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.
Events, Actions & Resources:
Action Alert
Safety First on Q & R St NW
Sep 25, 2032
A protected east-west route will benefit communities across a wide swath of our city—sign the petition!
Action Alert
Taylor Street NE needs a protected bike lane
Sep 25, 2032
Support this important east-west connection!
Action Alert
Join the “I bike, I buy stuff” campaign
Jul 31, 2025
Business owners are an important stakeholder for street safety redesigns. Join our campaign to remind business owners on Connecticut Ave that their customers get there by bike.
Document
Letter: K Street NE Protected Bike Lane NOI
Jul 19, 2023
This project needs to move forward, and it should include protected intersections.
Document
Letter: Union Station Expansion Bike Infrastructure
Jul 6, 2023
Upgrades to Union Station must include connectivity improvements for people on bikes.
Document
Letter: Arizona Ave NW Protected Bike Lanes NOI
Apr 7, 2023
The design for Ward 3's first protected bike lane needs some improvement at intersections.
Document
Letter: Bike Lane Design in Connecticut Avenue Deckover
Mar 15, 2023
Proposed bike lanes are too narrow to be safe.
Action Alert
Bikes Belong in Ward 8
Nov 5, 2024
Today, many Ward 8 residents bike all over Ward 8—for commuting, for exercise, and for fun—but their lives are threatened by unsafe road designs and reckless driving behavior.
Related Campaigns:
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.
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.
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.
Q and R Street Protected Bike Lanes
The painted, unprotected bike lanes on Q and R Streets Northwest are the longest east-west bike corridor in DC's core.
Bicyclists who use these lanes must navigate stopped vehicles, drivers veering into the bike lane, inch-close dangerous passing, and the constant threat of being “doored.” Unsurprisingly, these lanes do not meet DDOT’s own low-stress bikeway design standards.
WABA is working with group of grassroots advocates to persuade DDOT to convert these lanes to protected bike lanes.