A speed camera has been installed along a busy avenue in Northeast D.C. that cuts through a neighborhood of pretty homes, schools, parks, and libraries. It's the latest effort by a determined group of residents to improve pedestrian safety.
The camera placed at the intersection of Maryland Avenue, D Street, and 7th Street in the Capitol Hill neighborhood was one of eight traffic cameras (six for speeding, two for stop signs) activated in the District on Monday. Drivers caught on camera violating the traffic laws will be sent warning notices for the next 30 days. After the warning period, citations with fines will arrive in mailboxes.
While homeowners praised the Metropolitan Police Department for following through on months of correspondence and traffic analysis to install the camera, they said only the re-engineering of Maryland Avenue Northeast can end the dangerous driving.
Moreover, neighbors said the years spent trying to convince District transportation officials to fix Maryland Avenue illustrate the difficulty D.C. residents in all neighborhoods face in improving pedestrian safety: the effort is time-consuming and change comes too slowly. In the meantime, the District itself is changing rapidly; nearly 40 percent of households are car-free and a growing number of commuters are walking and biking.
“We have been working on this issue for years. DDOT has responded by telling us they are studying the issue, and studying the issue, and studying the issue,” said Todd Hettenbach, a father of two children. “Whenever we cross the street I need to hold on tightly to both of them and look way down the street. I never anticipate that a car is going to stop.”
The Maryland Avenue speed limit is 25 mph. Drivers routinely go much faster, Hettenbach said. In fact, some drivers push it to interstate highway speeds.
A speed camera once placed at Maryland Ave. and 12th St. recorded 31 violations of drivers exceeding the speed limit by 21-25 miles per hour in a one-year period ending last February. Most of those violations — some driving as fast as 50 mph in a 25 mph zone — occurred between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., a time when kids usually are present.
As WAMU 88.5 has reported, the District Department of Transportation implemented long-planned, temporary safety improvements at that three-way intersection after a public outcry in June. Librarian Elizabeth Lang, 44, was run over and seriously injured by a taxicab in a crosswalk outside the Northeast branch library. DDOT quickly moved to install new crosswalks, pedestrian refuges, flex posts, curb extensions, and better signage at Maryland, 7th, and D.
Also as a result of public pressure, DDOT will begin design work for a new traffic signal at the intersection of Maryland Avenue and E Street. Construction could begin in the spring, according to an email from DDOT’s pedestrian program coordinator George Branyan to Capitol Hill neighborhood residents.
“Years have passed and we still haven’t seen concrete, permanent changes. We saw temporary changes after our local librarian was hit by a car. It is frustrating, but we do feel there are some good people at DDOT trying to move the process forward,” Hettenbach said.
The most substantial change has been the most difficult to obtain and likely remains years from being realized. Prodded by residents, DDOT has agreed to study reducing Maryland Avenue Northeast in Capitol Hill from two lanes in each direction to one each way. Because such work would be federally funded and Maryland Avenue lies in the L'Enfant Historic District, the project involves a lengthy study under the National Environmental Policy Act (to satisfy the Federal Highway Administration), not to mention consensus among historic preservation stakeholders.
On Nov. 17, DDOT representatives will meet officials at the state historic preservation office to complete environmental documentation and discuss preservation concerns.
The Maryland Avenue Northeast corridor has well-documented safety concerns. and car crashes outnumber pedestrian-involved collisions. At the nine intersections along the avenue between 7th and 14th Streets, 188 crashes have occurred over the past six years, according to DDOT data. Nine involved pedestrians and bicyclists. About 10,000 cars use the avenue daily.