Elizabeth Kiker is executive director of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association.
“When the cherry trees blossom in #WashingtonDC, there will be crowds & traffic,” the National Park Service posted on X late last month. “The National Mall has very limited parking and so many cars & buses quickly overwhelm the streets. We strongly recommend walking, biking, and taking the Metro.”
We at the Washington Area Bicyclist Association strongly agree — which is why we are suing to stop the federal government from removing some of the very bike lanes that make it possible to safely follow the Park Service’s good advice.
The safe, protected path provided by the 15th Street bike lanes runs from Columbia Heights to the Jefferson Memorial and the cherry trees along the Tidal Basin. The D.C. Department of Transportation is responsible for most of that route, but the federal government takes control where it crosses Constitution Avenue into the monumental core.
These bike lanes, installed early this decade after much careful public conversation, analysis and planning, are an example of government at its best. DDOT released a study this year showing that cars, bikes and walkers all get through the corridor faster and more safely thanks to the lanes. Since these were created, there have been 91 percent fewer bike injuries in the corridor and 46 percent fewer accidents for all travelers. By every measure, the lanes are a giant success.
So why remove them? The Federal Highway Administration said in a statement that it was returning “common sense to city planning.” Is it “common sense” to make a transportation corridor slower — and substantially less safe — for everyone?
Put another way: As a D.C.-region resident for almost 30 years, I guarantee you don’t want to drive to the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
Nearly 4,000 people use the bike lanes daily. Common sense tells you that pushing them back into an unprotected street will be a step backward for public safety.
That’s why last week my organization went to court to stop the Park Service and Highway Administration from tearing out the federally owned portion of the 15th Street bike lanes.
The Trump administration’s rush to rip out the lanes is a tell. If the project is truly about “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful,” as the pertinent Trump executive order has it, then why not take the time to undergo normal public review? But the government is refusing to delay the project beyond April 23.
We asked the question in court. The answer the administration provided was that it doesn’t have to — that it has a “categorical exclusion” from the National Environmental Policy Act. That federally mandated process was properly adhered to when the lanes went in, but now the federal government thinks it doesn’t have to meet the same requirements to take them out. We think it does.
The NEPA exclusion states: “With the upcoming National Cherry Blossom Festival and preparations underway for America’s 250th anniversary, ensuring safe access for residents, commuters, visitors, and emergency services is a shared priority.” Their arguments are so confusing! They are saying both that people should bike to the Cherry Blossom Festival while simultaneously stating that the bike lanes hurt the Cherry Blossom Festival.
Therefore, without any opportunity to take part in a public process, or to ask why these thoroughly studied and vital bike routes should be summarily removed, we are suing to stop them.
This is bigger than the Mall. Like the spokes of a wheel, the stretch of bike lanes under threat provides so many important connections: It connects to the biking and walking path on the 14th Street Bridge. It allows D.C., Maryland and Virginia residents to safely traverse some of the busiest parts of the city. It ensures that tourists from around the country and the world can see the beauty and grandeur of D.C., conveniently and securely — no matter how they travel.
Bikes represent freedom. But it takes effort and planning, in our car-and-truck-dominated world, to make sure everyone can travel safely in a shared urban space. The 15th Street bike lanes are critical to making that happen in our nation’s capital. What could be more fitting for the land of the free?
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