The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) wanted to enhance safety and connect neighborhoods in the district. Mead & Hunt developed the design of the Park Place Protected Bike Lanes (PBLs), part of a complementary set of north-south PBL corridors with Warder Street in Washington, D.C.
In the past, these two parallel roadways had numerous instances of reported speeding and crashes, so achieving balance among the differing needs of motorists, cyclists, pedestrians, and other modalities was vital. In addition, local residents brought numerous requests to DDOT throughout the course of the project that we worked to incorporate, the most significant of which involved working with DDOT to extend the limits of the Park Place NW corridor to close an approximately 0.3-mile long gap in the north-south protected bicycle network. In addition, our context-sensitive design incorporated the use of tree pits that enhanced the green space in the area and provided green infrastructure improvements. This strategy helps DDOT achieve its goal to increase the district’s tree canopy to 40% by 2032.
The completed set of PBLs expand the city’s multimodal network, connecting new neighborhoods to protected bicycling facilities and expanding access in the Northwest Washington D.C. community. This brings the city into alignment with its goal to expand multimodal travel options, reduce single-occupancy vehicle trips, and meet its Vision Zero goals.
