CORRECTED: T Street Bike Lane in Shaw to Become a Trench for the Summer

CORRECTION: Ben Klemens emails that the bike lane will be a trench for "four to six weeks", and NOT months as I reported. Apologies for the error.

Ben Klemens, Chair of the Transportation Committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street, told the ANC on May 1 travel along the T Street bicycle lane in Shaw will be disrupted for four to six weeks several months. The disruption should start in May or June, and last four to six months.

T Street between 7th and 11th Streets will receive a set of more elegant-looking street lights from the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) -- see SALM blog post of April 28. DDOT officials told the Transportation Committee about the project at the Committee's meeting of April 16. At that time, the officials said that's as part of the project, they'd need to dig a trench, in sections, along one side of the road. A committee member asked if the trench would be on the side of T Street with the bike lane, or the other side. DDOT promised to check and get back to the committee with the information.

On May 1, Klemens told ANC1B the trench would go "right down the bike lane", according to DDOT. When crews were not working in the trench, Klemens said, they would cover them with sleet plates. It was agreed that this was not the optimum arrangement for bicyclists, especially when it rains.

When the project is finished DDOT will install manhole covers and resurface T Street.

At the same time, DDOT will also be working on the neighboring sidewalks, so using them as an alternate route may not be an option.

The next meeting of ANC1B's Transportation Committee is scheduled for 7pm on May 15th at the Thurgood Marshall Center (1816 12th Street NW).