The local Fox news channel is crowing its success in spurring DDOT to install lane delineators at the northern side of the Key Bridge. (GM tried to embed the report, but was unsuccessful). The channel recently ran a report complaining about drivers that skip the line of cars waiting to turn left. In apparent response to the report, DDOT installed a line of plastic stanchions to prevent the cutters (you can see them installed above).
While this appears to be an example of a nimble agency responding to a fixable problem, it nonetheless rubs GM the wrong way. There are a lot of things wrong with that intersection and the roads that feed to it. Local residents and organizations have been pleading to DDOT to take a holistic look at the entire system for a while, without much success. Many of the recommendations of the Georgetown Transportation study, for example, sit on the shelf collecting dust.
But some news channel records some suburbanites being rude to other suburbanites and all of the sudden something happens overnight? Don’t get GM wrong, this looks like a smart solution. But the speed that DDOT displayed addressing what is for the most part a non-DC resident problem is alarming.
Maybe this is a new leaf for DDOT, and we’ll see this sort of quick response for problems that primarily affect DC residents, including pedestrians and bicyclists, but GM’s not holding his breath.
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
Eh, not sure it’s “for the most part a non-DC resident problem” – this is primarily a problem during the PM rush, and while there’s certainly plenty of people from commute from Maryland to Virginia via Canal Road and Key Bridge, there’s also plenty of returning denizens of Ward 2 & 3 in that mix. Moreover, this is one of the reasons why the GUTS to/from Rosslyn is so damn slow during PM rush, to the point where you’re much better off taking the Circulator or walking, even if it is way out of your way. The mobility-impaired are, of course, SOL.
DDOT, like many agencies, is spooked by negative media coverage. What else is new?
In terms of taking a holistic look at the whole system, I do believe that the BID and others were successful in getting DDOT to include the Key Bridge intersection…maybe up until 34th Street?… included within the scope of the Canal Road study ongoing now. The bulk of the Canal Road piece itself is geotechnical (how to stop mudslides), so there should be time and attention available to look at the traffic patterns and interactions in the bridge area.
Whether there are any realistic ‘fixes’ available, I’m much less sure. Too many cars. I know most Metro-inclined DC residents want Metro core expansion first and foremost, but truthfully, it may be that a ‘MoCoFax’ line (e.g., http://www.daftlogic.com/projects-advanced-google-maps-distance-calculator.htm?showroute=27476&verify=539f1dc8a8f439301d13e72e3d0413a1) would actually do *more* to relieve congestion in parts of DC.
While I think this is a valiant effort, it doesn’t go far enough to be effective. It will stop the worst offenders who wait until the very last moment to cut left, but the majority of inbound drivers cut left at or before the Whitehurst entrance on the right causing the middle lane to back up the length of the bridge during rush hour. The biggest offender is the GUTS. I see that jerk blocking traffic daily to move into the left lane.
The bridge is 90 years old. It no longer serves the transportation needs of the area. If you want the problems to go away you need to build a new (double decker) bridge with direct on/off access to Canal Road and the Whitehurst in both directions. This would alleviate congestion in front of Dixi Liquor and lesson the traffic on M Street. (or K Street if the Whitehurst comes down). Unfortunately it will probably be another 90 years before something is done.
So how do we get some lane delineators placed on M Street coming from the Palisades forcing people in the right lane onto the Whitehurst Freeway? They are lane cheaters over there, too! Also, a few more forcing the two right lanes directly after that onto the Key Bridge, so that only the one left lane continues on to M Street? I’ve made these suggestions to DDOT with no response.