The plan quickly divided bike advocates, who pushed for the creation of the bike lane, and business owners, who said the lane would impact their customers. Officials said last year that the plan had been reviewed amid concerns about the loss of parking, the effects on businesses, and access for people with disabilities and the elderly.
At a hearing Thursday of the D.C. Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment, Sharon Kershbaum, director of the city’s Department of Transportation, told lawmakers that the bike lane had been scuttled.
Kershbaum said officials still want to look for a north-south corridor for bikes through Ward 3, but current safety plans for Connecticut Avenue “will not include a bike lane.”
“There are some bike lanes that we have that are suboptimal,” he said. “I think we made some poor decisions in our effort to build the network. Now we will be much more intentional.”
She added: “We’re not going to commit in terms of revisiting it by adding a bike lane.”
A Department of Transportation declined further comment.
Council member Matthew Frumin (D-Ward 3), whose questioning of Kershbaum led to the disclosure of the bike lane, said he was aware of the changes before the hearing. He bemoaned the long process that led officials to approve the route before walking away from them.
“It took less time to put a man on the moon than it took to build this bicycle track,” he told the hearing.
In an interview, Frumin said Bowser had changed his mind about the plan because of concerns about traffic congestion. his effort to bring back the center.
“If they do the analysis again, there’s a good chance they’ll conclude that Connecticut Avenue is the right place to do it, which is what they concluded before,” he said.
D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), chairman of the Transportation and Environment Committee, said in an interview that he disagreed with the decision. To move people around the city safely and reduce the climate change caused by cars, according to Allen, officials must look to other modes of transportation.
However, Allen said he was skeptical that the Bowser administration would revisit its choice.
“They want to move forward with a project that doesn’t have protected bike lanes,” he said. “We’ll live with this for 50 years.”
The sudden disclosure at the hearing drew the ire of activists who believed the bike lane would make one of the District’s most important corridors more walkable and environmentally friendly.
Bob Ward, President of Cleveland Park Smart Growthwho advocates for cyclists and pedestrians, said in an interview that Bowser had done “a 180-degree turn,” abandoning a sound plan despite years of community input.
“I think the reason why this ugly face happened is probably a misconception that the more parking you can put on Connecticut Avenue, the better business will be,” he said. “It’s a real disappointment.”
Lee Mayer, the leader of a group called Save Connecticut Avenuewho opposes bike lanes, said the “horrible plan” was pushed during the coronavirus pandemic by a minority of bike commuters.
Meanwhile, according to Mayer, the courses were opposed by local businesses, pedestrians, emergency responders and people with limited mobility.
“This has always been about public safety,” he said. “Our efforts to bring everything to light have resulted in this positive decision.”
