'Glover Park Traffic Jam' Facebook Page Collects Frustrations

Photos of lines of cars siting in traffic on Wisconsin Avenue, comments about the city fixing things that are not broken and a collection of notes pasted from emails make up the Glover Park Traffic Jam Facebook page that reflects some Glover Park area residents' frustrations about the new Wisconsin Avenue lane configuration.

The $5 million Wisconsin Avenue Streetscape Project reduced the number of lanes for traffic from three to two during peak hours and from two to one during non-peak hours; select intersections now have left turn lanes. Among the project's goals was improving pedestrian safety.

Rick Gersten emailed the community in early February to see if he had others who might work with him to try to press the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) to undo the new lane configuration because of snarled traffic throughout the corridor. After receiving supportive comments via email, Gersten created the Glover Park Traffic Jam Facebook page on Feb. 8; the page now has 70 fans.

The page is a public venting space that Gersten hopes will help build a case for reversing the lane changes.

DDOT has already committed to reexamine the project in a year's time. The agency has been taking traffic counts and Paul Hoffman, a project manager for DDOT, told Patch earlier this month that traffic is moving generally at the rate anticipated by traffic consultants.

"The early returns say it is not going to be so bad," Hoffman said at the time.

But the commenters on the Glover Park Traffic Jam page reject this line of reasoning.

One woman wrote, "I've found the traffic bad at all times -- weekdays and weekends. I agree with others that the lane decrease makes the traffic worse. Who thought this was a good idea for the neighborhoods along Wisconsin Ave?"

While this Facebook page reflects the frustrations of at least 70 people, there have been numerous supporters of the project commenting on neighborhood listservs and on a recent Patch article about the project.

Many urge patience.

"Drivers need time to get used to the new traffic pattern," Glover Park Commissioner Brian Cohen explained to Patch previously.

The Glover Park and the Georgetown Advisory Neighborhood Commission are both montoriing public sentiment and the traffic situation closely. Cohen has been active in responding to complaints on the list serv and the Georgetown ANC will take up the matter at its March 4 meeting.

When Patch last spoke with Gersten he said he was not sure what the next steps would be after collecting grievances, but for now he has captured the attention of community leaders and like-minded residents.

Check out the Glover Park Traffic Jam Facebook page.

Tell us what you think should happen in the comments.

More on this topic:

• Is the New Wisconsin Avenue Working?
• Wisconsin Avenue Construction 'Substantially Complete'
• Neighbors Worry About Impact of Glover Park Streetscape Project