Grant Circle Safety Resolution: ANC 4C shares their next steps

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DDOT proposes to reduce the driving lanes down to 1, except from Illinois in the north to New Hampshire in the south. (courtesy DDOT)

by ANC 4C Chair Karen Livingston (4C06), Commissioners Brittany Kademian (4C05) and Eric Heller (4C07)
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The Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 4C, together with Petworth residents, city leaders and our greater community, are working hard to make Petworth safer and more accessible for all modes of transportation. For the past four months, ANC 4C has engaged in robust community outreach efforts—including multiple in-person and virtual listening sessions, a public survey, flyers, emails, and door knocking—to collect input on the District Department of Transportation’s (DDOT) proposed traffic safety improvements to Grant Circle.

The scope of our efforts reflects the importance of Grant Circle to this community and our commitment to ensuring ample opportunities for community input and questions. 

At our upcoming monthly ANC 4C public meeting this Wednesday, February 14th, Commissioners Kademian and Livingston will co-introduce a draft resolution that reflects careful consideration of all input, advocating specific safety measures the majority of residents asked for. We are providing a draft of the resolution three days ahead of our monthly meeting on Wednesday, February 14th for public comment, and plan to vote on this resolution at the meeting. (See the meeting agenda.)

View a PDF of the draft resolution.

As stated in our draft resolution, DDOT and the vast majority of 4C residents and affected neighbors agree that Grant Circle’s current design is unsafe, and is in immediate need of change, or else our community will be faced with more traffic accidents and possibly fatalities.

Multiple DDOT and DC agency studies of this location — including the Rock Creek Livability Study II in 2016—consistently concluded that travel lanes should be narrowed and pedestrian crossings shortened, among other design change recommendations, yet have failed to be implemented. ANC 4C fully supports DDOT’s intent to implement robust road design changes and traffic calming measures to Grant Circle with the goal of slowing traffic and improving safety for drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists. 

While maximizing safety is the top priority, this resolution also recognizes that DDOT will need to balance a range of factors and interests from the community. To that end, this draft resolution also seeks ongoing transparency, communication and coordination from DDOT and city leaders throughout the project’s phases to allow for Commissioners to communicate to constituents and neighbors on DDOT's process, project timelines and opportunities for community input, all while ensuring that community input is considered. 

We know there is continued concern in the community regarding parking space reductions in Grant Circle, changing traffic patterns on 5th Street and Illinois Avenue NW (south of Grant Circle), and other issues. We share these concerns and raise them in the proposed resolution.

In DDOT’s current proposal, parking inside the Circle will be reduced by up to 24 spaces. (courtesy DDOT)

We appreciate the time and effort that community members have put into this process, have listened and read through all your emails, and taken every person's voice into consideration. We plan for our community engagement around this project to be ongoing, and will focus on ensuring project follow-through by DDOT. We will work to keep neighbors informed of these efforts and the evolving project. We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming meeting.

ANC 4C meetings take place on the second Wednesday of every month at the Petworth Public Library, in the basement meeting room. Members of the community may attend in person or virtually (advance registration for Zoom is required). All are welcome.

Update 2/14/24: ANC 4C approved the resolution at their monthly meeting.

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