Reader Question: What’s Going on at Connecticut and Ordway?
A reader writes into us
Hey Cleveland Parker- do you know what is going on at Connecticut and Ordway? There has been construction there for some time and it seems pretty dangerous, especially at night.
I walked by there yesterday and noticed that the crosswalks and pedestrian pathways though this intersection are much more open than earlier in the week. I am not sure if people just took them down or what. I decided to reach out to Richard Steacy ANC3C04 Commissioner to see if he knew about the project.
The word from DDOT is that this is part of a larger project of sidewalk, curb & gutter improvements between Macomb St and Porter St. The entire project is to have taken 20-25 days, although there have been delays due to the weather. I have just walked by the intersection- it appears that the southeast corner (by Dino’s) is finished. The northeast side appears to be finishing up.
Problems at this intersection have been noted for some time. The following comes from the Connecticut Avenue Pedestrian Action (CAPA) group in May 2011.
The intersection of Connecticut Avenue, Ordway Street and the service lane is confusing to drivers and pedestrians. Pedestrian crossing signals are misaligned, the two different signals for the split phase crossing is extremely confusing, drivers turning from Connecticut Avenue are unaware that there is a pedestrian crosswalk on the east side of Ordway Street, street signage is poorly placed and not visible to drivers, pedestrians often travel outside of the crosswalks, the south side Connecticut Avenue crosswalk does not align with the median, and drivers exiting the service lane and the parking lot don’t understand which traffic signal applies to them. All this results in dangerous conditions.
As for Steacy,
Two thoughts that I have are 1. putting a fence barrier at the northeast corner to prevent pedestrians from jaywalking across the no man’s land area. Basically forcing them to use the crosswalk. 2. I have been impressed with the number of visually impaired citizens in our neighborhood- It would probably be a good idea to have installed a sound mechanism to alert the visually impaired when the light is in their favor.
Kudos and thanks to Steacy for a quick turn around on this for us all.
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