Mr. Everett Lott
Interim Director
District Department of Transportation
55 M Street, SE, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20003

Dear Interim Director Lott:

As residents, elected officials, and community leaders who live, work, commute, and recreate in Ward 5, we write to ask your agency to swiftly implement desperately-needed traffic safety improvements along the Michigan Avenue corridor in Northeast D.C.

As you may know, on March 1, 2021, District resident Armando Martinez-Ramos was killed after he was struck by a shuttle bus at the intersection of Michigan Avenue NE and 10th Street NE.  Mr. Martinez-Ramos was riding his bicycle in the crosswalk at the time of the crash.  He leaves behind a wife and four children.

Mr. Martinez-Ramos’s death has renewed longstanding concerns regarding traffic safety along the entire Michigan Avenue corridor in Northeast D.C., which is besieged by dangerous driving, poor pedestrian and cyclist visibility, long pedestrian crossing distances, short signal timing, and other features that make this roadway dangerous for all users, particularly those using more vulnerable modes of transportation.  Although DDOT has acknowledged these problems over the years, it has failed to devote adequate resources and attention to them, leaving residents and commuters unnecessarily susceptible to harm.  

Our community deserves better.  DDOT must implement traffic safety improvements not only in response to last week’s tragic crash, but to prevent the next one from happening, too.  

As your agency reported in its 2016 Brookland-Edgewood Livability Study (1), the Michigan Avenue corridor had the highest rate of collisions among all roadways within the subject area between 2012-2014.  Since that study was published, DDOT has done very little to mitigate these problems, and the data shows: between January 2015 and February 2021, at least 374 reported traffic crashes occurred between the unit block of Michigan Avenue NE and the 1900 block of Michigan Avenue NE (2).  After nearly ten years, Michigan Avenue NE continues to hold the dubious distinction of being among the most dangerous roadways in the area.  

Likewise, following extensive public input from residents several years ago, DDOT acknowledged the need for improved pedestrian visibility, signal timing, and bicycle facilities along this corridor in both its Brookland-Edgewood Livability Study and Crosstown Multimodal Transportation Study (3).  Just as DDOT has failed to address dangerous roadway features that contribute to Michigan Avenue’s high-crash status, it has also failed to address these deficits in pedestrian and cyclist safety.  As a result, outdated infrastructure continues to impede safe passage for these roadway users along the Michigan Avenue corridor.  

Ward 5 residents have been consistent in advocating for traffic safety improvements on Michigan Avenue over the years, and we remain united in this effort.  We call upon you to swiftly prioritize infrastructure improvements along the Michigan Avenue corridor that will allow for the safe transit of pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists.  

Please let us know your plan to timely address these known and outstanding safety concerns.  Please direct your reply to Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Colleen Costello via email at 5b05@anc.dc.gov.

Sincerely,

Colleen Costello, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (5B05)
Gayle E. Carley, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (5B01)
Ursula Higgins, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (5B02)
Prita Piekara, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (5B03)
Ra Amin, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (5B04)
Michael Braeuninger , Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (5E01)
Dianne Barnes, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (5E09)
Erin Palmer, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (4B02)
Evan Yeats, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (4B01)
Keya Chatterjee, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (6A01)
Robb Dooling, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (6A06)
Michael Eichler, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (6E01)
Alex Lopez, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (6E02)
Edward Garnett, Former Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (5E01)
Nick Cheolas, Former Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (5E01)

Zachary Parker, Ward 5 Representative and President, DC State Board of Education

Daniel Schramm, President, Brookland Neighborhood Civic Association
Kathy Jacquart, Vice President, Brookland Neighborhood Civic Association
Fred Jackson, At-large Officer, Brookland Neighborhood Civic Association
Conor Shaw, President, Eckington Civic Association
Ralph Bucksell, President, Michigan Park Citizens Association
Roxanne Carter, Vice President, Michigan Park Citizens Association
Doris J. Newton, President, Stronghold Civic Association

Rachel Maisler, Chair/Ward 4 Representative, DC Bicycle Advisory Council
Parraize F. Butler, Ward 5 Representative, DC Bicycle Advisory Council
Anica Allen, At-Large, DC Bicycle Advisory Council
Anders Pedersen, At-Large, DC Bicycle Advisory Council
Max Richman, Ward 7, Bicycle Advisory Council

J. I. Swiderski, Ward 1 Representative, DC Pedestrian Advisory Council
Jim Elliott, At-Large Member and Co-Chair, DC Pedestrian Advisory Council
Eileen McCarthy, Ward 3, DC Pedestrian Advisory Council (joining in individual capacity)

Jeremiah Lowery, Advocacy Director, Washington Area Bicyclist Association

Sean Sullivan, Ward 5 Democrats

Anne P. Brown
Steven Cook
Mary E. Kenel
Edward Borrego
Shonda Northam
Neena Sachdev
Ruqiyyah Anbar-Shaheen
Andrew J. Tabler
Ellen Nelson
Jennifer Holmes
Barbara Uhler
Christopher Mrstik
David Ben
Geoff Moody
Beth Ludwick
Sarah Coltenburke
Matthew Sampson
Michael J. Dill
Elizabeth Elfman
John Neville
Steven Couper
Jessica Mailander
Brian M. Stanford
Kaycee Sullivan
Anthony Enderby
Peyton Jane Gibson
Cory M Guillory
Andrew El-Kadi
David Kaib
Paul Syers
Sara Wilkinson
Katie Morgan
Brian Graham
James Hobbs
Olga M. Cano
Eli Glazier
Brigid Cafferty
Melissa Davis
Velga Brolis
Imants Brolis
Garrett Hennigan
Dan Behrend
Boaz Engle
Joelle Purdy
Jeanne Kaplan
Geetha Ingram
Emily Blank
Shebbie Robinson Rice
Shireen Shakouri
Gordon Chaffin
Joseph Miller, Brookland Neighborhood Civic Association
Richard Stirba
Alexandra Wisbiski
Christie Poimboeuf
Rebecca Vernon
Angela Taft
Katherine Newell
Erik F. Mendoza-Wilkenfeld
Jason Wright
Carrie Hubbell Melgarejo
Diane Russell, President, SocioEcological Strategies, Inc./Brookland resident
Halima Woodhead
Lesley Jantarasami
Guy Brandenburg
Jamie Buss
Laurie Sherman
Eileen J. Findlay
Katrin Sweeney
Lia Gillus
Josh Burch
Danielle Taylor
Erik Salmi
Stephen Farole
Saundra Bishop, BASICS ABA Therapy
Matt Haggerty
Erik F Mendoza-Wilkenfeld
Henry Coppola
LaShada Ham-Campbell, Petit Scholars
Vijay Kapur
Ross White
Martin Noyd
Keegan Bursaw
Elizabeth Striebel
Cooper Martin
Carmen Garzone
Chaia Odoms Morgan
Cynthia Kane
McKenzie Haynes
Mara Lee
Kyler Turner
Grace Ha
Abraham Oonnoonny
Chad Bierman
Faith Macpherson
Olivia DiBiase
Stephanie Stevens
Ejonta Pashaj
Jess Carlin
Renzo Carlin
Bridget Reavis-Tyler
John Pfeiffer
Daniel Goldon Wolkoff (Save McMillan Park)
Pamela Urquhart
Lavinia Wohlfarth, President, Brookland Community Development Corporation
Jacob Mason
Cheryl Fish-Parcham
Johanna Fabian-Marks
Sarah Marcus
James Bickford
Evelyn Fraser, Academic Coaching DC
Christine Szathmary
Nicole Fitzgerald
Tim Fitzgerald
Laura Worby
Nancy Khan
Elliot Seibert
Mary Jo Hogan
Jeff Wetzel
Jaryd Bern
James Duane
Christina Korin
Maya Brennan
Rebecca Cusic
Gilbert Glickstein
Moira McCauley
Lauren Algee
Nick Loewen
Daniel Henebery
Colin Foard
Margaret Levy
Diana Hinova
The Gilliland Family
Daria Gelman
John Engelbert
Deena Krulewitz
Jade Madrid
Eduardo Ferrer
Helen LaCroix
Elise Villemez, Brookland Huddle for the Future
Odette Mucha
Nancy Khan
Chavon Onumah
Chris Adams
Fitz Lufkin
Charles Hosale
Robert Cooke
Colin Reusch
Richard Glass
Megan B. Miller
Poojitha Regulapati
Ammena Nazeen
James Harnett
Sarah Rice Scott
Monica Morin
Alex Clegg
Abigail Furgal
Katherine Vann
Ryder Cobean
Jessica Campbell


(1)  District Dept. of Transportation, Brookland-Edgewood Livability Study 4-13 (2016), available at https://www.scribd.com/document/328013734/2016-Brookland-Edgewood-Livability-Study-Full-Report.

(2) Michael Eichler, D.C. Crashes by Block 2010 to 2021, available at https://public.tableau.com/profile/michael.eichler#!/vizhome/DCCrashes2010to2021/CrashesbyANCBlock?publish=yes (figures were compiled by tabulating the number of reported crashes from 2015 to present from the unit block of Michigan Avenue NE through the 1900 block of Michigan Avenue NE; data is derived from https://opendata.dc.gov).

(3) District Dept. of Transportation, Crosstown Multimodal Transportation Study (Oct. 2016), available at https://dccrosstownstudy-dcgis.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/89c7024ed1e24780bc1fa2707e3c9bfe.