood.

Contacts

Questions may be sent to the project team:

Sayra Molina, Corridor Safety Team
sayra.molina2@dc.gov

Christine Mayeur, Associate Director, Traffic Safety Engineering
christine.mayeur@dc.gov

Dalando Baker, Ward 5 Community Engagement Specialist
dalando.baker@dc.gov