The District is considering banning cars in some corridors as New York and other cities around the world have done to encourage more walking, biking and transit usage.
A D.C. Council proposal would establish three pedestrian corridors starting in 2026, closing roads to cars for at least some hours each week while establishing a $2.5 million fund to support the effort. Supporters say car-free zones would infuse more energy into communities and give residents and visitors an incentive to ditch a car for a more sustainable mode of travel.
“We’ve seen other cities around the world do this on a pretty regular basis. And they have turned entire corridors into these incredibly vibrant places,” said D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), a lead sponsor of the bill.
The proposal would expand the city’s experiment with the “Open Streets” movement, embraced by cities around the world in recent years, with the coronavirus pandemic providing momentum.
In D.C., annual festival-like events have turned some of the city’s busiest streets into car-free zones for hours. The initiative, which began in 2019, has become a popular attraction in corridors such as Georgia Avenue NW, Wisconsin Avenue NW and Benning Road NE.
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Open Streets programs globally vary from city to city. Some have temporarily banned cars on a monthly basis, while others have transitioned to permanently restricting car traffic on some streets to reduce pollution and promote healthier lifestyles.
Edinburgh, Scotland, has closed some streets to motorized vehicles one Sunday a month in its city center. Barcelona has reorganized some streets into superblocks in recent years, creating pedestrian-centric neighborhoods with playgrounds at intersections. Permanent non-vehicle spaces have been created in central Stockholm, Paris’s Rue de Rivoli and New York’s 34th Avenue in the Jackson Heights neighborhood.
The programs became more popular in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. In the United States, some cities temporarily closed streets near schools to create outdoor learning spaces, while in busy commercial districts, they worked with restaurant owners to convert streets into dining areas.
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The D.C. Department of Transportation continues to allow such “streateries,” where patrons can sit at tables on closed car lanes. Agency officials say business improvement districts have installed pedestrian plazas through a city program that focuses on making spaces safer for those on foot and other vulnerable road users.
The proposed D.C. legislation would require DDOT to designate specific corridors that are at least a quarter of a mile long to be closed to car traffic for no less than 24 daytime hours each week, with the program in effect in 2026. The agency would work with communities in the next two years to select three locations, then develop an implementation plan.
DDOT said in a statement it is reviewing the proposal.
Besides the Open Streets events D.C. holds annually, Adams Morgan in the past two years has experimented with closing a section of 18th Street NW to vehicle traffic one Sunday each month in the late summer and fall. The program, which includes yoga classes and alfresco dining, among other activities between Columbia and Kalorama roads, has drawn thousands of people.
Kristen Barden, executive director of the Adams Morgan Partnership Business Improvement District, said the initiative has been fine-tuned after six events over the past two years but generally has been successful, attracting about 55,000 people at the last event, on Nov. 4. She said businesses have reported increased sales, while the BID is pursuing funding to support similar events after seeing “sustained demand” for them.
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But Barden said the BID isn’t prepared to support a more permanent closure, noting that “a pedestrian zone alone doesn’t work for the businesses unless there is a special event at the same time.”
Allen said the proposal he introduced this month calls on DDOT to work with communities such as Adams Morgan to determine whether a permanent pedestrian zone would work, and look at factors such as effects on traffic, parking and businesses.
“It doesn’t have to be just kind of a once-a-year or an afternoon-type thing,” he said. “It can be more regular. And I think we’ve seen a lot of cities have figured out how to do this and do it successfully.”
Supporters say the proposal would add regularity to Open Streets events that are held a handful of days a year across the city. The city had eight such events last year but this year held two. Transportation officials this year cited a tough financial picture in their decision to reduce the program.
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Dan Malouff, a D.C. resident and transportation planner who runs the popular X account @BeyondDC, said moving to more permanent car-free corridors would be transformational for the nation’s capital.
“The true point of Open Streets isn’t to organize a huge festival once per year. It’s to transform the city’s public space into a temporary park that you know will always be there on a certain day,” he said. “The Open Streets that have worked best around the world happen so often that they don’t feel like big events; they’re simply Sunday.”
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