Today, despite the snow, VMP publishes the Transportation Impact Study recently completed by Gorove/Slade to the DC Department of Transportation (DDOT) 45-days in advance of the first scheduled PUD hearing for McMillan. We have also published a five-page summary with diagrams of street improvements recommended for First Street NW, North Capitol Street and Michigan Avenue.
The purpose of the TIS is to compare future conditions around the site, analyzing those conditions with and without the proposed McMillan redevelopment to determine if the PUD will have a detrimental impact. AND to develop recommendations to mitigate the impact and improve transportation conditions for pedestrians, cyclists as well as drivers; surrounding residents as well as area workers.
During the review of the report, one of the engineers reminded me of an important point – the ideal road condition is one where the street is operating just at capacity during peak hours, that is the street is full and moving the maximum amount of cars efficiently through the area. If streets are empty and cars are speeding, we are both wasting precious public land and creating unsafe conditions for pedestrians.
We collected numerous questions at a recent McMillan Advisory Group meeting and will publish those questions and answers this Friday here on this blog.
If you have other questions about this report or its recommendations, please either email them to info@envisionmcmillan.com or bring them to the community-wide meeting on transportation issues on Thursday, April 3rd at 7 pm at All Nations Baptist Church, at the corner of North Capitol and Rhode Island Ave, NE.
On Page 5 of the summary, there is a map with bus stops. There is a green stop with a red X, but it is not defined in the key. What does that mean?
I can’t find the questions that you said would be posted.
Thanks
Hi Betsy,
All of the questions and answers are posted on the site, in this same section. Please let me know if you’re unable to see the post.
With regard to the bus stops, any bus stop (green or blue) with a red “X” is one that is recommended to be relocated or eliminated. Most are recommended to be relocated which is why they have arrows to the new location. There are a couple on North Capitol that need to be consolidated. — Tania
As a resident, a full street of cars does not equate to optimum traffic conditions. By that measure, the beltway is probably your ideal traffic situation, or perhaps you’d like to turn every road into Rhode Island avenue at rush hour.
Mr. Graham, here is a response to your comment from Rob Schiessel from Gorove/Slade, who completed the study:
“The goal of urban transportation networks is to create an efficient system where, at peak hours, a single part of the system is operating just below (or at) its capacity limit (the most ‘bang-for-your-buck’). Anything less would be a waste of a public resource – a road with too many lanes is an impermeable surface that could be put to better use. Generally, the McMillan traffic study designates something as ‘unacceptable’ when it’s performing inefficiently due to high volumes (e.g. cars on the road, riders on a bus, etc…), or if it doesn’t meet a minimum standard of service (e.g. missing/narrow sidewalks).”