Public meeting about New Jersey Avenue NW safety improvements set for May 2

On Thursday, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is expected to host another community meeting on the planned reconstruction of New Jersey Avenue NW, from H to N streets NW. The meeting will happen at the Walker-Jones Education Campus building, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., and it is meant as a follow-up to an earlier meeting held March 28, 2019.

District Department of Transportation

The project has been in the works for over a decade, to the frustration of transit activists, but construction is poised to begin soon. The latest plans call for safety improvements, including high-visibility crosswalks, new bike lanes, and updated sidewalks. It also involves resurfaced roads, fresh landscaping, street light upgrades, and modernized traffic signals. New Jersey Avenue NW would be converted from a one-way roadway to a two-way roadway between K Street NW and New York Avenue NW. A few blocks of the latter avenue would also be rebuilt.

District Department of Transportation

District Department of Transportation

DDOT has scheduled the construction work to be finished in fall 2020. The project comes as D.C. has seen a recent surge in road deaths, despite its Vision Zero initiative to prevent them.