Walkers Examine H Street Traffic Issues

Last Saturday, on June 21, D.C. residents, city planners, consultants and community outreach representatives walked down H Street NE to assess the current transportation situation. I joined them for about an hour, for the section between 10th Street and 14th Street. Many of the business community's and residents' concerns stem from a feeling that H Street is currently designed mainly as a thoroughfare for getting traffic into the District. They say sidewalks are too narrow, parking is too restricted, and pedestrian crossings are unsafe.

In addition to listening to resident concerns, the group stopped several times along the way to talk to business owners about their concerns. Several business owners said that parking was their biggest problem: to attract business, there needs to be adequate parking. During rush hour, parking is not allowed along one side of the street, making it almost impossible for customers to stop for a haircut, take-out or other business. Meters are not helping, because parking is prohibited at certain times of the day, and because the meters are timed for only one hour in front of businesses that require more than one hour (for example, hairdressers) and sometimes for three hours in front of businesses that do not require as long (for example, take-outs). Parking in the back of some businesses is not safe or is perceived to be unsafe.

The width of sidewalks on H Street is a major concern. In areas where pedestrian traffic is the busiest — around bus stops, especially at the H Street intersection with 12th and with 14th, sidewalks narrow to accommodate the bus. Even three or four people waiting for a bus on sidewalks at these locations block passage for other pedestrians. Throughout H Street, the sidewalks are too narrow in a number of places, due to an effort to increase room for vehicles on the street and keep traffic flowing through H Street.

Loitering is another concern on H Street. Both residents and business owners complained about loitering, especially outside of businesses. There are also several street corners with wide open spaces, due to the historically large front lawns on some of the cross streets with H Street. While these wide spaces might be ideal for sidewalk cafes some time in the future, currently they attract loiterers and drug businesses. The city is considering installing some benches to make H Street more attractive, but a couple of residents commented that in the short term — until the average resident is likely to use those benches and there are thriving businesses on H Street — the benches are likely just to attract loiterers.

A final concern is about pedestrian and vehicular safety on H Street. There are several intersections where it is difficult to cross the street due to the volume of cars, the timing of the lights, or the number of cars turning over pedestrian crosswalks. It took three minutes (I timed it) for my husband, Libo, to cross from the Southwestern corner to the Northeastern corner of H Street and 14th Street — and he had to dodge cars turning left. The worst intersection, however, is the intersection with Benning Road, H Street and 15th Street. One option for improving that intersection might be to install a traffic circle similar to the one at Dupont Circle.

Community input from Saturday's walk will contribute to D.C. planners' and consultants' assessment of existing conditions. Over the coming weeks, the assessment will be posted on the D.C. Department of Transportation Web page (http://ddot.dc.gov), with opportunities for feedback. The next gathering to collect community input into the transportation study will be during a community Charrette (professionals will sketch out community ideas) on Sept. 9 and 13. §