Pedestrians

Adams Morgan intersection update

by David Alpert   •   June 21, 2008 9:49 am

At Adams Morgan's crossroads, the intersection of 18th, Columbia, Adams Mill, and Calvert, DDOT is planning significant improvements for pedestrians.

Most notably, the "slip lanes" from Columbia to Adams Mill to Calvert going west are all closing. This will give pedestrians more space and get rid of the little triangular islands that force people to cross multiple roads to get around. The intersection of 18th and Columbia and then Adams Mill and Calvert are both huge expanses of concrete that feel unwelcoming if you're not in a car, and this will help.

Top: Engineering drawing from DDOT. Bottom: Google Maps view
of the current intersections. Click for larger versions.

There is also a new bike lane along the segment of Adams Mill between Calvert and 18th/Columbia, and what look like bike boxes on Calvert and Cliffborne. Bike boxes are areas that span the entire street between where cars are supposed to stop and the crosswalk, allowing bicycles to move in front of cars stopped at a light, positioning them to turn safely where the cars can see them.

What about the other intersection improvements from their study? I'm told that some of them are feasible, some not. At 18th and Florida, I'm told that closing all the slip lanes may make it too hard for buses to turn between 18th and U Street, as many buses do. I'm trying to find out if this alternative is too tight for buses. Something should be done; today, a pedestrian has to cross seven lanes and two intermediate traffic islands on the east side of 18th and six lanes in two roads on the west side, creating a definite barrier between Dupont's 18th and Adams Morgan.

David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.