The Connecticut Ave NW bike lane needs to happen this year.

At a meeting in Ward 3 on Thursday, January 25, Mayor Bowser more or less admitted that her office is delaying the Connecticut Avenue Multimodal Safety Improvement Project (which includes protected bike lanes) indefinitely because people are complaining about parking. She said, in response to a question about the safety of the corridor and the timeline for the project:

“I can confirm that there remain a lot of problems with Concept C [the plans for Connecticut Ave that include a protected bike lane]. And that’s how we balance the use of all users, including the businesses, and people supporting the businesses. So there remain some questions to be answered.”

Yep, we’ve seen this movie before—the Mayor’s office stalled the Eastern Downtown protected bike lane project for five years over parking. We can’t let that happen again.

Why this is important

The consequences of these delays are not abstract or hypothetical. They are measured in ambulance rides, grieving families, and lives forever changed.

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And let’s be really clear: these vague “business” (really: parking) concerns are a textbook case of motornormativity. They are short-sighted and unsupported by data. Complete Streets are good for business. Studies from across the country show that people on bikes shop more often and spend more money in a month than people who drive, and retail businesses see an increase in sales and foot traffic when bike and pedestrian infrastructure improves.

But beyond that, the hand-wringing about whether bike lanes affect business obscures a more important conversation: this is not just an economic question, it’s a moral one. Our streets are dangerous, Connecticut Avenue included, and that needs to change. No amount of economic activity is worth letting people get hurt or killed at the hands of drivers.

At its core, this is, as always, a debate about who our city is built for. Is it built for people who drive, or is it built for everyone?

Use the form above to ask the Mayor’s office to move this project forward immediately, and ask Councilmembers Frumin (Ward 3), Allen (Transportation Committee Chair), and Mendelson (Council Chair) to make sure that happens.

More about Connecticut Ave NW

Connecticut Ave NW is a busy corridor that connects downtown DC to Bethesda, Maryland. It's a high-speed, multi-lane road without adequate infrastructure for safe biking and walking. In 2019 The District Department of Transportation began studying ways to make the corridor safer. Working with Ward 3 Bike Advocates and a host of grassroots volunteers, WABA organized broad support for a variety of safety improvements, including protected bike lanes from Woodley Park to the Maryland border. In December of 2021, Mayor Bowser announced that the District would move forward with a design concept that included protected bike lanes.

Despite this broad support, and the 2021 announcement, in the spring of 2024, DDOT announced that it would be moving forward with a bike-lane-free design for the corridor, apparently because of concerns about parking. WABA is working with local advocates, business owners, and the DC Council to move the project forward.

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.