NPS wants input on plans to make bike, pedestrian lanes on Ohio Drive SW near Hains Point
WASHINGTON (7News) — The National Park Service wants to make major changes to the way cars, bikers, and pedestrians navigate Ohio Drive near Hains Point in Southwest Washington.
Currently, two one-way lanes are shared by cars, bikers, and pedestrians. NPS wants to keep one lane for cars and create individual lanes for both bikes and people on foot. The affected area would go along Ohio Drive about 2.5 miles from East Potomac Golf Course to Hains Point, and then turn and head up to Buckeye Drive SW.
The Park Service is considering several different options for the best way to reconfigure the road.
NPS says the plan to add both a bike and pedestrian lane will improve safety and access to Hains Point. It it considering several different ways to add the lanes. Among the decisions still to be made: whether to put the bike and pedestrian lanes next to each other, or to have them on different sides with cars in the middle. NPS will also have to decide if the new bike lane should be four or five feet wide.
“Any time you can separate the motor vehicles from the pedestrians and the bicyclists, that’s going to create a safer environment for everyone,” NPS spokesperson Mike Litterst.
Litterst says NPS will accept public comments either online or by mail until May 19.
“We’ll evaluate all the comments and make a final decision,” he said. “We’re hopeful that if this is something we decide to move forward with, the project will take place over the summer.”
Two pedestrians were hit and killed on Ohio Drive nearly a year ago by a pickup truck, highlighting the need to make the road safer. Although police still have not finished their investigation into the cause of that incident, many who use the road say the 15 mph speed limit is often not followed by drivers.
