Transportation officials to hold public meeting in D.C. ward with most 2019 traffic deaths

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is set to hold a community meeting July 27 on a number of street safety projects planned in Ward 8, the D.C. ward that has seen the most traffic fatalities thus far in 2019. The event is part of the city’s Vision Zero initiative to end traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2024. This year, out of 14 total traffic deaths, six people died in Ward 8, which includes much of Southeast to the east of the Anacostia River.

“At the event, DDOT project managers will be available to discuss safety and infrastructure projects along major corridors in Ward 8 including Alabama Avenue SE; I-295/Malcolm X Interchange; Mississippi Ave SE; and Southern Avenue, among others,” the agency says in a release. The Alabama Avenue project recently stirred controversy in the ward, as it involved creating bike lanes that replaced street parking. After pushback, DDOT removed a bike lane.

The meeting will be held Saturday from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at THEARC (1901 Mississippi Avenue SE). Last month, Ward 8 hosted a vigil honoring a woman killed by a driver on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE and a high-crash site visit on South Capitol Street SW.