15th Street: It’s hitting the fan

Yesterday signs went up on East Basin Drive announcing construction work beginning Monday, and workers on site confirmed that the work includes the removal of the 15th Street Bike Lane.

What WABA is doing:

We’re working with our legal team today to file an emergency motion seeking to block the removal. If it’s successful (not a sure thing, unfortunately) we’ll have a temporary restraining order in hand on Monday. 

We’re also working with the League of American Bicyclists, Rep Eleanor Holmes Norton, and VA Rep Don Beyer to include language in upcoming appropriations that prevents federal agencies from spending money to remove the bike lane. 

What you can do: 

• Sign and share this petition calling on the National Park Service to leave the lanes in place.
• Join us on Monday at Noon for a rally in front of the Washington Monument.
• Help us pay for the lawyers who are working on this with us. A generous donor has offered to match up to $5,000 in contributions between now and Monday.

Background:

We heard some well substantiated rumors about a month ago that USDOT, at the behest of the White House, was pressuring NPS to remove the part of the 15th Street Protected Bike Lane that’s on land the Park Service controls, from Constitution Ave to the Jefferson Memorial. Technically, this requires a public input process, but we all saw what happened to the East Wing of the White House, and we anticipated that the agency would attempt to do the work without following proper procedures. In the intervening weeks. we’ve been working with our legal team to prepare a complaint, and we’ve had volunteers riding the lanes to let us know if anything suspicious popped up. 

We know from DDOT’s data that these lanes improve safety for everyone and actually reduce car traffic congestion. And this isn’t unique. We know from study after study after study that bike lanes make everyone safer and don’t cause congestion. Removing them is not about making the street safer, or even making things more convenient for drivers. 

We’ll keep you updated as this unfolds.