M Street Bikelane Still in the Works

After a ribbon cutting for the new L Street protected bike lane Tuesday, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) bike team will lead a short ride and show off the location of the future M Street bike lane.

Mayor Vincent Gray and DDOT Director Terry Bellamy will cut the ribbon on the new eastbound lane at 10 a.m. Tuesday at 15th and L Streets, NW.

According to a notice from DDOT, the separated lane, the third of its kind in DC, "is designed to give bicyclists more protection from cars than a typical bike lane."

Originally, the L and M Street bike lanes were planned to be installed in the same year. Instead, DDOT plans to study traffic patterns and other data from the L Street lane to inform decisions about the M Street lane. 

The M Street bike lane, which would run westbound from 15th Street to 29th Street in Northwest, could arrive in spring or summer 2013, according to the most recent estimates from DDOT.