Signing this petition endorses this letter to be sent on your behalf (as a parent or friend of Yu Ying) to DDOT Acting Director Kershbaum.  It is NOT sanctioned by Yu Ying Administration, the Parents' Association, or Staff.

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Sharon Kershbaum 
Interim Director, District Department of Transportation 250 M Street SE 
Washington, DC 20003 

Dear Acting Director Kershbaum,

We, the parents, caregivers, and friends [1] of Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School (YY) at 220 Taylor St. NE, Washington, DC 20017, write to you in full support of the two projects which combined will install protected bike lanes (PBLs) extending from Rock Creek Church Road NW down Harewood Road NW, Fort Drive NE, and Taylor Street NE, specifically endorsing a southern-alignment for the Taylor Street and Fort Drive NE project. 

All students must travel along this dangerous corridor two times daily. The intersections near YY at 2nd St and Taylor and Harewood Rd and Taylor have seen or experienced numerous safety issues over the years.  We're pleased to see that the recent presentation includes plans for safety enhancements at these intersections. [2]

Many of us regularly walk our children to YY or commute by bicycle, taking advantage of nearby transportation options like the Brookland-CUA Metro station, local bus routes, and protected bike paths such as the Irving Street cycle track and the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT). Despite the strong transportation options in the area, the “last mile problem” creates a safety risk for those commuting to YY without use of a car. Many parents want to walk or bike their children to school but feel unsafe doing so due to the lack of protected infrastructure. 

We understand that Taylor St PBLs, a long-overdue [3] MoveDC priority are now in the “Concept” phase. DDOT has proposed two options for the PBL alignment: northern and southern. After considering our drop-off and pick-up patterns and parking availability on the north side of Taylor between 1st and 2nd Streets  our YY community strongly supports the southern-aligned protected bike lane option.

As part of the Taylor St PBL project, we request DDOT: 

• Incorporate safety improvements to the intersection of Harewood Road and the intersection of 2nd Street for pedestrians, bicycles, and traffic, including daylighting (to ensure vehicles have visibility to navigate turns by placing flexposts or other mitigations to prevent parked cars within the 25 foot zone near the crosswalk) 
• ensure the PBL is safe enough to enable parents and children to safely and independently use, especially to/from school.  Paint by itself is not sufficient protection
• ensure the PBL is separate from bus traffic, to ensure children and young adults can independently use the PBL, but also ensure the H8/H9 (future D74) buses are still able to service the route with minimal disruption
• ensure the Taylor Street PBL provides safe, integrated connections in both directions (North and South) to the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT) running adjacent to John McCormack Road NE.  Integrated connections to the MBT dramatically increase utility
• facilitate safe bicycle entry and exit to 2nd Street NE, as well as work with YY to improve direct bicycle access to campus.

The student body at YY is growing – from a projected 700 students in PK3-5th grade for SY24-25 to a future of over 850 students by 2028 [4], as we begin the process of opening the YY Early Years campus adjacent to the new Washington Latin campus [5].  Accordingly, without additional transportation options the number of cars and traffic in the YY community will continue to increase, yet the space available for parking vehicles is severely limited in this area. Simply put, the space surrounding our campuses cannot accommodate predominantly car-oriented PUDO traffic—it is overwhelmed already—and should be re-aligned toward walking, biking, busing, and transit. 

We hope you will move forward with the “Design” phase of the southern-aligned option expeditiously, and we thank you for the important work you are doing for our safety.

Sincerely,

[Petitioners]

[1] Note: This petition is not sanctioned by Yu Ying Administration, the Yu Ying Parents’ Association, or Staff.  This is strictly a petition showing sentiment from the parents of children who attend Yu Ying and friends. 

[2]   Available at: https://bikelanes.ddot.dc.gov/pages/2def11330a194720b4f43945728a708d

[3] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g5iYKsngmYrBXEzcp3EK4rrhrKl8p7Z2/view

[4] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LcgeuatqT9AmHd4U-DKHa6rQ994igdsg/view

[5] https://sites.google.com/view/yuyingpa/campus-expansion