District weighs bus lanes for center of K Street
By: Kytja Weir
Examiner Staff Writer
October 16, 2009
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| (Courtesy image) |
The District is looking at transforming K Street, one of the city's signature streets and major thoroughfares, by adding dedicated lanes for buses to the center of the street
Timeline» Oct. 30: Public comment period ends.
» November: District chooses which design.
» Feb. 2010: Federal stimulus grants awarded, at the latest.
» Late 2010: Begin construction.
» End of 2012: Work must be completed under the stimulus grant rules.
The new optionsThe District is eyeing two new alternatives for the stretch of K Street from Ninth Street to 21st Street:
» Two-lane busway:
- A two-lane bus transitway in the center of the road, with three lanes on either side for cars, trucks and bikes.
- During off-peak times, the far right lane could be used for parking.
- No bike lane
» Three-lane busway:
-Three lanes for buses in the center of the road, one of them reserved for passing, then two lanes for cars and trucks on either side with a 5-foot bike lane.
-No parking but sections of the sidewalk about 7 feet deep would be cut away for delivery pull-ins for trucks.
But the idea behind the plan is to relieve long-term congestion on the busy roadway that becomes jammed during evening and morning rush hours as delivery trucks, ambulances, buses, bikers, pedestrians and the occasional presidential motorcade share the road.
City officials discussed the plan about eight years ago, but the city lacked the money to build a transitway. Now, though, city and regional officials have placed the $139 million plan at the center of an application for a competitive federal stimulus grant.
If the money is received, buses would especially benefit. The street has some of the most Metrobus traffic in the District, according to the District Department of Transportation. The D.C. Circulator plus commuter buses from Loudoun County and Maryland also run the road, with a total of 134 buses heading eastbound during the morning rush.
The three-bus lane plan would let buses travel up to seven minutes faster from Ninth to 21st Street, though the District's own estimates say it would come at the expense of other vehicles.
"Unfortunately not every trip can be made by transit," said Carlton Diehl, the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District president and chief operating officer of the Cafritz Company. "It should be more than just a transitway. It should be a great street with a transitway."
The lack of a parking lane would hurt businesses, they said, because it would impinge on deliveries even though the three-lane plan calls for special areas carved into sidewalks for delivery pull-ins. A drugstore needs to stock its shelves, restaurants must load their refrigerators, architects need to receive drawings. "It is not feasible for a delivery person to park a block away," said Rich, whose company owns buildings along the stretch.
Sidewalk cafes also would suffer, they said, and valet parking wouldn't work.
Meanwhile, the biking community is unhappy with all the proposed options, including one that would add a bike lane. Washington Area Bicyclist Association's Executive Director Eric Gilliland said a curb should separate a bike lane from the road, which would require another 3 feet or so.
The city is still accepting comments on the plan and hopes to decide this fall what to do with the road.
