The District’s Department of Transportation is planningto install upward of 80 speed bumps this year in targeted neighborhoods, most in response to neighborhood leaders who complain of breakneck traffic on their local streets.
In the coming months, DDOT will install the bumps, sometimes called speed humps or speed “cushions,” along several high traffic thoroughfares, including 46th Street from River Road to Massachusetts Avenue Northwest, 32nd Street between Alabama Avenue and Park Drive Southeast, the 200 block of 57th Place Northeast and Hayes Street between 46th and 49th Streets Northeast.
“It’s definitely quite a big commuter route, and I think speed bumps help slow and control traffic in that area,” said Talia Primor, who represents the stretch of 46th Street on Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3E.
The locations generally are selected in response to neighborhood requests, though DDOT audits each site to determine whether a speed bump is called for. The District installed 45 speed bumps in 2005 and about 80 more in 2006.
“We do study these things,” said Emeka Moneme, DDOT director. “We don’t just slap up a speed hump.”
The traffic calming measures are stressed in Mayor Adrian Fenty’s 100-day plan, in addition to other DDOT-specific projects. The plan details more than 150 traffic projects citywide — installing a stop sign at Saratoga and Downing Streets Northeast, for example, or replacing the curb and gutter at 1300 Whittier Street Northwest.
“These are our goals,” DDOT spokesman Erik Linden said. “Those that are outlined are our highest priority.”
The speed bumps are part of a larger struggle — using tools such as radar and red light cameras — to slow traffic on District roads. In 2004, 723 pedestrians were injured in collisions with vehicles, and 10 pedestrians were killed. In 2006, 43 people were killed in auto accidents in the city.
The latest fatality: A pedestrian was struck and killed by a MetrobusTuesday night in Northwest.
