Traffic bollards at 2nd Street and Florida Avenue NE need help

When DDOT completed the reconstruction of the intersection of New York Avenue, Florida Avenue, 1st Street, O Street, and Eckington Place NE (known by some as "Dave Thomas Circle"), they included plastic bollards in the part of the Florida Avenue roadway immediately east of the intersection to control traffic coming out of the somewhat blind corner with 2nd Street NE. Unfortunately, those bollards need maintenance and replacement, and DDOT needs to step up to keep this intersection safe.

On August 22, 2011, I sent a 311 request (number 11-00259888) for bollard replacement. Many had been run over or were missing, and I frequently observed dangerous and illegal turns. The request wasn't resolved for over 3 months. On December 2, 2011, I received the short reply "NO WORK NEEDS TO BE PERFORMED. PER VICTOR N."

As of this morning, it appears that a vehicle ran over many of the remaining bollards. Debris is scattered all over the roadway and adjoining sidewalk. Bollards are either missing, snapped in half, or have been pushed off their moorings and are certain to fall under the wheels of passing vehicles sooner or later. Someone has taken the time to collect a few bollards and place them behind the guardrail that keep traffic away from the nearby rail overpass.

This intersection will likely be reconfigured when the Washington Gateway development on the north side of the block is completed, but it's doubtful that will happen in this calendar year. In the meantime, I hope DDOT will go out and make the simple repairs necessary to keep this intersection safe for those driving, cycling, and walking through it. They've certainly shown to be responsive about simple things, like updating road paint, that make a big difference, before.

Broken Scooter Theory

This scooter has been in our alley since Monday, March 22. Well, variations on the theme scooter, since each day more is missing, and more of its innards leak out into the Anacostia Watershed.

 

This is scooter, and scooter's friends, chair and wastebasket

But in all seriousness, the fact that this mess is still in the alley is painfully absurd. We called 311 on Tuesday to alert MPD of suspicion of stolen property. When the scooter was still there Wednesday morning—albeit slightly thinner—we submitted an online service request for alley cleaning via DPW. I think its safe to assume most folks reading this are tangentially familiar with "Broken Windows Theory." If not, at its nexus is the idea that if we fix problems in neighborhoods when they are small (i.e. literal broken windows, graffiti, litter), the chance for further petty crime and the potential for serious crime can be deterred. Don't fix the small stuff and, well, don't be surprised when problems mount on top of one another, the next one larger than the last.

So we have a presumably stolen scooter in our alley. If whomever deposited it wanted the tires before they dumped it, my guess is they would have taken them. Instead, someone else figured they could take them. And more bulk trash has piled up. So the cycle of broken windows, if even on the smallest level, is beginning to ramp up in our alley. And we can't get the city to help us by simply doing the job we pay them to do.