Summer Streets on Vanderbilt Ave in Brooklyn. Photo by Ekey84.

“Feet in the Street,” DC’s version of Summer Streets and Ciclovìa, could return in 2010 for four Saturdays in August along K Street under a proposal by the District Department of Transportation.

Such events close one street to motor vehicle traffic over a length of up to several miles. The route becomes a linear festival where pedestrians, bicyclists, rollerbladers and others can travel along the street, enjoying the urban streetscape in relative calm.

Along the route, numerous stations provide music and arts performances, health and fitness demonstrations or classes, bicycling information, and more.

Last year, DC held its first Feet in the Street in Fort Dupont Park. Now, they are ready to close a street in the heart of the city. If DC’s emergency services agree, DDOT plans to recommend using K Street, NW from 9th Street to Washington Circle. This route would connect the Mount Vernon Square neighborhood with Foggy Bottom.

Like New York’s “Summer Streets,” the event would occur on four consecutive Saturdays in August, from 8 am to 2 pm. Motor vehicles would be blocked from crossing at many intersections, but could still cross at major cross streets to ensure access from one side to the other, such as on 14th, 17th/Connecticut, and 19th Streets as well as the endpoints of 9th and Washington Circle.

Recently, I suggested a 2-mile route along 14th Street, NW. DDOT officials say they had considered this route, but chose to recommend this 1.4-mile K Street route based on support from area businesses. They hope to move around to different streets around the city in future years.

What do you think of the K Street route?

Whatever street it uses, Feet in the Street will create an exciting opportunity to link several parks, bring more people to an area of the city during an otherwise relatively quiet time, give residents a fun, outdoor activity on warm summer days, and expose residents to nearby neighborhoods. It will also require us residents of the region to help make it successful by helping out and, most of all, attending and enjoying the event.

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.