Comments on DDOT helps "complete" Florida Avenue - Greater Greater Washington

Comment by David C

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 23:54:24 EDT

This redesign will create a bottleneck, reducing efficiency and increasing road rage.

I disagree. And in my previous comment, the first "can" should be "can't".

Comment by Dismayed

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 05:24:09 EDT

@David C: unlike Romeny, DDOT redesign is a given. They will redo this intersection. I am frustrated by their direction, which seems to be primarily driven by the direct neighbors. This is a fuedlistic approach. If followed to its extremes, every block has a speed bump and stop sign. Every road designed so Chuck can walk across without worry. And the city would grind to a hault.

The bottom line is that we do need high capacity roads. People need to get from point a to point b in a realitively quick manner. Sherman/Florida is a high capacity road, taking pressure off Georgia, which is arguably at capacity now. This redesign will create a bottleneck, reducing efficiency and increasing road rage.

Comment by David C

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 23:49:25 EDT

Dismayed, it can really be frustrating right now. It hasn't been implemented. There may be fear that it will be frustrating, but being frustrated about it now is like being frustrated by the Romney administration.

Comment by Dismayed

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 23:13:19 EDT

@Chuck: You moved in knowing full well you lived on a major north-south artery and now you wanna clog it for the benefit of a few and a dis-service to many.

So sorry you worry about your garage, its not like FL Ave was a surprise addition, but to me and everyone else trying to get past your house, this new change is frustrating - be we on a bus, car, or bike. And I take all three.

Comment by Tina

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 14:22:07 EDT

@David C -Thanks for that info!

Comment by PC

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 14:12:12 EDT

Living closer to, and having survived the 18 St NW project, I can say the results were well worth the wait and the hassles and noise from the construction. It will get worse, then it will be permanently better if not great.

Comment by 7r3y3r

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 09:53:41 EDT

@kk: if you look at the L'Enfant plan, you'll see that Florida (Boundary) flows more naturally the full length around than it does today. It wasn't until later that the city decided to neuter the top most portion and have it funnel onto U Street at 18th and at 9th (originally Florida met U Street at 8th). You'll also see that Florida between 16th and 15th/New Hampshire is actually W Street...the Florida portion got consumed by Meridian Park and for whatever reason (continuity?) they changed the name of W to Florida for that portion.

Comment by David C

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 09:00:59 EDT

To add to what Chuck wrote, Florida (nee Boundary) follows the edge of the lowland area. North of Florida the "Florida Escarpment" begins. Which is why from Florida Avenue, north is always uphill. Florida Ave is weird because it's based on geological features. The reason this was considered the edge of the city is that going up and down this hill was difficult for horse-drawn vehicles. It took the streetcar to open this area to large-scale habitation. The same is true EOTR, where only the Old Town Anacostia (aka Union Town) was settled early.

Comment by Chuck

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 08:30:19 EDT

U Street fits in with the L'Enfant grid. Florida Ave used to be Boundary St. Everything north of it was the county, south was Washington city.

Comment by kk

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 23:24:20 EDT

Why is U Street not Florida Ave in the first place or why was Florida Ave not straight in the first place. What is with the many many disconnected streets throughout DC

Comment by Chuck

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 22:51:22 EDT

Dismayed, try living by the 9/V/Vermont intersection and turn the corner to your garage or walk across the street. I'm sorry that your 1 or 2 mile commute takes an extra 5 minutes, but I'd rather not get hit crossing the street in front of my home thank you.

Comment by Dismayed

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 19:37:37 EDT

Bummer. DDOT succumbs to the handful of neighbors and cuts off everyone above with new stoplight and increase wasted time and sharper turns. I bought north of here because Sherman was a secret fast lane to U and points south. Now with the Sherman two lanes, this barrier, and the clot that is 14th and Columbia, I've gone from 35mph average to 20 on a good day. Now Sherman is as slow as the crawl called Georgia. Thats not progress.

Comment by Frank IBC

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:50:56 EDT

I keep forgetting that this is the real Florida Avenue. I think of U Street between 18th and 9th Sts. NW as "Florida Avenue".

Comment by Eric Fidler

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:38:26 EDT

Jim,

I was told that future extensions of Bryant Street and W Street will necessitate future changes along the Florida Avenue if those extensions ever come to fruition. Occasionally District agencies ask developers to pay for these improvements as a condition for receiving approval for their projects.

mikem,

If I recall correctly, construction is supposed to start next year after the bidding process has concluded.

Comment by Jim Malone

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:27:43 EDT

Will this streetscape project coordinate with the potential future extension of W Street east of Florida Avenue where JBG is teasing a Harris Teeter if they can acquire the adjacent DC owned property? Crosswalks at Florida and W will be a necessity if it becomes a 4-way intersection with an anchor grocery store in a couple years. Hopefully it will be possible to add crosswalks in later if JBG is successful with their development plans.

http://leftforledroit.com/2012/09/we-may-be-in-store-for-another-grocery-store/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/trader-joes-on-the-way-to-u-street-area-and-harris-teeter-could-follow/2012/09/07/31ae4880-f795-11e1-8398-0327ab83ab91_story.html

Comment by Jacob

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 14:31:20 EDT

How sad is it that the fear of a traffic backup trumps the basic ability of people to cross the street (at W & at Sherman). We've made some progress, but we have a LONG way to go.

Comment by Dan

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 14:28:25 EDT

This is good news. But in the missed opportunity category: why doesn't the project extend another block north along Florida to connect with the 11th street bike lanes?

Comment by GdM

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 14:27:15 EDT

FINALLY! this is great, almost got killed a few times at that intersection on my bike, or with my daughter in the stroller (no, seeing a stroller does NOT slow down those people who want to make that light at Vermont and U). This area is great but lacked a little bit of pedestrian friendliness and trees, etc. This should fix it, or at least it's a great start! WHEN DO THEY START WORKING?

Comment by Chuck

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 14:12:56 EDT

Nick, drivers treat the intersection as a highway on-ramp at times. Forget the 25 mph. I live at this intersection and see people regularly coming off Sherman, accelerating down Florida to the interesection with Vermont and speeding down Vermont to catch the light at U St. This is similar to the problem that 15th St had with people speeding up the road in order to catch the lights just right. I'm thrilled the intersection is being fixed. I just wonder how hard it's going to be to get onto 9th north of V with a tour bus parked outside the 930 Club.

Comment by mikem

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 13:49:18 EDT

So when will construction actually start?

Comment by Nick

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 13:39:44 EDT

This is great, but I wouldn't describe the Florida Ave south to Vermont Ave south roadway as a " the intersection is designed like a highway ramp for southbound traffic."

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=38.918485,-77.024473&spn=0.001655,0.003484&t=m&z=19&layer=c&cbll=38.918661,-77.024558&panoid=_4qBdhol-CXTX8l2YV3_dQ&cbp=12,181.51,,0,3.12

I wasn't aware ramps were flat 45 degree turns off of 25 mph streets.

The intersection needs improvement, but the hyperbole is a bit much.

Comment by MrTinDC

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 13:23:33 EDT

Yes, thanks DDOT and thanks Eric for writing about it here.

Comment by Gavin

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:53:41 EDT

This is a nice success story. Should spruce up the area and make it safer.

Comment by Geoffrey Hatchard

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:48:47 EDT

Awesome news for you guys in that area!

The good news about the missed opportunities is that, in the near future, they can be addressed as even more "pedestrian upgrades." Once these changes stick, it will be easier to push for more.