Crossing Connecticut Avenue in Washington D.C.
Those far from the Washington D.C. Beltway may easily forget that “The Federal City” is also called “home” by more than 600,000 residents. Of these, 11 percent are age 65+.
And like other District dwellers, older adults often walk for short trips, errands, or more vigorous exercise. But as they age, the difficulties of navigating “incomplete streets” may become more keenly felt.
Iona Senior Services, for example, owns a senior center that is located on a tree-lined residential street in northwest D.C. However, senior-center visitors who wish to walk there must traverse a hill – with no benches on which to rest – and deal with busy street intersections and a lack of sidewalks.
To help local seniors maintain independence and health, Iona staff realized they must become advocates for pedestrian-safety measures. Enter Marlene Berlin, Pedestrian Advocate.
I recently had the pleasure of meeting Marlene at the Politics and Prose bookstore café on Connecticut Avenue. She told me that, in 2009, “nothing was going on in D.C.” regarding pedestrian safety. She helped Iona join forces with others who had a stake in making nearby Connecticut Avenue easier to cross.
Groups that helped her included representatives from the office of City Councilmember Mary Cheh, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners, Ward 3 Vision, citizens associations, Murch Elementary School, the Coalition for Smarter Growth, and involved residents.
Contributions were obtained from local and national grants and business in-kind donations. Technical assistance was provided by the District’s Department of Transportation (DDOT) and a consultant, Toole Design Group.
The coalition came together as Connecticut Avenue Pedestrian Action (CAPA). In May 2009, CAPA was awarded a small grant from the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center to train volunteers and conduct “pedestrian audits,” or surveys of target streets. CAPA also conducted focus groups and surveys with older pedestrians to understand concerns and prioritize needs. Toole Design analyzed the data collected by the volunteers.
With these and numerous other efforts, CAPA’s final report was released in 2011 and serves as a blueprint for pedestrian improvements now and in future years. While gaps in sidewalks were a definite concern, according to Marlene, the report found that “the most difficult aspect of walking was crossing the street safely.”
Recommendations included:
- improving pedestrian crossing signals,
- reducing vehicle speed,
- and improving visibility for pedestrians along upper Connecticut Avenue.
As a result of the report, CAPA worked with DDOT to increase signal timing for pedestrians at busy commercial hubs. In some locations, Leading Pedestrian Intervals were added. (LPIs hold the red light longer in all directions; pedestrians then get an early walk signal and a head start crossing the street before the light turns green; and motorists see the pedestrians more clearly, reducing the likelihood of rounding the corner and striking them.)
The report identified an intersection where pedestrians literally take matters into their own hands. Walkers crossing Connecticut Avenue near Chevy Chase Circle hold orange reflective flags to make sure vehicles see them, and then return the flags to holders on the other side. DDOT helped the community initiate the process, which is also used successfully in other jurisdictions. However, DDOT will install a pedestrian signal in Fiscal Year 2013, allowing the flags to retire.
Lori Cohen writes the Mobility Lab column “Here and Here to Stay” on quality-of-life issues for seniors. This topic has a crucial connection to mobility management, and Lori has a knowledgeable perspective, having worked for such organizations as AARP and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.
Photos by Marlene Berlin and Rick Reinhard