RSS FeedBarnes Dance First Day Debrief (7th & H St NW)
With one day under its belt, the Barnes dance at 7th & H St NW was a great success – hats off to DDOT! During our day (and evening) of observations, we think that the single most effective component to making the diagonal crosswalk successful was the overwhelming number of crossing guard personnel. At some points during the day, one could observe as many as 8 crossing guards manning the intersection. During the lunch hour, pamphlets were handed out to pedestrians informing them of how to correctly hypotenuse the intersection.
We did note that during a crossing guard shift change at around 5pm, vehicles almost instantly reverted to their old ways: making left and right turns at the intersection while making drivers behind them wait. The same issues were occurring when the intersection was staffed with less than 4 crossing guards informing motorists of the new “no turns” signs. And, we have to mention that the issue was compounded by out of town police week participants that are used to bending certain traffic rules. But, one can’t expect to educate every single motorist of the new traffic rules on the first day of the dance.
For the long haul, we believe that redundant signage and a healthy dose of enforcement will help the Barnes dance thrive in DC. Here are some of our ideas:
– add additional graphic “no right/left turn” signs
– add white straight arrows painted on the street, implying that no turns can be made
– modify green traffic lights to display as straight-ahead arrows, rather than the traditional green orb
– ticket writing
Can you think of any additional ways to improve signage at the intersection?
A fun image of videographers vying for the best shot
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Comments
I agree green traffic light straight-ahead arrows, along with white straight arrows painted on the street, will go a long way to educating drivers. However, having red left/right turns signals will give the false perception that turns are allowed … just not at the moment (“they gotta turn green sometime!”). It is better to not have any turn-specific signalization, regardless of whether they would be permanently red.
The only other suggestion I would have would have “NO TURNS” painted before the suggested white stright arrows on the street lanes.
Eileen: Yes! And we can’t wait to see what Exercise Man will do when he visits our intersection next.
I drove through this intersection today and I have to say that this is the stupidest thing I’ve seen in a while. The traffic at rush hour was so backed up because of this, and the fact that they have to hire 2 traffic cops for 1 intersection is ridiculous. Did it really take THAT long to get from one corner to the other the old way?
Daniel — the traffic was backed up because of the Police Week activities (parade). And 7th is always backed up at rush hour on a normal day. Worst route ever if you are trying to get through an area.
For this to work, all of the above suggestions by PQL (straight arrows, more no-turn signs) are needed. But even with the traffic cops there, I saw cars still turning right. And I don’t blame them. If I was a driver coming to this intersection without prior knowledge, I would be completely confused.
At 8th and I (where I work) traffic has already increased, and people are driving too fast as they try to cut through there. They may have to remove parking from 8th between H and I, as the street is too narrow there for both extra traffic and 2-sided parking.
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I like the idea of green “up” arrows instead of orbs, and adding always-on red left and right arrows to the left and right of the green arrow. They needn’t even be tied into the traffic system, just lights that are tied into the power source already running to the signal assembly. It’s relatively inexpensive but puts the No Turning message where (most) drivers look for permission to move.