(WASHINGTON) – Local cyclists are protesting the removal of bicycle lanes in the District of Columbia, fearing that recent threats to bike lanes in other major cities might soon hit the nation’s capital.
Around 100 bicyclists rallied in front of the city offices of the John A. Wilson Building in D.C. on Feb. 27 to show support for their transportation safety.
“There’s word that the federal government is attempting to rip up bike lanes that district residents rely on and that help keep our streets safe, and residents are pushing back on that,” Council Member Zachary Parker said in an interview with Capital News Service.
Right now, plans to remove D.C. bike lanes are just rumors. The Department of Transportation did not respond to a CNS request to discuss them.
But across the country, some local officials have been leaning away from bike lanes in the past year, removing them in cities such as New York, San Francisco and Austin, Texas.
As for federal funding, the mood may also be shifting away from bike paths. U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told Punchbowl News last fall that lawmakers are leaning against money for bike and walking paths and leaning towards roads and bridges.
More locally, D.C. cyclists still recall the removal of the Arizona Avenue bike lane last summer.
Kim Soffen, a 31-year-old, rides her bicycle to and from work every day on the 15th Street bike lane.
“D.C., years ago, built this beautiful cycle track going all the way down 15th street that I commute on every single day, and has made my life a lot safer,” Soffen said.
According to a report by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, adding protection posts to bike lanes reduces crashes by up to 49% on four-lane roads and up to 30% on two-lane roads.
Kalli Krumpos, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association advocacy director, said that the rally was to bring awareness to policies that impact cyclist safety.
“We are organizing community members to show up today to call attention to numerous federal threats against D.C. transportation safety,” Krumpos said to CNS.
Councilman Parker, who spoke at the rally, said he stands in solidarity with cyclists because of the district’s progress in improving safety.
“Regardless of your mode of transportation, whether you like walking, driving, biking, you should be able to get from point A to point B across the city safely,” Parker said.
The highway bill was originally introduced in 2021 with plans of revisiting it in 2026 after five years had passed. One of the issues that the bill addresses is transportation safety. The bill expires in late September.
The D.C. community isn’t the only group protesting Congress and Graves’s comment. The League of American Bicyclists, a group dedicated to making biking safer and easier, wrote a letter to Graves and other government officials stating the importance of bike lanes and walking paths to community safety.
The letter includes over 1,100 groups across the country that partnered with the League.
“We don’t want the Trump Administration to be messing with our infrastructure like that,” Soffen said. “Bike lanes save lives, and they also ease congestion.”