Roosevelt Bridge (not) Safety Rail

The other day a couple of runners refused to go single file for me until the last moment on the Rosy. I had a choice. I could steer into them, or steer into the rail and possibly fall into oncoming traffic. Since I assumed they would go single file, it was too late to stop. Everytime there is two way traffic on the narrow bike path on the bridge, it is a close encounter with a high cost of failure — ie falling into 66. The safety situation on the bridge could be much improved by a better safety rail. In fact, I see no reason why we shouldn’t have equal quality of safety on all bridges crossing into DC. We don’t. The Roosevelt fails by quite a bit. I wrote DDOT. Below is my correspondence. This is from a couple of months ago. I am not optimistic. Feel free to pester. I am going to write VDOT and some legislators. It doesn’t cost very much, and it puts me on the record with them.

Me: Dear DDOT: First thanks for keeping things in shape around the city. I was wondering if there is a plan or proposal to build a higher safety rail on the bike/running path on the Roosevelt Bridge. As it is, the rail is currently inadequate as a biker could easily spill into traffic. A higher rail similar to the 14th Street Bridge would be more appropriate. This would also be fitting with DDOT’s mission: “DDOT is committed to achieving an exceptional quality of life in the nation’s capital through more sustainable travel practices, safer streets and outstanding access to goods and services.” Many hundreds of bikers use the bridge every day. The path is great! Let’s make it safer.

DDOT: We haven’t thought about that. There was a study to rebuild the entire bridge, which would have a wider sidewalk and higher railing, but I think that was shelved.

We’ll take a look.

-jim

James R. Sebastian, AICP

Supervisory Transportation Planner

Active Transportation Branch

Policy, Planning and Sustainability Administration

District Department of Transportation

55 M Street, SE

Washington, DC 20003

(202) 671-2331 (desk)

(202) 409-9197 (mobile)

I ALSO GOT THIS ROBO RESPONSE AFTER I WROTE THEM BACK WITH A FEW MORE POINTS.

Thank you for contacting the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) to request the installation of a higher railing on the Roosevelt Bridge between the bike path and the roadway.

We have forwarded your concerns to our traffic engineers, who will take your suggestions into consideration for future infrastructure projects at this location.

For further questions or concerns about this issue, please contact DDOT at 202-673-6813.

d. Clearinghouse