Description

I live in Randle Highlands at the intersection of 29th & R Streets, S.E. Each morning I take the bus from 30th & Pennsylvania, S.E. to 15th & I Streets, N.W. To get to my bus stop I walk north on 29th Street, then turn right on Q Street, then left on 30th Street. Currently there is no crosswalk to cross Q Street when coming from 29th (although there is one to cross 29th Street if you're walking on Q). They recently redid the 2900 block of Q Street, but there were not crosswalks even before this construction started. It wouldn't be so bad not having the crosswalks if I could just walk down Q Street using the sidewalk on the south side of the street, however that sidewalk doesn't go through. There is a missing section which requires people to cross the street or walk in the street. Once arriving at 30th Street, there is a crosswalk for people on Q Street to cross 30th, however the crosswalk is only on the south side of the street (the side with the incomplete sidewalk on the 2900 block). Not only that, but if you cross 30th street using that crosswalk, on the east end of the crosswalk there is no pavement connecting the crosswalk to the sidewalk (you have to walk through the grass and sometimes mud) in fact, there is actually a tree and an electrical post between the sidewalk and the crosswalk. More importantly, there is also no curb-cut to make the crossing ADA compliant. The north side of Q Street (the side with the completed sidewalk) does not have a crosswalk to cross 30th Street.

Randle Highlands a somewhat of an enclave in terms of neighborhoods. By that I mean not a lot of streets connect to the main road (Pennsylvania Avenue). As a result those streets which do connect to Pennsylvania (primarily 27th & 30th Streets) become much busier than normal during peak times. My biggest concern with the crosswalk issue at 30th & Q Streets is that this crossing is directly outside of an elementary school. So kids from the neighborhood are having to either walk in the street around an incomplete sidewalk to get to the crosswalk or they have to cross on the other side where there is no crosswalk. I'm actually not sure what kids with a disability attending Randle Highlands Elementary would have to do to get from Q Street to their school.

My recommendation that I would like DDOT to consider is: completing the incomplete sidewalk on the south side of the 2900 block of Q Street, S.E. as well as installing a curb cut on the east side of the 30th Street crosswalk. I feel this request is reasonable and would greatly increase pedestrian safety, especially since it is in an area frequented by children trying to get to school.