It is an issue as old as the town itself: where did all the traffic come from? Why is it totally stopped, moving too slowly or too quickly? Why is it in front of my house?
The Citizens Association of Georgetown tackled these topics less than three months ago with its meeting, “Talking Traffic, Transportation & Bridges,” in hope of answering such questions as: Can traffic congestion ever be reduced in Georgetown? Is there a solution to the nightmarish rush-hour backups on 34th Street? How will repairs on the Pennsylvania Avenue and Key bridges affect us?
Similarly, at the June Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting, discussions with representatives from the D.C. Department of Transportation honed in on the 34th Street traffic blues.
The CAG meeting had the time to discuss many topics — from the Metro to taxi and buses to traffic congestion — and proved informative and illuminating. It did hear from neighbors about the change in the traffic patterns for 34th and M Streets.
One 34th Street resident, Ann Satterthwaite, and her neighbor complained about traffic on 34th Street that is snarled from M Street north to Q Street and sometimes farther. Traffic used to back up later in the week, she said. Now, it is four days, at least. A neighbor said his house vibrates with the increased traffic: “I wake up every morning at 5:30 to 7 a.m. with the house shaking.”
DDOT reps said at both meetings said they would look into the matter at 34 and M, as if it were vaguely recurring and dimly seen. Why was this back-up going up to Reservior Road? What happened? DDOT said simply: “We don’t know.”
But this negative change did start about four months ago, the same time that the Key Bridge intersection was repainted and re-drawn, so to speak.
The ANC talk did get specific. DDOT heard from residents and commissioners about traffic saturation directly due to traffic-light time, a change in sequence and those dividing poles that designate each lane.
Along with this discussion came the obvious, known for more than a century: there is heavy pedestrian traffic at the corner of Wisconsin and M. That slows car traffic. Add to the traffic mix an illegally parked car blocking a rush-hour parking lane, and you’ve got a lane out — one third of the traffic flow jammed by one car. With that, let us reiterate our request: bring back a traffic control officer to Washington’s busiest corner.
Commissioner Ed Solomon suggested a simple solution: take away some of these plastic poles that make the cars turn more tightly — and thus more slowly — onto the bridge. Yes, this might definitely help.
And, yes, frustrations abound, and at least neighbors are speaking up more often, and DDOT is listening better. To this end, ANC chair Ron Lewis expressed a certain resignation: “Traffic will go where it wants to go.”
