Four One-Minute Actions to Defend DC Bike Lanes

March 24, 2026

These are difficult times for DC bike lanes – but our work must go on. Our message to the federal government is: hands off our bike lanes, and to the District Dept. of Transportation, it’s: continue the forward momentum. District officials must reestablish their support for bike lanes.

Here are four actions you can take to advance & protect DC bike lanes. They’re quick: Click the links, enter your name and contact information, personalize our suggested messages if you wish, and hit submit.

If you don’t know about the federal government’s plan to remove the 15th St SW protected bike lanes between Constitution Ave. SW and the 14th St. Bridge, it’s a shameful move that will affect the thousands of residents and tourists who use the lanes every day, and the drivers who benefited from faster travel, with 17% higher speeds and 46% fewer roadway crashes. But WABA’s lawsuit is making a difference: The DOJ has agreed the federal government will not make a move until April 23, time for our lawsuit to move forward. Register your opposition via WABA’s Petition: Save the 15th Street Protected Bike Lane.
11th St. NW is a key north-south biking route, but the current painted bike lanes don’t make for safe, low-stress cycling. After years of discussion and planning, DDOT is moving forward with protected bike lanes for most of the 11th St. NW corridor. Click here to comment on DDOT’s notice of intent and add your voice supporting the project.
Meanwhile, just a bit north… DDOT has abandoned plans for a two-way, protected cycletrack on 15th St NW between NY Ave & H St NW and now plans to convert the west-side driving lane to parking including valet spots. Their (now-abandoned) project page says: “This key connection will provide a safe connection for bicyclists outside of the White House security perimeter.” DDOT is prioritizing parking over safety. Click here to comment on DDOT’s notice of intent, to tell them DON’T!
Have you responded to WABA’s Safety First! campaign? We set it up to ask Mayor Muriel Bowser and DDOT Director Sharon Kershbaum to return to prioritizing safety over politics, to build planned (and previously planned) bike lanes and associated traffic calming measures without further delay. DDOT removed protected bike lanes from Arizona Ave. NW and stripped PBLs out of East Capitol St. project plans. They put the Jenifer St. NW project – design is 100% complete! – on hold. Join us to tell them Safety First!

Thanks for taking these four actions. It’s important that we all speak out.

More about 11th St NW PBL

More about The DC Low Stress Network

Bike lanes are most effective when they connects to other bike lanes, protected bike lanes, even more so.

WABA works with teams of grassroots volunteers across the District to demand a network of low-stress places to bike. A network where you, your kids, nephews, nieces, or grandkids, can all get where you need to go safely, easily, happily on bikes.

More about Complete Streets

Complete Streets are streets designed to accommodate all users, and that prioritize historically underinvested modes of transportation like transit, walking, and biking. An incomplete street might lack adequate sidewalks, low-stress bike infrastructure, or safe and comfortable access to transit.

Effective Complete Streets policies change the way a jurisdiction plans and builds transportation infrastructure—sidewalks, low stress bike infrastructure, and transit should be included in any new or rebuilt street by default, rather than as an add-on when there's space or demand.

While most regional jurisdictions have a Complete Streets policy of some sort, they lack teeth and permit transportation departments to continue to build streets that put cars first and squeeze other modes into the margins.

More about Advocacy

WABA fights for a region where biking, walking and transit are the best ways to get around.

We educate policymakers and organize grassroots advocates for to speak up for safer places to bike and walk; and for laws and policies that protect people who are walking and biking, reduce dangerous driving, and facilitate changes to the built environment.