Democracy Dies in Darkness

D.C. scrapped plan for Connecticut Ave. bike lane. Lawmakers want it back.

The D.C. Council’s transportation committee criticized the mayor’s office for ditching the plan.

By
Updated May 15, 2024 at 7:02 p.m. EDT|Published May 15, 2024 at 12:49 p.m. EDT
Some business owners and residents are concerned about plans to add a bike lane along a segment of Connecticut Avenue NW, which crosses commercial areas where parking is scarce. (Astrid Riecken for The Washington Post)
4 min
correction

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the bike lane plan would have cut lane capacity for vehicles in half. The plan would cut the number of travel lanes for vehicles from six to four. The article has been corrected.

Some D.C. Council members are pushing for a controversial plan for a Connecticut Avenue bike lane that was abandoned by the mayor’s office last month to be reincorporated into the city’s budget.

In 2021, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) announced plans for a 2.7-mile bike lane that would run from Calvert Street NW in Woodley Park to Legation Street NW in Chevy Chase. The plan — supported by bicycling advocates and intended to boost bike safety — was estimated to cost $7.7 million, and would have eliminated more than 300 parking spaces and reduced the number of travel lanes for vehicles from six to four. It was opposed by business owners, who claimed the lane would affect their customers. A D.C. Department of Transportation (DDOT) official told legislators last month that the plan had been scuttled.