Politics & Government

New Bikeshare Station Headed to M Street and Pennsylvania Avenue Intersection

The new station will be in the small island in front of the Lukoil gas station.

After receiving plenty of community input, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) today announced 32 new Capital Bikeshare stations coming to locations throughout the District. Georgetown will receive a new station at the intersection of M Street and Wisconsin Avenue in the small island in front of the Lukoil gas station.

The station will be placed in the DDOT right of way on the island and will be installed in the fall of 2011. Additionally, Georgetown's station on Wisconsin Avenue at the C&O Canal will be expanded to increase its capacity.

“With this expansion we will not only increase the overall reach of the system, but we will expand the program’s capacity by 22 percent in the downtown area, by 80 percent in our East of the River operations and by an average of 38 percent throughout each of the additional Wards,” said Terry Bellamy, DDOT Director in a news release.

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When DDOT , the list of proposed locations in Georgetown did not pass muster with the Georgetown ANC.

DDOT suggested one station in to which the , and one in the parking lot of that the ANC felt is a wasted opportunity.

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At the , DDOT's Chris Holben said he "appreciates the input" given by ANC2E, "most [ANCs] have not given me this much attention to detail."

Holben explained that the average size of a station is six feet in width by 40 or 50 feet in length. The stations have to be place in a contiguous space- no manholes, sewer grates, or tree boxes. They also need to get enough direct sunlight to support the solar-powered stations.

"It is hard to find that space in the city, especially in Georgetown," said Holben.

The ANC suggeted that a station at the south end of Rose Park on M Street near 28th would be a preferable location for a station, "it provides much more access to commuters going downtown on a bicycle," said Commissioner Tom Birch.

Ulitmately, the M Street location was chosen and it will bring Georgetown's total to five stations. Other existing locations include the Waterfront station on K Street, the Wisconsin Avenue station, the station at the main gates of the University and the location at .


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